COSBY-Both Cosby (4-6, 3-2) and Unaka (5-5, 4-1) were pumped and so were their fans in a jammed-packed Virgil Ball Stadium Thursday night as a playoff atmosphere surrounded Raymond Large Field. After all, a playoff berth was on the line for one team, and the season would probably end for the other.

Following four quarters of smash-mouth, high-energy football, and a brawl late in the game that emptied both sidelines onto the field, the Rangers got the better of the Eagles, and came away with a 21-8 victory, sending the Rangers into the playoffs as the number two 2A seed out of Region 1A.

"It came down to which team wanted it more tonight," said Cosby head coach Tyler Shelton, "and Unaka wanted it more. My hats off to them. They came in fired up and ready to play tonight and weren't intimidated. Their coaching staff had a great game plan, and they deserved this win."

The Rangers' game plan was evident from the opening kick, and that was to keep the ball away from Cosby's most dangerous weapon, Robert Herzog.

"It was obvious," said coach Shelton. "They didn't want Robert (Herzog) to beat them tonight, so they kept the ball away from him."

Ranger kickoffs and punts were either short-kicked or sidelined away from Herzog, and while the Eagles were on offense, the Ranger defense double and sometimes triple-teamed the junior.

The Eagles won the toss and elected to start on offense. On their first possession, the running game was working with sophomore Nick Koenig pounding out 23 yards. Koenig finished the night with 18 carries for 69 yards. But, when the Eagles needed the passing game, it wasn't there.

"Nick (Koenig) did his job, and our line was blocking well," said coach Shelton. "But we had no balance tonight. We had no passing game. It was non-existent."

The Eagles attempted 23 passes on the night, completed just five for only 25 yards, and gave up two interceptions.

"That was our downfall," said coach Shelton. "Our passing game was improving the last three games, but just disappeared tonight."

The Rangers finished with 243 yards on the night compared to 155 for the Eagles. The Rangers suffered 11 penalties for 86 yards while the Eagles were flagged five times for 35 yards.

The Rangers got on the board first with 4:42 remaining in the first quarter when Ethan Richards found the end zone from seven yards out to finish off a seven-play, 71-yard drive. The attempt at a two-point conversion failed.

The Rangers scored again with 1:11 remaining in the first half on an eight-play, 90-yard drive capped by a Richards' four-yard run. The two-point conversion was successful to make it 14-0 at the break.

The Rangers scored for the final time with 2:37 remaining in the game on a Logan Taylor eight-yard run. Drew Chambers booted the extra point to make it 21-0.

The game was marred by a brawl at mid-field with just over two minutes remaining. Both teams rushed from the sidelines while coaches, officials and eventually security tried to separate the players. In the end, officials ejected two players from each team, and sent starters to the sidelines to finish out the game.

The Eagles averted the shutout when senior Robbie Whitted punched it in from two yards out with three seconds remaining. Freshman quarterback Drew Schreder threw a pass to E.J. Harlin to complete the two-point conversion as the clock expired.

"We turned the ball over tonight," said coach Shelton, "and didn't create the turnovers that we normally get.

"We're really disappointed," said coach Shelton. "This was a heartbreaker. I just hate it for our seniors. We nearly made it a .500 season. If you would have asked me before the start of the season would I take 5-5, I would have. We're so young and had absolutely no experience with both our offensive and defensive lines. And, we played a tough schedule."

But, there were no excuses about that tough schedule that included three 3A schools.

"I know with this new classification system, a lot of teams were playing a powder puff schedule to get into the playoffs," said coach Shelton. "I just don't believe in that at all. I believe you have to earn your way into the playoffs, and to get better as a team, you have to play a tough schedule. And we'll continue to do that."

Despite the loss, the Eagles definitely have plenty to build on for the 2010 season.

COSBY-Everyone was all pinked out! Fans heeded the Cosby Eagles' call for Pink-Out Night as they helped support the fight against breast cancer by decking out in pink at Virgil Ball Stadium Friday night. The Eagles responded by wearing pink ribbons on their helmets, pink socks, and head coach Tyler Shelton and his assistants went out of their way to paint a giant pink ribbon in the middle of the football field.

But, when it came to playing the game, the Eagles (4-5) were humbled by the Cumberland Gap Panthers (4-5) 48-25.

"The better team did not win this game tonight," said Eagles' head coach Tyler Shelton. "It was a matter of execution. We didn't! We missed so many plays. We had dropped passes, turnovers, it was all about execution on both sides of the ball. Despite all of that, we kept on fighting and we were hanging tough. We just gave up too many big plays."

The final score was not indicative of what went on in the first three quarters. Both teams fighting tooth and nail with the score going back and forth. But when it came to the final stanza, Cosby's wheels simply came off.

