Two weeks ago, the SWE Cougars fumbled and lost the ball 5 times inside or near 4A South Central's 15 yard line, leaving a potential 35 points on the field in their 23-7 home win over the Falcons. But this time, again at home, the Cougars were the beneficiary of ball insecurity, as this version of Falcons , from Bertie High School, put the ball on the ground 5 times themselves, all in the first half, and all recovered by the Cougars, in SWE's 54-6 pimp slapping of Bertie.
The Falcons received the opening kick off, but before fans could get in their seats good, the SWE defense punched the ball loose and recovered it at the Bertie 17. This is the second week in a row that SWE stole the opening drive from an opponent, having caused and recovered a fumble on the first play of the game vs Nash Central last week. Two Marcus Williams runs later, and SWE leads it 7-0 33 seconds into the game.
Bertie received the kick off, and after their first offensive play nets them 11 yards, their next play sees them fumble again, which is pounced on by the Cougars at the Falcon 26. This time Keenan Williams takes it in from 11, and the rout is on, 14-0, 2min50sec into the game.
The Falcons take their next possession and finally make a charge, moving the ball quite nicely. They eat up 45 yards before turning it over on downs at the Cougar 20. From there, SWE mounts what turns out to be their only serious drive of the game, traveling 80 yards, aided by a big 3rd and 12 conversion, for a Trevon Pittman 4yd score as the clock hits zero in the first quarter. 21-0.
After the kickoff, Bertie manages nothing, and with nothing to lose, I guess, they go for it on 4th and and 15 from near their own red zone. The Cougar defense swarms the qb and forces a fumble, recovered by SWE at the Bertie 17. Pittman takes it in seconds later from the 6, and the score is 28-0.
The Falcons start their next drive at their 34. Their first play is a pass to the left hash,where the receiver is stripped of the ball at their 47, recovered by SWE. At this point, the Cougars are working on different plays, getting some reps in, as evident by the number of passes that we are attempting. Coming into this game, we have only attempted 8 passes in 4 outings, but this game alone sees us attempt 5. Eventually, the Cougars find pay dirt with a M. Williams 5yd scamper, and the score is 35-0.
Bertie's next possession sees them fumble again at the SWE 34, and with the help of a huge 40 yard run by Kynazi Page, the Cougars up the score to 42-0, courtesy of Dylan Hodge's 8yd TD run.. Halftime and a running clock mercifully comes for Bertie.
Receiving the second half kick, SWE wastes no time getting back to business, returning it all the way to the Falcon 5. Next play, touchdown. The kick is blocked due to a fumbled snap, but the score is now 48-0.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Bertie returner wants to just let it bounce out of bounds, because we intentionally kick it short, high, and to the sideline. Because they are so high, our gunners are nearly there to meet the ball on its descent. Unfortunately for Bertie, instead of going out of bounds, the ball bounces high and straight, and the Cougars snatch it out of the air. A few plays later, we score again, kneel down the xp, and enjoy a 54-0 lead.
The third ends, in the fourth, the Falcons move it down the field on our backups. In scoring position, they attempt a pass, but it is tipped and intercepted by the Cougars at the 3. This time, we cannot move the ball at all, and punt. The punt is magnificently horrible, and travels a distance that would not have even gotten us a first down had it been a run or a pass. Bertie takes advantage of the wonderful field position, and tacks on a score from the 7. They go for two but are sacked. With that, the game ends.
I had little doubt that we would win the game, but the final score was surprising. Bertie has championship pedigree. What would it have been like had they held onto the ball? I don't know. But those fumbles were caused, not given, so credit that Cougar defense for giving the offense a short field all night. 54 points, and only two drives that started in our own territory. The defense clearly won the game for us. We hope there is more of the same next week, as we entertain our arch and county rivals, Tarboro, next week in what is locally called The Function at the Junction. Tarboro lost two of their defensive stars in last night's game against 3A Southern Nash. I knew that they would leave that game banged up, because SN is always huge and physically dominant. But guess what? Little old' 1A Tarboro still won. #2 Tarboro 5-0. #9 SouthWest Edgecombe 5-0. Arch rivals. Something's gotta give.
