Cougars fizzle, let Vikings win
By Mike Hoffman Contributing sportswriter

The Carroll Cougars finished regular season with a lot of questions needing answered. One was how can you have a 14-point lead going into the fourth quarter, and let the Vikings of North White score 17 unanswered points in the final quarter?

That's what happened to the Cougars Friday night. The North White Vikings fought hard in the trenches and came up with the 17-14 win, stopping a seven game losing streak.

The Cougar defense kept the Viking offense in check throughout the first three quarters. But the fourth quarter was a different story. The Viking offense broke free for two touchdowns and a game winning field goal as time ran out.

The Cougars didn't help themselves any either by committing major turnovers (3 fumbles and 1 interception), helping to put the Cougars' fire out.

Carroll took the opening kickoff and went east to west, picking up two quick first downs. Ben Bennington went 46 yards for the score as Skylar Bagwell kicked the extra point 7-0 Carroll, 10:14 (1).

After their first score the Cougars didn't play well offensively. They just didn't appear to be in sync.

But in the third quarter Deric Finley scored on a 59-yard run. Skylar Bagwell kicked the extra point for a 14-0 Carroll lead.

The way the Cougars started off I thought they were going to put a lot of points on the board. Key turnovers cost the team their momentum to keep going as drives were killed by the defense.

The Cougars were without the services of their veteran quarterback, Riley Eller, who should hopefully be ready for next week's game on both sides of the ball.

Finley gave 110%, but try as he might to fire up his team, it was to no avail. His team just didn't have any fighting spirit.

North White (2-7) rallied to tie and go ahead with Dustin Hileman's 14-yard TD pass to Travis Blount; Travis Rowe's 9-yard run and two point conversion; and David Marquez's 38-yard field goal as time ran out.

The Cougars finished regular season 3-6. They face a tough Sectional 35 opponent, (7-2) North Miami. The Warriors won seven straight before losing to 3- A Tippecanoe Valley and to 2-A Rochester. Friday night's game will be played at North Miami.

Good luck, Cougars. Bring home a victory.