Tonight, the Pulaski County Cougars will host the Patrick Henry Patriots in the 2009 home opener at Kenneth J. Dobson stadium. The Cougars (1-1) are coming off of a tough loss at Northside 33-20. The Patriots (1-1) are riding some momentum heading into Dublin after they beat Bassett 21-11 last week for theOir first win of the season.

Cougars head coach Jack Turner believes that his club improved despite the defeat and the team played hard while tallying two fourth quarter touchdowns. But for the second straight week, mistakes cost Pulaski County a chance to climb back into the game as there were too many penalties at Northside. The Vikings size and speed also proposed many problems throughout the night as tailback Philip Scott scored on two long touchdown runs, each on third down and long yardage situations.

But now the Cougars have a chance to return home and try to correct some of the problems against a Patriots squad that is in transition.  Brad Bradley takes over in Roanoke as the Patriots fifth head coach in the last nine seasons.  Bradley won two division one state championships at William Campbell and he is very familiar with the Cougars program after playing for Salem during his high school days.  Patrick Henry will run the spread offense under Bradley, as he will give his team’s speed an opportunity to flourish.

Although Patrick Henry will spread out the defense with four and five receivers, Bradley’s offense offers a run first approach.  Sophomore quarterback Matt Wood carried the ball 22 times in the win against Bassett and tailback Brandon Terry has rushed for 183 yards through the first two games. The Patriots only return four total starters and they bring a very young team into the Cougars Den. Patrick Henry plays a (5-3) defense and they are very fast and will fly to the football.

Pulaski County has won the last two contests against Patrick Henry, winning a year ago in Roanoke 49-14. The Cougars ran for 254 yards in that game and quarterback Luke Watson threw for 83 yards. Expect the Cougars to try several  new starters this week as coach Turner sees this match-up as a trigger game for the rest of the 2009 campaign. The Cougars lack depth at key positions across both lines and at the skill slots and the younger kids have worked hard to earn the right to get a look when the lights are on in game conditions.

If you cannot make it out to the stadium, be sure to listen to the game on 107 Country PSK, with the pre game show starting at 7:00 with the kickoff slated for 7:30. The game can also be heard on-line at wpsk107.com.