"We managed to come back to make it a close ball game," said coach Shelton, "but our miscues killed us. We just kept giving the ball away."

Cumberland Gap was at a disadvantage, not because they were on the road, but because of the loss of starting quarterback Ryan Shipley, who was on crutches watching from the sideline. The senior 230-pounder has accounted for over 75% of the Panthers' offensive output this season. But his injury left the quarterbacking chores in the hands of freshman Blake Franklin. Franklin was 13-26 through the air for 335 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions. He also rushed 15 times for 75 yards and a touchdown.

The big plays that eventually did the Eagles in mostly came off screen passes, one that went for 75 yards, another that went for 69 yards and still another that went for 55 yards.

The Panthers piled up 484 yards on offense compared to 226 for Cosby.

The bulk of the Eagles' yardage came on the running of sophomore tailback Nick Koenig, who finished with 24 carries, including runs of 32, 25 and 20 yards, for 216 yards and two touchdowns.

"We did a good job of running the ball tonight," said coach Shelton. "Nick did a great job for us. We were simply taking what they gave us."

Senior quarterback Jordan Cates finished with 9-26 passing for 116 yards and a touchdown, but many of his on-target passes were dropped.

Junior Robert Herzog led the Eagle receiving corp with five catches for 69 yards and a touchdown, a 15-yarder. Livingston finished with two catches for 42 yards.

The Eagles fumbled the ball nine times, but managed to recover seven of them. There were also two interceptions thrown in. The Panthers fumbled twice, both recovered by the Eagles, and threw an interception, a pick by Robbie Livingston, who returned it 23 yards.

The Eagles fourth touchdown came on special teams when Herzog pulled off a reverse and sprinted 85 yards to the end zone. On the night, Herzog had three returns for 152 yards while Livingston had two returns for 27 yards.

Defensively, the Eagles were led by Koenig, who finished with nine tackles, while senior Nick Baxter added seven put-downs.

Penalties favored Cosby as the Eagles were flagged four times for 40 yards while the Panthers were whistled 12 times for 90 yards.

One must also remember that Cumberland Gap was yet another 3A school on the Eagles' schedule.

"It is a tough schedule," said coach Shelton, "But, you need a tough schedule to get you ready for the playoffs. It helps us grow up. We've been overmatched in strength, weigh, size and numbers, but that all makes us tougher.

Which leads to the last regular season game on that schedule, a huge showdown with Region 1A foe Unaka this coming Thursday night, October 29.

"We can't chew on this loss tonight," said coach Shelton. "Hopefully it taught us a lesson. Right now, we've got to focus on Unaka. We've got to get mental for this one. If we win, we're in the playoffs. If we lose, we probably won't get in through a wild card because of our overall record. It's that simple. We're going to need all of the support we can get, so we're hoping for a huge and loud Cosby crowd on Thursday night."

Coaches and players would also like to remind Cosby fans that Thursday night will be BLACK-OUT NIGHT. They're reminding everyone to wear black as they come out to help support the Newport/Cocke County Boys & Girls Club.

Thursday night will also be Senior Night, as the five Eagle seniors, Jordan Cates, Cody Butler, Nick Baxter, Robbie Whitted and Todd Logan will be introduced and honored by the coaches and players.

Thursday night's game will also be broadcast live on WLIK, AM-1270, with Steve Souder providing the play-by-play and Jody Lowe the commentary. Kick off is set for 7:30 p.m.

BAILEYTON-Four games into the season, and the Cosby Eagles (4-4, 3-1) were still looking for their first victory. Many would say they're young, they're rebuilding, maybe look forward to next year. But, someone forgot to tell the Eagles.

Since that four-game losing streak to start the season, this gritty bunch have fought their way back into the mix. With a key 25-0 victory Friday night at North Greene, the Eagles have won four straight to even their record. Even more key is that the victory over the Huskies (0-9, 0-4) was in Region 1A, and with Unaka's loss to Hampton Friday night, the Eagles and the Rangers are even at 3-1 in the Region 1A standings, one of which will get the second playoff spot.

When the Eagles started winning games, head coach Tyler Shelton knew they were controlling their own destiny.

"It's a position you want to be in," said coach Shelton. "You don't want the outcome of some other game to determine whether you get in or not. You want control of that yourself and that's the way it has worked for us so far."

The Eagles victory and the Rangers loss sets up a huge showdown to finish out the regular season on Friday, October 30, at the Eagles' Nest where the Eagles and Rangers will square off for the second playoff spot out of Region 1A. But, that's two weeks away and there's another football game in between for both schools.

On Friday at North Greene, the Eagles wanted to take care of business. And, although they got off to a slow start, they took care of business with the shutout.

