Published: November 19, 2008 02:41 pm            

County crushes Collins: Workhorse Graves rushes for 237 yards on 46 carries, putting senior over 2,000-yard mark for season

NEWTON — By Marty Stamper

The Newton Record

The Newton County Cougars used a strong game of ‘keep away’ to keep their MHSAA Class 3A state championship hopes alive for at least another week.

The Cougars outscored Collins 19-0 in the second half to turn a 14-14 halftime tie into a 33-14 victory in the second round of the Class 3A playoffs Friday night at Collins.

In improving to 11-1, the Cougars advance to a third-round contest with Tylertown, 10-0, this Friday at Decatur. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Collins finished with a 6-6 record.

Floyd Graves had yet another career night for the Cougars as he rushed a whopping 46 times for 237 yards and all five of Newton County’s touchdowns.

Paving the way for Graves’ success were center Jacob Scoggin (5-10, 210), right guard Kalvin Smith (6-0, 280), left guard Fred Smith (6-2, 270), right tackle Tyler Nelson (6-0, 220), left guard Richie Ferguson (5-11, 205), and tight ends John McDougle (5-11, 215) and Justin Griffith (5-9, 180). All seven are seniors.

“That’s the strength of our team,” Newton County head coach Jeff Breland said of his veteran line.

To say Newton County dominated the second half would be putting it mildly. The Cougars had the ball 18 minutes and 40 seconds to Collins’ five minutes and 20 seconds time of possession. Over that span, Newton County picked up 10 first downs and 155 total yards to two first downs and 46 total yards for the Tigers.

For the game, the Cougars had 308 total yards with 273 coming on 59 rushes. Collins had 263 total yards with the Tigers picking up 197 yards in the air on a 6-of-17 passing effort.

“We made a few adjustments at the half with our blocking schemes and pretty much ran right at them in the second half,” Breland said. “We did a little better job controlling the clock and keeping it away from their offense.

“Floyd ran pretty well. I told him after the game that he better take his offensive line and his fullback out for supper over the weekend.

“Our fullback Shadairus (Robinson) had a big night. He had some big runs in the second half that kept some drives alive and he did an excellent job blocking.

“Floyd had a big second half. And the first half we moved the ball well. We scored on two drives and we turned it over on four downs one time around their 25. We punted one time in the first half. We moved the ball well. We had four possessions and scored on two of them.”

Collins turned a couple short passes in the first half into nearly 50-yard scores due in large part to some poor tackling by the Cougars.

“We had a bunch of missed tackles on those two plays,” Breland said. “They were short passes and we had a bunch of missed tackles and they wound up scoring on them.”

After forcing Collins to punt, Newton County took a 7-0 lead with 7:06 to go in the first quarter as the Cougars drove 42 yards in seven plays with Graves scoring on a 20-yard run. Aaron Scoggin kicked the extra point.

With 3:08 left in the opening period, Collins pulled to within 7-6 on a 49-yard catch and run from quarterback Robert Crosby to A.J. Magee. Coby Clark was wide left on the extra point, leaving the Cougars with a one-point edge.

Crosby teamed with Maurice Keys for a 48-yard scoring play with 3:33 to go in the second quarter. A two-point run put the Tigers up 14-7.

Newton County answered quickly and with authority to enter halftime knotted at 14. It took the Cougars only three plays and 67 seconds to cover 53 yards for the tying touchdown. Graves got loose on a 39-yard run with Scoggin’s PAT tying the contest at 14.

“That was big,” Breland said.

Collins threatened again before the break, but Newton County held on downs deep in Cougar territory to remain even.

“They got it down to the 5 with about a minute to go and we held them on four downs,” Breland said.

“We didn’t even raise our voices at halftime. They just came out and decided it was time to kick it up and we did and played a lot better.”

The Cougars took advantage of a short punt by the Tigers and a turnover to take a two-touchdown lead in the third quarter.

Graves got his third touchdown of the night on a 3-yard run with 5:57 remaining in the third quarter. Scoggin’s kick sailed wide right, leaving the Cougars with a 20-14 advantage. The six-play scoring drive covered 39 yards.

Another 39-yard drive capped by a 3-yard touchdown run by Graves gave County a 26-14 lead with 46 seconds to go in the third quarter. A two-point attempt was no good.

Newton County then ground out much of the clock with a 17-play, 65-yard scoring drive. Graves got his fifth touchdown of the night on a 1-yard run with 2:20 left in the game. Scoggin’s kick was good.

A fumble recovery by Tyler Robinson set the stage for the long scoring march.

“In the fourth quarter, they only had it for a minute and 46 seconds,” Breland said.

Ellis Thompson, Kirby Bishop, and Matthew Ezell led the Cougars in tackles with six each. C.J. Mapp had five. Robinson and Bishop each had an interception.

        

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