BAKER – The Mt. Lions traveled to East Hardy last Friday October 6th. Tucker County tried to slow down the undefeated Cougars, but the home team cruised to the 55-14 win over the Mt. Lions.
Tucker County won the coin toss and deferred their option until the second half. This gave East Hardy the ball to start the game. The Cougars wasted no time on their first possession as they needed just 3 plays. A 42 yard pass play started the drive and a 10 yard touchdown run capped off the drive to make the score 7-0 East Hardy with 11:18 left in the first quarter. The Tucker County offense struggled to move the ball and was forced to punt the ball back to the Cougars. East Hardy then put together an 8 play 68 yard drive that was finished off on a 12 yard touchdown pass. The PAT kick was good to push the Cougars lead to 14-0 with 4:42 left in the first. The Mt. Lions fumbled the ball on the ensuing kick and East Hardy recovered at the Tucker County 31 yard line. The Cougars would then score again on a 4 yard touchdown run with 3:15 left in the first. The PAT kick was good to make the score 21-0 East Hardy.
In the second quarter things did not get better for Tucker County as they were forced to punt after picking up 1 first down on offense. East Hardy then needed just 2 plays as they connected on a 44 yard pass completion and a 14 yard touchdown pass. The 2 point conversion was good to push the Cougars lead to 29-0 with 11:54 left in the second quarter. Tucker County would punt on their next drive, but Ben Cromer stepped in front of a Cougar pass to collect the interception at the Tucker County 2 yard line. The Mt. Lions were unable to capitalize on the turnover as Luke Poling would throw an interception on 3rd down play at the Mt. Lions 34 yard line. The Cougars then score again off a 5 yard touchdown run. The 2 point conversion failed to make the score 35-0 East Hardy with 7:47 left in the first half. The Cougars got the ball back once again after a Mt. Lions punt. East Hardy then scored again on a 26 yard touchdown pass with 4:34 left in the second quarter. The PAT kick failed to give the Cougars a 41-0 advantage. Tucker County then put together a nice drive on offense that allowed the Mt. Lions to get down to the Cougars 11 yard line. Then Luke Poling tossed another interception that was returned 100 yards for a touchdown. The PAT kick was good to make the score 48-0 East Hardy at the half.
Tucker County received the kick to start the third quarter, but the Mt. Lions were unable to move the chains to keep the drive going. East Hardy then would throw another interception to Ben Cromer to give the ball back to the Mt. Lions. Tucker County then put together their best drive of the night as they took the ball down to the East Hardy 14. The Mt. Lions could not pick up the first down and turned the ball over on downs at the Cougars 15. East Hardy then added a score on a 20 yard touchdown run to make the score 55-0 with 4:15 left in the third quarter. Tucker County would then score their first points of the contest on their next possession. Liam Hood connected with Ben Cromer on a 46 yard touchdown pass with 3:51 left in the third. The 2 point conversion was good to put the score to 55-8 Cougars. Tucker County would get on the scoreboard one more time with 6:40 left in the fourth quarter on a 4 yard touchdown run by Brett Reall. The 2 point conversion failed to make the score 55-14 Cougars. The rest of the fourth quarter would run out without a score from either team to give East Hardy the win by the final score of 55-14.
Brett Reall led the Mt. Lions in rushing with 10 carries for 63 yards. Luke Poling finished with 8 of 21 passing for 83 yards and Liam Hood was 2 of 5 passing for 59 yards. Ben Cromer added 3 receptions for 73 yards receiving and Cole Rapp had 2 receptions for 41 yards for the Mt. Lions in the loss. East Hardy was led by Clay Skovron with 209 yards passing.
Tucker County(2-5) will be off this week and will host Pendleton County on Friday October 20th, kickoff is set for 7pm. Audio Broadcast Coverage will be provided by WELK 94.7FM with pregame starting at 6:30pm. For more Tucker County Sports info visit TuckerCountySports.Com
