The question on the sideline and in the stands as the final horn sounded in the first round of Sectional 35 was, what happened to the Cougars?

The Class A 10th ranked Pioneer Panthers hosted the game with both teams sporting identical 7-2 records. It had the makings of a real barnburner, however the Pioneer Panthers came to play and the Cougars came along for the ride. Final score was 50-7, PHS.

The Panthers won the toss and elected to receive the kickoff. On the Panthers opening possession the Cougar defense held them for a three and out. But on the ensuing play, the Panthers faked the punt. Punter Steven Miller completed a 21-yard pass to a wide open wide out Riley Thimlar for a first down. The Cougar defense fell for the fake, as the Panthers went onto a 14- play, 74-yard drive that ended with a two yard touchdown run by Nate Grigsby. The PAT kick was good.

The score at the end of the first quarter was 7-0, Pioneer. The Cougar offense seemed befuddled by the aggressive Panthers. Maybe some of the Cougars just figured they had a winning season so going home 7-3 seemed good enough. There were some Cougars who blocked and tackled and gave 110%.

In the second quarter the Panthers opened with 29 unanswered points.

Sophomore Nate Grigsby scored on a 61-yard run and the PAT was good. At this point the Cougars still had a chance, but Grigsby added another TD on a 2-yard run. Quarterback Tyler Miller threw 2 TD passes to Logan Brock - one for 24 yards and the other for 7 yards.

Also in the second quarter the Panther defense tackled Cougar QB Riley Eller in the end zone for a safety.

By the time the second quarter was finally over, some of the Cougar faithful had had enough. They were cold and unhappy. And when the second half started the only noise from the east end of the field was from the CHS cheerleaders. There was no spark in this team, no fire in the furnace. Even the pilot light was out. There was no senior leadership on the sidelines, nothing at all.

The Panthers put 14- points on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter. A 24- yard TD run by Grigsby and a 38-yard interception return by Josh Rance gave the Panthers a 50-point lead. The Cougars spoiled the shutout when senior Ben Bennington scored on a 7-yard run. Skylar Bagwell's PAT kick was good.

"Who knows what would have happened," commented Cougar Coach Steve Keown, "if Pioneer didn't convert the fake punt? It's just one of those things where things got rolling for them. We just couldn't seem to get anything going."

The seniors played a big role in this year's 7-3 team. They brought Carroll Cougar football back to its winning ways and laid the blue print for the younger players. A big thank you to Steven Ardensen Skylar Bagwell, Ben Bennington, Riley Eller, Thomas Gilliam, Dalton Hicks, Randy Hoffman, Chandler Keown, Josh Pine, Travis Martin, Adam Spesard, Carson Spesard and Primmer Zook.

Coach Keown's 2009 team will have some big shoes to fill between now and next August. And it should be another exciting season of football. Carroll football is back!