"We started out flat," said coach Shelton. "We were only up 6-0 in the first half. We were not happy with the way we played the first two quarters. The intensity and focus weren't there. I think the bye week may have had something to do with that."

But, as has been the case in many of their games this season, the second half was a different story.

"We played much better in the second half," said coach Shelton. "But, you have to give a lot of credit to North Greene. They came out and played really hard tonight and gave us a tough game. You just can't overlook a team based on their record."

The lone score in the first half went the Eagles' way as senior quarterback Jordan Cates hit Robert Herzog with a four-yard touchdown pass with 9:12 remaining in the second quarter. The extra point try was no good and the first half ended with the Eagles leading 6-0.

While the Eagle offense was trying to warm up, the Eagle defense was putting on another stellar performance. For the game, Cosby's defensive unit allowed the Huskies just 153 total yards, 63 through the air and 90 on the ground. In the process, the Eagles forced four Huskie turnovers, two fumbles and two interceptions. Nick Koenig led the defensive charge with eight tackles and a fumble recovery, but it was another outstanding night for senior Todd Logan who had seven tackles and, even more important, three sacks. Robbie Whitted chipped in with five tackles and a fumble recovery. And, it was the defense that got the Eagles going to start the second half.

With three minutes remaining in the third quarter, Herzog stepped in front of the Huskies' Tanner O'Laughlin pass and ran it into the end zone from 28 yards out to give the Eagles a 12-0 lead.

The Eagle defense set up their next score as well. With 11:50 remaining in the game, Whitted recovered a fumble on the Cosby 48 yard line. And, a few plays later, Koenig toted the ball into the end zone from 10 yards out. With Whitted's extra point boot, the Eagles were on cruise control, 19-0.

The Eagles final score came with 2:05 remaining. Starting from midfield, the Eagles finished off the drive when Cates, on a quarterback keeper, found the end zone to close out the scoring 25-0.

The Eagles had 237 yards on offense on the evening. Cates finished the evening 6-12 through the air for 24 yards, a touchdown and an interception while freshman Drew Schreder was 1-1 for seven yards. The ground game belonged to Koenig as the sophomore had 22 totes for 179 yards and a touchdown.

"Nick was a real workhorse for us tonight," said coach Shelton. "He played really well and got us some good runs. You've got to put the spotlight on Robert (Herzog) too. Robert really has a nose for the football and he does a lot of great things for us on defense, offense and special teams. A couple of calls tonight kept him from getting a couple of more touchdowns."

With the victory in hand and the record all square, the Eagles will play the final two games of the regular season on home turf. Next up, the Eagles will play out of District when they welcome Cumberland Gap to Raymond Large Field next Friday night, October 23.

"We came out lazy tonight, and we have to fix that by Monday, "said coach Shelton. "Cumberland Gap is a tough team and this is going to be a tough game for us, so we're going to have to step up our game."

Cumberland Gap (3A) fell to Claiborne 28-26 Friday night, and is now 3-5 on the season.

The Eagles also have plans to surround their final two regular season games with special nights beginning with Cumberland Gap next Friday night, October 23.

"We're going to have a PINK-OUT NIGHT," said coach Shelton. "We hope everyone will wear pink when they come to the game in honor of breast cancer awareness. We're going to have some other things going on and hopefully some t-shirts to help raise funds for this very important cause."

And for the final regular season game against Unaka on October 30, black will be the color.

"That will be BLACK-OUT NIGHT," said coach Shelton. "We want everyone coming to the game to wear black. That night, we're going to try to help out the Newport/Cocke County Boys & Girls Club, another important cause right here in our own back yard."

REGION 1A: In addition to Cosby's 25-0 victory over North Greene, there were two other Region 1A games on Friday night. In a battle for sole supremacy of the Region, Hampton (7-1, 4-0) downed Unaka (4-4, 3-1) 37-8 while Cloudland (2-6, 2-2) rolled past Hancock County (1-7, 0-4) 28-0.

COSBY-It was a good old-fashioned slugfest at the Eagles' Nest Friday night as the Cosby Eagles (3-4, 2-1) outlasted the Cloudland Highlanders (2-5, 1-2) 13-7 for their third straight victory.

"This was just a tough, physical football game," said Eagles' head coach Tyler Shelton. "My hats off to Cloudland and coach Robbie Turbyfill. He had his boys ready to play tonight. I don't know what it is, but we always seem to have tough, physical games with them."

