ADEL —
Within a matter of three minutes, everything changed.
Americus-Sumter went from being on top 7-0 to down 14-7 and could never recover as No. 4 Cook rolled to a 42-14 win Friday night.
The Panthers had 150 yards of offense, and the Hornets converted two turnovers into 14 points and recovered a block punt in the end zone to help their cause.
“I just thought we didn’t respond well to some adversity,” said coach Michael Pollock. “I’ve got to have us ready for that stuff. The biggest thing I think we need to work on is just maintaining our composure and keeping ourselves focused, and to not let this defeat affect us later.”
Americus-Sumter showed up ready to play. After forcing a three-and-out on the opening series, the Panthers marched 62 yards in six plays with Malik Thomas finding a wide open Tyran Goober over the middle for a 36-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
Cook tied the game on a 11-play drive with Quinton Cayo scoring on a quarterback keeper; the Hornets used a variety of players at the quarterback position.
But on the drive, Goober just missed a pick-six on and instead of being ahead by two scores, the game was tied. The momentum changed for good on the next Panther series.
The Cook defense managed to strip Jonathan Battle as Justin Shaw scooped it up and took it 44 yards for the go-ahead score. It was all downhill from there.
The Hornets blocked a punt, and Xavier Wallace recovered it in the end zone for a 21-7 lead. Zach Folsom hit Davontae Brown on a screen for a 34-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-19, and then with 11.2 seconds left, Shannon Brown punched it in from a yard out to give Cook a 35-7 halftime lead.
After the opening touchdown, Americus-Sumter had 11 yards and three turnovers the rest of the half.
“If (Goober) intercepts the ball and take it back to the house, we have a 14-0 lead playing with confidence, and they’re questioning themselves,” said Pollock. “We lost focus, and I think some of our inexperience showed.
“It’s our first road game playing a very much of a veteran team in Cook. They’re used to being there; they’ve been in the playoffs 10 straight years and have had a lot of success. We’re trying to find success. We just need to learn to work through those things and not just shoot ourselves in the foot.”
After a three-and-out to start the second half — which ended in one of several fumbles from the center-quarterback exchange — Cook struck on its first play for a 66-yard score, only to be brought back because of a penalty.
The Hornets scored with 46.5 seconds left in the third quarter when Folsom faked left and went back to the swing pass to the right in which Brown scored from 67 yards out.
Folsom finished the night 12 of 25 for 192 yards and an interception.
With the game in hand and second stringers in, the Panthers scored with 2:04 left on a Thomas Haugabook run from 36 yards out.
Americus-Sumter had 71 yards rushing on 32 attempts, and Thomas was 7 of 12 for 79 yards with an interception.
Pollock said nothing caught them by surprise, but the execution was off.
“I just felt like the whole night we didn’t really show what we’re capable of doing with the exception of the first drive defensively, and the first drive offensively,” said Pollock. “Cook is not 28 points better than we are. We gave them so much, but they’re a good team, and they took advantage of it. I think we had a couple of bad things happen early, and started losing focus on what our assignments were.”
Pollock added: “We’ll build off this loss. I think this whole experience will help us compete better against better teams anyway. We’re not as bad of a football team as we showed Friday night.”
The Panthers don’t have a lot of time to prepare this week as they travel to Troup for a Thursday night clash. Troup beat Crisp County 30-24.
“Troup is feeling good about themselves,” said Pollock. “We’ll take the show on the road. We have to learn to play outside the friendly confines of our home facility. This week will tell a lot of what we’re made of.”
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Related Photos
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Americus-Sumter’s Thomas Haugabook gets his arms around Cook’s Shannon Brown to make the tackle in the first quarter on Friday. Brown got to the 3, and Cook scored on the next play. Chris Whitaker/ATR
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Americus-Sumter’s Dwayne Waters makes a leaping catch while Cook’s Earnest Williams defends on the play. Chris Whitaker/ATR
Hornets cook Panthers 42-14
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