On Friday, the Pulaski County Cougars football team arrives in Roanoke to battle the Cave Spring Knights in a pivotal River Ridge District contest. The Cougars (2-4,0-1) find themselves at a crossroads entering the match-up, losers of three consecutive games and needing a victory to get their season back on track. Last week, Pulaski County fell to Christiansburg 26-19 in the district opener, as a late fumble was converted into the winning touchdown drive. Cave Spring (5-1,0-1) was handed their first loss as they were manhandled 42-0 at Salem. And with both teams looking for their first River Ridge victory, you can bet the intensity will be fierce on the field at Dwight Bogle Stadium.

 

The good news for Pulaski County fans is that head coach Jack Turner told me that his team has had a great week of practice preparing for the Knights. The team showed up Monday ready to work to correct the key mistakes that aided the big fourth quarter by Christiansburg, knowing that there is still much to play for with a month remaining. With the new six team playoff structure in division four, Pulaski County is still very much alive for a post season birth due to their tremendous overall schedule strength. But all of that aside, the Cougars need to play well and win a football game and hopefully a change of scenery will assist them in that goal. After a month of home games at Kenneth J. Dobson Stadium, Pulaski County returns to the fast field turf at Bogle Field where they have had recent success. Last season, the Cougars shredded the Knights 42-0 in Roanoke as they rushed for 292 yards and passed for 150 yards. The defense held Cave Spring to only 82 yards of total offense in the dominating victory.

 

Cave Spring is led by their junior quarterback Josh Woodrum, who is one of the best overall athletes in the entire River Ridge District. The Knights are coached by Tim Fulton who enters his fifth season at the helm and this could be his best team. Of their five wins, easily the most impressive came against Northside back in week three, when the Knights shut-down the explosive Vikings 10-7. Before last week\'s loss to Salem, the most points put up by any opponent against them had been 13 scored by Alleghany. So for the fourth straight game, Pulaski County will have to execute flawlessly on offense to move the ball consistently against the Cave Spring. Pulaski County has won three in a row in the series and lead all-time (25-8) in the rivalry that dates back to the Roanoke Valley District.

 

The untimely fumble and two interceptions last week against Christiansburg along with the seven penalties negated a strong rushing performance by the offense. And now the Cougars have to deal with the likely scenario that fullback Ramell Cobbs will not be available for the Cave Spring game and tackle Jordan Hamden may be lost for the remainder of the season due to illness. Ramell\'s absence is particularly significant as he is Pulaski County\'s leading rusher with 350 yards and in recent weeks and had been finding the running lanes which has led to the unit\'s recent overall success consistenly moving the football. And while it will not take a perfect game to beat Cave Spring, the potential loss of the team\'s top rusher places even more emphasis on protecting the football and showing enough discipline to avoid the crippling flags that hurt the Cougars last week.

 

Another take from the press box about this Pulaski County football team is that despite the sub .500 record, this is a very easy group of kids to get behind and root for every Friday night. Each game has been hard fought and each week the practice report has been consistent from the coaching staff with how hard the kids have worked and how badly they want to improve. It is easy to see the effort every Friday calling the games and even though losses are difficult, I have not left the stadium feeling badly about this team. And I think most of the Cougar Nation also recognizes that this team has come a long way forward from where they were in August and improvements have been evident as the season has gone along. And I believe that once again we will see more steps forward against Cave Spring and I know that coach Turner is sure of it as well.

 

It is going to be a chlly evening with temperatures forecast in the upper thirties in Roanoke. But the good news is that most of the rain is supposed to be out of the area and that with the field turf in place, the playing surface will be in excllent condition. If you cannot make it to Bogle Field, be sure to tune into the game os 107 Country PSK (107.1 FM) and on-line at (WPSK107.com).