If teams were to win on statistics, this game belonged to Cloudland. The Highlanders had 225 yards rushing on 38 carries, led by junior running back Matt Cole's 130 yards, while senior quarterback Seth Miller was four-of-seven passing for 49 yards. The Eagles, on the other hand, managed only 51 yards rushing, led by sophomore tailback Nick Koenig's 72 yards (the Highlanders had tackles that netted minus 34 yards for the Eagles), while senior quarterback Jordan Cates was seven-for-twelve passing for 69 yards. That's 274 yards of offense for the Highlanders compared to 120 for the Eagles.

So, what happened? Turnovers! The Highlanders committed four fumbles and were intercepted twice, both picks by Robert Herzog. And, trailing 13-7 midway through the fourth quarter and desperately needing the football back for one final drive, the Highlanders were twice called for pass interference, allowing the Eagles to extend a drive that ate up four minutes and 20 seconds on the clock, leaving only one minute and 41 seconds for the Highlanders to get something done. They didn't thanks to the Eagles stellar defensive play on the night.

"The defense made some big plays for us tonight," said coach Shelton, "and we were able to take advantage of opportunities. We use CPR on defense, Club, Punch and Rip, and it worked for us tonight. Their turnovers kept the momentum in our favor."

The Highlanders turned out to be their own worst enemy with the six turnovers and costly penalties at critical times, overshadowing a dynamic rushing attack.

"They scared me," said coach Shelton. "They were tough, they were physical and they moved the ball on us. They sent backs in waves at us. We were particularly concerned with Number 1 (Logan Morgan) because they use him much like we use Robert (Herzog). They move him around and try to get him the ball. He's always a threat. But we managed to keep them from making big plays tonight."

Morgan ended the night with nine carries for 40 yards and had one pass reception for 15 yards. Herzog, on the other hand, in addition to his two interceptions on defense, had four receptions for 27 yards and a touchdown.

Amazingly, Cloudland had no punts in the game, mainly because of turnovers. Cosby punted three times, one of which the Highlanders mishandled, giving the ball back to the Eagles.

The Eagles went into halftime with a 13-0 advantage. Their first score came with 8:35 remaining in the second quarter when Cates hit Herzog with a 22-yard pass into the end zone. Robbie Whitted booted the extra point to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead. The Eagles final score came with 3:53 remaining in the second quarter when Cates connected with Robbie Livingston, who dove across the goal line for a 22-yard touchdown. Whitted's extra point attempt was blocked, but the Eagles headed into the locker room with a 13-0 lead.

The Eagle defense remained stout, forcing more turnovers before the Highlanders finally got on the scoreboard with 6:09 left in the game. Miller took the snap from center, and sneaked into the end zone from three yards out capping an 11-play, 60-yard drive. The extra point kick was good to end the scoring at 13-7.

The Highlanders had one final chance with 1:41 remaining starting from their own 14 yard line, but the Eagle defense stiffened, and with an offensive pass interference call, the Eagles held on for the victory.

"There's no doubt about it that this was a huge win for us tonight," said coach Shelton. "It's a win in our Region. The team is finally coming together. We're getting good play from both sides of the football and from our bench. The squad has been focused and they've been practicing really well. I'm really proud of the way our kids responded tonight. It's happening at the right time, but we still have some work to do."

The Eagles have three games remaining on their regular season schedule, but will get a much needed rest for the next two weeks.

"We're off next Friday night," said coach Shelton, "and we really needed it. We're going to take a break, try to get rid of the sickness that has affected some of our players and heal up some of those bumps and bruises we've been playing with."

Region 1A: In other Region 1A action Friday night, Hampton (5-1, 3-0) rolled past Hancock County (1-6, 0-3) 50-20 while Unaka (3-3, 3-0) ripped North Greene (0-7, 0-3) 35-0.

The Eagles return to action on Friday, October 16, when they travel to North Greene.

"Right now we're only concerned with the other 1-A schools in our Region," said coach Shelton. "and that's Unaka and North Greene. If we want to get into the playoffs, we have to take care of those two teams."

The Eagles will finish out the regular season against Unaka at the Eagles' Nest on Friday, October 30.

EAGLES JV OVER BLACK KNIGHTS

The Cosby junior varsity squad was to have hosted Chuckey-Doak on Monday night. However, Raymond Large Field was a muddy mess, so the contest was moved to Chuckey-Doak. And, the contest had a familiarity to it, nearly an exact duplicate of the varsity game won by Cosby last Friday night at 'The Black Hole.'

The Eagles controlled the field for most of the first half, but trailed at the break. Special teams' miscues and turnovers kept the Eagles from finishing drives. Along with a couple of missed assignments on defense, and the Eagles trailed the Black Knights 12-8 as both teams headed to the locker room.

Eagles head coach Larry Proffitt lit a fire under his youthful Eagles at the break, telling his squad that the better team was not leading on the scoreboard. Coaches Schreder and Cureton made some defensive and offensive line adjustments and special teams assignments were finalized for the start of the second half.

