Thompson’s toe put on a Show

By Joe Joe Wright

In front of a crowd that wrapped the fences inside and outside the ball field the Cougars put on a homecoming show!

This just might have been one of the most exciting games in Cougar history. With about 12 seconds on the clock Brandon Thompson kicked his third field goal of the night a 25 yarder to push the Cougars into the lead 16-14 and that was your final.

On a night with all the hoopla and glamour of the homecoming festivities going on the one thing the Cougars could ill afford to do was make mistakes. They made them in the first half one after the other. A huge fumbled punt in the first quarter by Crisp County gave Brooks County the ball at the Crisp 22 and a pass play later the Brooks Trojans were leading the Cougars 7-0 in the Den. The Cougars didn’t panic even when they made mistakes and they drove down close enough at the end of the 1^st quarter for Brandon Thompson to make his first 40-yard field goal. This brought the score to 7-3.  In second quarter action the Cougars were called on a dubious pass interference call and a few plays later the Trojans pounded the ball in from 6 yards out and took a 14 -3 lead into halftime.

For the entire first half Crisp fumbled twice and had several penalties that were costly. The second half of the game however, belongs to the Cougars. After kicking off to Brooks County to start the 3^rd quarter the Cougars held Brooks and got the ball and drove down to get close enough to for Thompson to get his second 40 yarder of the night and now the score stood at 14-6. The Cougars would once again get the ball in the third stanza and with the momentum behind them Patrick Felton on a series of runs got the ball down to the 3 yard line and from there he ran it into the end zone. The PAT by Thompson was good and the score was now 14-13. The entire 4^th quarter was a back and fourth struggle between the two teams, which ended with the Cougars getting terrible field position. Finally after getting the ball back late in the game with 1:59 seconds the Cougars who were out of timeouts drove down approximately 50 yards on a series of runs by Felton and a couple of key pass receptions. With 12 seconds left on the clock the Cougars spiked the ball and on ran Thompson. The Brooks Coaching staff called time out to ice the senior kicker but Thompson has ice in his veins and from now on he shall be called “Frosty”. Thompson nailed the kick and the game was put away. “I was upset with our first half performance because I know the guys can do better and we just kept giving a really good and fast team opportunities but we are a second half team,” said Shelton Felton. “ I am extremely proud of the never quit attitude the boys bring to the field, they play hard and never back down, it was great to see so many fans enjoy a Cougar win.” The Cougars are off next Friday as they prepare for their first region game here in Cordele against Monroe on October 14^th.

Look for more photos in Wednesday Dispatch. Vast coverage of Homecoming at CCHS