Cougars corner the Mavericks
By Mary Hefta
Although the first seven minutes of Central McLean football seemed to be full of jitters, the Cougars, who hosted the Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood Mavericks in the second round of playoffs in nine man football action last Saturday in Turtle Lake, were able to bolster their confidence and take control of the game. Central McLean played tough defense on the Maverick’s first possession of the game with huge tackles from junior linebackers Grant Singer and Ben Duben. Despite that great defense, however, the Cougars fumbled on their first series of downs and MLS took over at the Central McLean 48-yard line. MLS was able to create a few successful passing plays to keep the drive alive and put the first points on the board after a seven yard rushing touchdown by Jake Rasmussen. The extra point was successful and the Mavericks led 7-0 with 5:37 left in the first quarter. It took two more possession changes to get the Cougars on the board. Junior Ben Duben recovered an MLS fumble on the Maverick 24-yard line, which set up a 27-yard run with just 27 seconds left in the first quarter. Singer also dove for the two-point conversion to lift Central McLean to an 8-6 lead at the end of the first quarter of playoff action. Huge defense from Duben in the early minutes of the second quarter put the ball back in Cougar hands. Big yardage from both Singer and senior back Sam Hultberg set up first and goal, with Singer running seven yards for his second touchdown of the game. With 7:11 remaining in the half the Cougars had the advantage, 14-7. Neither team would score in the lingering minutes of the first half of play.