The final two quarters proved to be much different that the first two for the Eagles. Sharp passing by quarterback Drew Schreder, along with key receptions by Jamison Manning, Jacob Baxter and Timmy Patterson added to some tough running by Chris Lee to spark the offenses' success in the second half.

"It was great," said coach Proffitt. "Coach Schreder schemed our defeisive sets and called a great defensive game for us. The Doaksters were held to negative yards on offense in the second half and were held scoreless."

That capped a great night for the Eagles. The scoreboard read 22-12 in favor of the Eagles at the final buzzer.

"It's so great to get this kind of effort from kids who are always outnumbered and outsized," said coach Proffitt.

AFTON-It was a story of two halves in Afton Friday night. Fortunately for the Cosby Eagles (2-4), they won the most important, the second half, and came from behind to beat Chuckey-Doak (1-4) 22-16 at 'The Black Hole,' spoiling the Black Knights' homecoming.

"I was comfortable that we had the ability to come here to win," said Eagles' head coach Tyler Shelton. "I told the guys in my pre-game pep talk that all of us have dreams of a special moment and I challenged them to own this moment here tonight, to make a small dream come true."

The contest was a knockdown drag-out affair in a rivalry that continues to grow.

"I don't know what it is between us," said coach Shelton, "but we have developed a rivalry and it keeps getting more intense. I challenge our fans to come out to this game next season on our home field to see for themselves. We're two teams that just like to get after each other."

It appeared, however, that in the first half, it was the Black Knights that were getting after it.

The Eagles opened the game on offense, and put together a nice drive from their own 17 that included six carries by sophomore Nick Koenig and a Jordan Cates pass to Robbie Livingston. But, nine plays and two first downs later, the drive stalled and the Eagles punted the ball away.

Neither team could get anything going in the first quarter, but Chuckey-Doak found success in the second frame.

After picking off a Cates' pass, the Black Knights took over on the Cosby 31, and struck on their very first play, a 31-yard TD run by Julius Montgomery. The extra point kick was no good, but the Black Knights had drawn first blood, 6-0, with 9:36 remaining in the half.

The Black Knights took over again on their own 29 with 3:46 remaining in the half, and on their fourth play, Montgomery struck again, this time from 10 yards out, and with the extra point kick, it was 13-0 with 2:45 remaining.

Livingston gave the Eagles a chance at some points when he picked off a pass at the Cosby 31 with 1:41 remaining. The Eagles managed to move the ball quickly to the Chuckey-Doak 13 as Cates hit Livingston twice and Robert Herzog twice through the air. But with just two seconds remaining, it was decision time.

"The coaches were telling me not to do it," said coach Shelton, "but I decided to let Robbie (Whitted) try a field goal. I mean our offense wasn't getting it done, and I thought this was an opportunity to give Robbie a chance to have his moment, and he made me look good."

Whitted, with Drew Schreder holding, hit an end-over-end boot that slipped inside the right upright to get Cosby on the board, and with time expired, the Eagles trailed 13-3 at the break.

And that's when the Eagle coaches decided to do a little bonding with their players.

"We were not happy," said coach Shelton. "We were stronger offensively and defensively. I looked at the scoreboard and thought we should be up 28-0. I had a few words with them before I let them drink some water. I was firm. We just weren't executing and I wanted to see more desire. Coach Yoakum took the defensive unit off to the side and went as far as he could go. Then, we decided to make a few adjustments and it seems that our talks and adjustments did the trick.

The Black Knights had other ideas, however, and started the second half on offense. The Knights started from their own 47 and moved the ball to the Cosby 7 when Stephen Clabrien connected on a 17-yard field goal to push their lead to 13, 16-3. But that would be it for the Black Knights as the Cosby defense dug in and the offense began to click.

The Eagles got it going on their second possession of the third quarter when Cates hit Herzog for a 65-yard TD pass. The extra point kick was blocked, but the Eagles were within seven, 16-9.

The Eagle defense simply dominated the second half, holding the Black Knights to just 34 yards rushing. The Black Knights big back, Montgomery, after rushing for 94 yards in the first half, was held to just 12 over the final two quarters. The Black Knights' passing game was ineffective as quarterback Logan Collins finished the game at 2-9 for 51 yards and three interceptions, one by Livingston in the first half, and the final two coming on final-seconds desperation drive by the Black Knights.

With 7:06 remaining in the game, the Eagles hit on a big play. Koenig took the pitch from Cates, but instead of running the ball, threw a perfect spiral to Herzog on the dead run for a 68-yard touchdown. But, the Eagles failed to punch it in on the two-point conversion attempt, and trailed 16-15.

