Gophers' rushing game too much for Cougars
By Mike Hoffman Contributing sportswriter

It wasn't a very happy night for the Carroll Cougars, who didn't fair well against the Clinton Prairie Gophers.

The Gophers rushed 423 yards to just 169 yards by the Cougars Friday night. The ending score was 42-21, CP. The Gophers played hard-nose football all night in this Hoosier Heartland Conference game.

Clinton Prairie is 5-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play. Carroll falls to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in conference play.

The game started off with the Cougars kicking off to the Gophers. On the first play from the line of scrimmage, Nick Seager burst through the line and out ran the Cougar defenders for an 80-yard touchdown.

However, the Cougars came right back on a great run by junior Deric Finley. The speedy back went 55 yards for the score at 10:04 (1). Skylar Bagwell's PAT kick was good for a 7-7 tie. In this series, the Cougars went 65 yards in 4 plays.

The Gophers then went 50 yards in 7 plays as senior quarterback Shawn Walker threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Rich Cooper for the go ahead score, 14-7 (CP) at 6:41 (1).

After a Bagwell return to the Gopher's 49-yard line, the Cougars picked up 2 quick first downs only to have the drive stall due to aggressive defense by the Gophers.

The Gophers took over at the 25-yard line, and picked up 5 first downs as the first quarter came to an end. To start the second quarter, the Gophers scored on a quarterback keeper. The PAT failed, 20-7 Gophers.

The Gophers intercepted Carroll QB Riley Eller, who was hurrying the pass as the Gopher defense kept up the pressure.

The Gophers were knocking on the door when they fumbled in the end zone. The Cougars recovered the fumble. With the ball on the 20-yard line the Gopher defense was aggressive, forcing yet another fumble. The Gophers recovered the ball at the Cougar 15-yard line. The Cougar defense forced the Gophers to go 4 and out and then took over at their 15-yard line.

The Cougars turned the ball over again after the Gophers put the pressure on, intercepting a pass at the 32-yard line. The Gopher's leading rusher went 23 yards for his second touchdown. The PAT was good ffor 27-7 with 5:46 left in the first half.

Again the Cougar offense stalled and was forced to punt. The Gophers took over and had to punt as well. The Cougars took over. Eller threw a pass to Justin Matthews, then a pass to Bagwell, before he ran for a first down. Eller threw a pass to Bagwell for another first down. Ben Bennington then ran the ball on first down as the Cougars were without the services of Finley, who twisted his knee. (Bennington wore #18 because he tore his jersey earlier in the game.)

On second down a pass interference was called on Rich Cooper. Eller found Andrew Hughes for a 3-yard touchdown pass, with just 26.9 ticks left in the half. The PAT kick was good by Bagwell and the Cougars trailed by 13 points.

But the tide quickly turned when the speedy Seager went 63-yards untouched for the score with 15.1 seconds left in the half. The 2 point conversion was good and CP was quickly up 21 points, 35-14.

The speed of the Gophers and their hard-hitting, physical defense kept the Cougars under wrap. The Cougars had no spark.

Finley came back in the game in the second half, however he wasn't 100%.

There was no scoring in the third quarter. The Cougars had the football inside the Gopher's 2-yard line, but didn't score.

The Gophers added more points in the 4th quarter when Jacob Endsley scored on a 3- yard TD run. The PAT kick was good, 42-21 (CP).

The Cougars scored again when Eller threw a 51-yard TD pass to Finley. Bagwell's PAT kick was good for the gameending score of 42-21.

Offensively Finley had 88 yards in 10 carries and 2 TDs. Bennington had 75-yards on 18 carries and Bagwell had 197 all-purpose total yards.

Defensively, Eller had 16 tackles and Bennington had 10.

CP's Seager rushed for 285 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries for the host team.

Now the Cougars have to regroup for another hard-nose football team. The Cougars will travel to Michigantown for a battle with George Gilbert's Clinton Central Bulldogs, a team who lost to Tipton 30-8. The Bulldogs are 3-3 on the year. This is the last year for the Bulldogs coach, who plans to resign at the end of the year.

If the Cougars want to win this one they will have to play well on both sides of the ball and stop the Bulldogs' big guns. Let's support the team by being Cougar backers; Lets make some noise on the sidelines as well as in the stands.