RIVER FOREST, ILL. — In a hard-fought battle on the gridiron, the Cougars faced a disappointing defeat against the Warriors, struggling to find their rhythm on both offense and defense. Despite flashes of potential, the Cougars were unable to capitalize on scoring opportunities, while their defense faltered under the pressure from the Warriors' dynamic attack. A final score of 49-14 saw the Cougars in a permanent deficit.
INSIDE THE BOX
- Two Cougars saw time in the quarterback position as Colton Bosch (Coopersville, Mich.) threw for 156 yards on 17 completions while Troy Pratley (St. Joseph, Mich.) picked up 27 yards on the ground.
- Joron Brown (St. Joseph, Mich.) led on the ground with 48 yards on 12 attempts.
- Devin Bledsoe (St. Charles, Mo.) secured three receptions for 75 yards including one touchdown.
- Dennis Vanderplow (Livonia, Mich.) kicked a career-high 266 yards on seven punts.
- Travon Thomas (Wauchula, Fla.) led charge for the defense with ten total tackles and two forced fumbles.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST QUARTER
The Cougars won the coin toss and deferred to the second half, giving the Warriors the chance to strike first, which they capitalized on. Marching their way down field off the bat, the Warriors would jump ahead 7-0 with ten and a half minutes to play. Unable to convert on their first chances, the Cougars punted and allowed the Warriors to put up another seven and extend their lead to 14-0. With the Cougars blanking for the remainder of the quarter, another deep pass for the Warriors would leave the Cougars trailing by three touchdowns after the first 15 minutes.
SECOND QUARTER
The second quarter would pose as equally stressful as the Cougars fell behind by as much as 42 points before a strong offensive drive would start them on the path to success.
Yardage from Brown, Henry Jones IV (Atlanta, Ga.), and Randle Bills (Florrisant, Mo.) would help them find the endzone for the first time of the day with under a minute to play in the half. A short middle pass from Bosch to Bills would help the Cougars slowly start to chip away at the Warrior lead, and bring the score to 42-7.
With not much time on the clock after the Cougar touchdown, the Spartans would head into half with a 42-7 lead.
THIRD QUARTER
The Cougars would score their second and last touchdown of the day on their first drive of the new half with a deep pass to Bledsoe.
Despite scoring early, the Cougars would fall stagnant for the remainder of the quarter, but also hold the Warriors scoreless for the only quarter of the game.
FOURTH QUARTER
The Cougars would hold the Warriors to one more score in the fourth quarter, but would be unable to put points on the board themselves. Yards from Brown, Bledsoe, Manuel Mendoza (Ceres, Calif.), Jayce Levy (Davenport, Iowa), and Blake Henson (Potosi, Mo., ) would contribute, but be unsuccessful in finding the endzone.
The Cougars will take their bye-week in the upcoming week, but will be back on November 9th as they take the field in Mequon to take on Concordia University Wisconsin. Coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