"We noticed that every time we had second or third and long, they went cover-two," said coach Shelton. "We were hiding Robert (Herzog) in the slot, but when they went to two safeties, we knew they could cover Robert, so we sent him out wide and made them pay."

After the Black Knights were three-and-out, the Eagles took over on their own 39, and following a Koenig 40-yard run, Cates connected with Herzog again through the air, this time for 21 yards and a touchdown. Whitted booted the extra point to give the Eagles a 22-16 lead with 3:22 to play.

On the ensuing kickoff, Whitted booted it short, and Koenig snuck through to recover the ball for the Eagles on the Chuckey-Doak 45.

The Eagles were content to run Koenig three straight plays trying to eat up some clock. They were forced to punt, but Herzog's perfect kick scooted to the Chuckey-Doak nine yard-line with just 1:15 remaining.

Collins hit Ramson for 31 yards on the first play to the Black Knight 40, but Collins' next pass fell incomplete. Koenig then sacked Collins for a three-yard loss, and on the next play, Cates stepped in front of Collins' pass for the interception. But, while running with the ball, Cates was stripped, and the Black Knights recovered the ball on their 41 with 49 seconds remaining, but with a first down and ten. Following another incomplete pass, Herzog sealed the victory after intercepting Collins, and falling to the turf.

"Any time you get a win in 'The Black Hole,' it's a great win," said coach Shelton. "We made the adjustments, and our guys played with a lot of heart and intensity in the second half to get us the win."

EAGLE NOTES: Junior wide receiver Robert Herzog had a game for the ages. Herzog had seven catches for 234 yards and three touchdowns. Add that to his 66 yards in punt and kick off returns, and Herzog ended with 300 total yards. He also threw a completed pass on a fake punt, and had the game ending interception. Sophomore running back Nick Koenig had a huge game as well. Koenig rushed 25 times for 114 yards and threw a 68-yard touchdown pass to Herzog. Defensively, Koenig had five tackles, a quarterback sack and recovered a Cosby kickoff late in the game. And how about those Cosby fans? Chuckey-Doak had a jammed-packed homecoming crowd, but the Eagle fans came out in big numbers and made some noise. "Our fans have been with us all season," said coach Shelton, "but I've never heard them louder. They really gave us a big lift in the second half. They're the greatest." In fact, the Cosby faithful were louder that the Chuckey-Doak fans, and at times, disrupted the Chuckey-Doak offense.

REGION 1A: In other games involving teams from Region 1A, Hancock County got their first win of the season, defeating Oakdale 12-7. Hampton fell to Johnson County 13-9 while Cloudland was upended by Happy Valley 33-22. And, North Greene was blasted by West Greene 42-0.

The Region 1A standings has Hampton in front at 4-1, 2-0, followed by Unaka at 2-3, 2-0, Cosby and Cloudland, both at 2-4, 1-1, Hancock County at 1-5, 0-2 and North Greene at 0-6, 0-2.

COSBY-The football gods were shining on Dale Ball Stadium Friday night. On homecoming night, the Cosby Eagles (1-4, 1-1) soared past the Hancock County Indians (0-5, 0-2) 40-6, while senior Cara Asbell was crowned Homecoming Queen.

"I'm well pleased," said Eagles' head coach Tyler Shelton. "I couldn't come up with a motivational speech for the guys I was so giddy. It's about time we got to do the whipping for a change."

The Eagles clicked in every aspect of the game and scored just about every way possible. But for coach Shelton, there was one aspect of the game that led to a big smile.

"I happy for all of the kids, they really played hard tonight," said coach Shelton, "but I'm most happy for our offensive line. We've had everything in place just waiting for our offensive line to come around, and tonight they did. They blocked well tonight, letting us do some running and giving Jordan (Cates) time to throw. Our 'O' line really needed this one."

The job the offensive line did was highlighted even more when Hancock County came out in a defense that was unexpected.

"Their defensive scheme is something we did not see on tape and did not prepare for," said coach Shelton. "They split their tackles and moved them out wide. But, a great job by coach (Kevin) Hall for picking that up right away and making the adjustments. Our offensive line responded and we were able to pick on them some."

The Eagles finished the night with 188 yards total offense, 102 on the ground and 86 through the air while holding Hancock County to just 57 yards total offense, 41 on the ground and 16 through the air.

The Eagle defense was stellar. While holding the Indians to just 57 total yards on the night, the Eagles also forced five turnovers, including four interceptions and one fumble recovery. Two of those interceptions were returned for touchdowns.

The Eagles' special teams also got into the act, getting a safety off a punt and Robert Herzog getting his third punt return for a touchdown on the season, this time from 42 yards out.

