Crosby clips Smiley 39-28

#1 Chris Destin pulls in the go ahead touchdown pass from QB Kellen Haynes in the 4th Qtr.

Crosby- In their biggest scare of the season, the Cougars eaked out a victory over the Golden Eagles of Smiley, final score 39-28, in Crosby’s Homecoming game. Cougar head coach, Larry Haynes had this to say after the game, “During the homecoming week, the players were preparing to play, not to win.”
After trailing 14-0 at the beginning of the game, and 22-14 at halftime to the last place team in District 21-4A, the Cougars went into the locker room shocked at what was supposed to be an easy game. Cougar running back Cleveland Archie said, “This just goes to show you that you can never underestimate any opponent.” Archie led the team with 95 yards rushing.
After a shaky first three quarters, with the score still knotted at 22-14, the Golden Eagles scored five seconds into the fourth quarter to seemingly put the game away, but as quarterback, Kellen Haynes stated, “It seemed like a long shot, but I knew that we had the ability to come through, all we had to do was execute.” And execute they did. The Cougar defense would not let Smiley score another point, and rolled up twenty-five points in the final 8:32 of the game, and their sixth victory of the year, and a 2-0 record in District.
Haynes threw five touchdowns and had 183 of his 242 passing yards in the second half. Senior, Chris Destin said after the game, “If they were going to cover me man-on-man I was confident that they would have problems.” Destin, had 8 catches for 185 yards and four TDs, three of them coming in the fourth quarter.
The Cougar defense, which had been steady all year, was on their heels after the fast start by Smiley, but settled down, and helped seal the game. With 1:26 left in the game, defensive back, Philip Beck, intercepted a pass, and returned it 37 yards for the final touchdown of the game. Beck, deflecting the spotlight off of himself, said, “This was a team win. The offense and defense came together to win this one.”
With just over a minute left to play, and Smiley with the ball, Linebacker Michael Garcia had the second Cougar interception of the evening to give the Coogs the win. “This is my senior year, and I want to help lead the team to the playoffs. I don’t want to let my teammates down,” Garcia said.
The Cougars will travel to Sheldon to play the 4-3, 1-1 C.E. King Panthers on October 25 at 7:30.