Cougars lose the monkey
By Mike Hoffman

The witch is dead. The curse is over. The Cougars snapped their losing streak, soundly defeating the North Newton Spartans 46-14. Friday night's victory was Carroll's first of the 2006 season and the first in 15 tries.

"I've got a gut feeling we'll win this one," said Cougar assistant coach Dave Mann before the game. He was on target as the Cougars finally jelled as a team. The blocking was there and they played well on both sides of the line. The defense played sticky D all night long, wearing down the Spartans.

Cougar fans were on their feet all night, cheering the Cougars to a victory. And the fan support did not go unnoticed by the players who commented after the game how great that support was.

"The fan support tonight lifted us emotionally for this game," said a Cougar player. "We played together as a team for our fans and coaches."

The defense had three players that they wanted to shut down and they did just that, stopping #7 senior quarterback Derek Hyde, #10 senior Josh Funk and #27 junior Nick Echterling. The Big Blue D just wore down the Spartans' defense.

The Cougars scored twice in the first quarter on a 20-yard TD pass from Riley Eller to Andrew Hughes and a Ty Sullivan 37-yard run.

In the second quarter Sullivan scored on a 29-yard pass from Eller. The Spartans also scored in the second quarter on a nice run from Funk. The Cougars put 19 points on the board in the first half. In the third quarter, the Cougars put 20

points on the board on a 1-yard touchdown by Sullivan. Eller scored on a 12yard TD run and Sullivan scored on a 34yard run.

The Spartans were on the board again in the fourth quarter on a 33-yard run by Hyde.

Eller scored the final TD for the Cougars on a 3-yard run.

Gator Glascock and Thomas Gillam led the Cougars with 7 tackles each. Deric Finely recovered 2 fumbles and had an interception. Sullivan and Riley Eller gave 110% all night, as did several other players.

One Cougar player brought a Spartan down when Drew Yoder hit Josh Funk and the hit lifted Funk a foot off the ground. This rang the Spartans bell for a little while.

Sullivan rushed for 133 yards and three touchdowns on runs of 37-1-34 yards. Sullivan also caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from Eller. Eller added 116 yards rushing and a touchdown.

This year's Cougar team has already put more points on the scoreboard than all of last year.

The Cougars rushed for 373 yards for the night and Eller was 7-14-0 for 138 yards. All in all, it was a good night's work.

This victory was a big momentum builder. The Cougars executed Coach Rick George's game plan to the fullest.

Now the Cougars prepare for the Lafayette Catholic Knights who are 4-0 and are ranked third in the state in Class A High School Football. Game time is 7:30 at LCC.