"I told The Plain Talk in the weekly preview story this week that we would load the box to stop the run and force Hancock to throw," said coach Shelton. "I'm not bragging here, but that's exactly what we did. We knew that if we could stop number 23 (Jordan Herton), they would have to pass and I said we would pick some of those passes for touchdowns. We did that too. Our defensive game plan was spot on."

The Eagles struck on their first possession. After stopping the Indians on their first possession, the Eagles took over on the Hancock 49 yard-line. Six plays and two-minutes-39-seconds later, Cates went to the pass and connected with Herzog for a 40-yard score. Robbie Whitted's extra point kick was good, and the Eagles led 7-0.

On their third possession, the Eagles struck again going 56 yards on four plays in just one-minute-30-seconds when Nick Koenig punched the end zone from 12 yards out. Whitted's extra point attempt was blocked, but the Eagles started the second quarter with a 13-0 lead.

Hancock County took the ball at their 42 yard-line, but on the third play from scrimmage, Corey Swann picked off a pass, and blitzed into the end zone from 36 yards out, and with Whitted's boot, the Eagles led 20-0.

The Eagles did it again on the Indians next possession. On the third play, Herzog got Cosby's second interception.

After the Eagles ran out of downs, Hancock took over at their 30 yard-line. But on the second play, senior Nick Baxter got the Eagles' third interception.

The Eagles couldn't get anything going offensively on their next possession, and Hancock got the ball back on their 14 yard-line. After failing on three plays, the Indians dropped back in punt formation, but the boot was blocked by junior Jearus Deardorff and covered in the end zone for a safety, giving the Eagles a 22-0 lead.

The Eagles then took over offensively on the Hancock 19 with 59 seconds remaining in the half. But, with 32 seconds remaining, Koenig broke several tackles and bounced into the end zone for his second TD of the night. The two-point conversion attempt was no good, but the Eagles headed to the locker room with a 28-0 lead.

The Eagles found more success in the third quarter when Herzog returned an Indian punt 42 yards for a score at the 7:30 mark. And, the Eagles found pay dirt again when Deardorff picked off a pass and rambled 45 yards for the score, and suddenly it was 40-0.

From that point on, coach Larry Proffitt's Eagle junior varsity squad took the field for some game-time experience the rest of the way.

The Indians lone score came early in the fourth quarter when the Eagles fumbled the ball in their end zone.

"We needed this, there's no doubt about it," said coach Shelton. "It really gives us a big boost of confidence for the rest of our schedule, and the win came in the Region."

Next Friday night, the Eagles move out of their Region when they travel to 'the black hole' to take on Chuckey-Doak.

"Tough place to play," said coach Shelton. "I don't know anything about them this season. But, we'll see if we can dig up some tapes, put a game plan together on Sunday, and get ready to play again."

Eagle Notes: Nice to have senior Nick Baxter a full speed running the defense on the field. Baxter had an interception, a fumble recovery and five tackles against the Indians Friday night. Sophomore running back Nick Koenig has been patient waiting for his offensive line to give him some running room. They did on Friday as Koenig led the Eagles with 64 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Koenig also led the Eagle defense in tackles with seven. Junior receiver Corey Swann has been getting it done on both sides of the ball as well. After catching a touchdown pass and getting an interception last week at Pigeon Forge, Swann followed up in Player of the Week performance with an interception against Hancock County Friday night. Robert Herzog continues to amaze. In five games, the junior receiver/defensive back has three punt returns for touchdowns and one kick off return for a TD, and that has special teams coach Larry Proffitt smiling.

Region 1A: A big upset in Region 1A play on Friday night when Unaka dumped Cloudland 19-15. Hampton took care of business, however, rolling past North Greene 40-0. The Unaka victory over Cloudland shakes up the Region 1A standings. Hampton is still undefeated at 4-0, 2-0 in the Region followed by Cloudland and Unaka, who are now tied at 2-3, 1-1 and Cosby, who is 1-4, 1-1. Hancock County and North Greene remain winless in the Region as both are 0-5, 0-2.

PIGEON FORGE-The Cosby Eagles (0-4) certainly had the opportunities, but simply haven't found the key to get them over the hump this season. The Eagles traveled to Pigeon Forge (1-2) Friday night to take on a team that was also looking for its' first win of the season. The Tigers prevailed 27-18.

"We're so close," said Eagles' head coach Tyler Shelton. "We're so close to getting there. We have just a handful of things to fix, but we just can't seem to get all 11 guys to step it up at the same time. We're going to keep coaching that, keep after that in practice until we get that handful of things fixed."

