Cougars Pounce Tornadoes

Cougars Pounce Tornadoes

RACINE, Ohio – The Southern Tornadoes hosted the Frontier Cougars Saturday, September 4, 2021 at the Roger Lee Adams Memorial Field.

The Cougars won the toss and chose to receive the ball. Tornadoes Derek Griffith kicked the ball to the 20 yard line where the Cougars took it and ran to the 28 yard line. On the first play for Frontier JD Schmidt passed to Tanner Bills and went 44 yards to the Southern 28 yard line. Frontier had two more first downs and got the ball to the three yard line where the Southern defense held, and took over on downs.

The Tornadoes marched the ball down the field to the 20 yard line, when they lost momentum, and was forced to punt. Frontier took possession on the 6 yard line at the 3:25 mark on the clock. Their first pass was thrown incomplete, but on second down they handed the ball to Tanner Bills and he broke away for a 77 yard run to the 17 yard line. After that long run the Tornadoes held strong and with 2:52 left in the quarter took back possession of the ball on the 22 yard line. On the first play of this set of downs, Southern’s quarterback Josiah Smith was picked off by Cougars Lucas Cox, who returned the ball for the game’s first score. The two point conversion was attempted twice with flags on both teams, and on the third attempt it was no good. So at the the 2:42 mark Frontier led the Tornadoes 6-0.

The Tornadoes received the kickoff at the 31 yard line, but went four and out, and punted the ball back to the Cougars, who finished the first quarter with the ball on the 43 yard line. The second quarter started and the Cougars marched on down the field and at the 8:58 mark led the Tornadoes 14-0.

Southern’s Derek Griffith received the kickoff on the 20 yard and returned it to the 30 yard line. On first down quarterback Josiah Smith ran the ball for four yards to the 34. His next play was a pass that was picked off by the Cougars Lucas Cox and ran back for six points. The kick for the extra point was good making the score 21-0 with 7:55 left in the half. Southern again attempted to push down the field starting at the 25 yard line. They moved the ball to the Cougars 45 yard line. On the next play quarterback Josiah Smith ran the ball to the 25 yard line, but the Tornadoes were penalized for holding, bringing the ball back to the 45. The next play was picked off by the Cougars. At the 4:49 mark the Cougars found the end zone again, after a failed extra point attempt led the Tornadoes 27-0. Southern started off the next possession at the 13 yard line where Blake Shain ran the ball to the 25 yard line. The Tornadoes were penalized for holding which brought the ball back to the 15 yard line. Southern passed to Derek Griffith who moved the ball to the 21 yard line. But that was as far as the Tornadoes went. With a second down run by Logan Hensler for no gain and a third down fumble recovered by Josiah Smith, the Tornadoes were forced to punt from the 17 yard line with 2:50 left in the half.

The Cougars took possession on the 48 yard line and moved the ball to the Southern 40 before handing the ball to Tanner Bills for a 40 yard touchdown run. With the extra point no good the Cougars lead was extended to 33-0 and ended the half.

With a running clock per league rules, the Tornadoes come out of the locker room looking to recover from a rough first half. They received the ball in the third quarter at the 20 yard line with Blake Shain running it back to the 32 yard line. The next play Josiah Smith kept the ball and made it to the 50 yard line. But that is as far as the Tornadoes would go, after a penalty for false start that moved them back five yards and a pass to Blake Shain that got them back to the 50 they had to punt tha ball away at the 8:52 mark.

The Cougars went four and out and the Tornadoes took possession at the 4:47 mark. Southern come out of the huddle and on first down attempted a hook and ladder play but Lincoln Rose was stopped for a loss of three yards. The Tornadoes got back to the original line of scrimmage, but on fourth down quarterback Josiah Smith was intercepted again, the Cougars ended the third quarter 33-0.

The Cougars started the fourth quarter on the 39 yard line and made it to the 44 yard line before having to punt to the Tornadoes. Southern started out on the 36 yard line, but didn’t go far as they were picked off again by the Cougars, the fifth interception of the game. The Cougars started out on the 42 yard line at the 6:06 mark and burnt the clock down to 2:59 mark before the Tornadoes took back over.

Southern moved the ball from the 39 yard line to the 17 yard line with runs from Logan Hensler, Josiah Smith, and Blake Shain before running out of time.

Final Score: Frontier Cougars 33 – Southern Tornadoes 0
The Tornadoes will travel to South Gallia next Friday.

Below are scenes from the game, photos by Carrie Rose.