The pre-game atmosphere certainly favored Cosby. The coaches and players were upbeat at they went through their pre-game rituals. Cosby fans traveled in big numbers as the Eagle faithful appeared to out-number the home-standing Tiger fans. And, to give the Eagles a boost, the Cocke County High School Red Regiment marching band was on hand. But, the Tigers were a little hungrier to start the game, and took off to a 14-0 first-quarter lead.

The Eagles got off to a bad start taking the football first. An interception on a pass through the hands of the Eagle receiver gave the ball to the Tigers at the Cosby 33 yard-line. Three plays later, running back Chase Travis darted into the end zone from 29 yards out. The Tigers missed the extra point, but had a 6-0 lead with 9:27 to play in the first quarter.

The Eagle defense stiffened until the last Tiger possession of the first quarter. With the Eagles set to punt, the snap sailed over punter Robert Herzog's head, and he was forced to cover the ball at the Cosby 6 yard-line. Two plays later, Travis punched it into the end zone, and followed that with a two-point conversion run to give the Tigers a 14-0 lead.

Despite being down by two touchdowns, the mood on the Cosby sideline remained upbeat. On their second possession of the second quarter, the Eagles embarked on a 10-play drive picking up three first downs along the way to the Pigeon Forge 27 yard-line. But, the drive was thwarted by a fumble, and the Tigers took the ball over on their on 30. The defense held, however, despite a roughing the kicker penalty on a Pigeon Forge punt, and three plays later, Tyler Hough smacked the Tiger quarterback as he attempted a pass, and Robbie Livingston stepped in front of the receiver to get the interception for the Eagles.

The Eagles took over on the Pigeon Forge 30 yard-line, and following a 19-yard pass completion from Jordan Cates to Herzog and a four-yard Nick Koenig run, Cates found Herzog in the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown, the Eagles first offensive touchdown on the season. The Cosby sideline erupted as did the Eagle faithful, and as the half ended, the Tiger lead had been cut to eight points, 14-6.

The Tigers immediately regained the momentum coming out of the locker room, going 64 yards on eight plays capped by a Travis 19-yard touchdown run. The extra point was good, and at the 7:28 mark of the third quarter, the Tigers led 21-6.

The Eagles responded, however, on their first possession of the second half, starting on their 44 yard-line, and going five plays. The drive ended when Cates found a wide open Corey Swann down the right sideline. Swann ran untouched into the end zone on the 43-yard touchdown play. The two-point conversion attempt failed, but the Eagles were back in business, trailing the Tigers 21-12.

Both defenses stiffened until Cosby's second possession of the fourth quarter. With 4:58 remaining, and the ball on the Cosby 30 yard-line, the Eagles threw three straight incomplete passes. But on fourth down, Cates found Herzog for an 11-yard gain and a first down. Following another incomplete pass, Cates hit Herzog again for 24 yards, then hit Herzog the following play for a 35-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion failed again, but with 3:33 left in the game, the Eagles had trimmed the Tiger lead to three, 21-18.

The Tigers stuffed any Eagle inclination of a come-back victory on their next possession, however, when on the second play, Travis broke the line of scrimmage and scampered 66 yards for the touchdown, and despite the missed extra point, Pigeon Forge had sealed its' first victory of the season 27-18.

Travis finished the night with 266 yards on 33 carries and four touchdowns.

"My hats off to that young man for getting that many yards on our defense," said coach Shelton. "A lot of his yards came as a result of poor tackling, though. We've got to make hits that stick. Once we hit them, we've got to make sure to take them down, and we didn't do that tonight. Pigeon Forge out-worked us. We haven't been as physical the last two games, and we've got to fix that.

"We're just trial and error right now," said coach Shelton, and we're making too many mistakes.

The Eagles finished with six turnovers on the night, compared to two for Pigeon Forge, both interceptions, one by Swann, the other by Robbie Livingston. Even still, the young Eagles continue to make progress.

"Our offense had some spark at times tonight," said coach Shelton. "We've still got to work on our blocks. I thought we fought hard, but we've got to fight harder."

The Tigers finished with 305 yards total offense, 301 on the ground, but were just one-for-seven through the air for four yards and two interceptions. The Eagles finished with 226 yards total offense, 36 on the ground and 190 in the air.

Herzog had another stellar individual performance, catching seven passes for 122 yards and two touchdowns. He also had 80 yards returning the ball on kick offs and punts.

Defensively, the Eagles were led by Tyler Hough, who had 11 tackles and a sack. Nick Koenig had seven tackles on the night. The Eagles welcomed the return of their quarterback on defense, senior Nick Baxter, who suffered a sprained ankle in the first half at Gatlinburg-Pittman two weeks ago. Although not fully healed, Baxter said, "I'm good enough to go, I need to get back in there." He finished with five tackles on the night.

District 2A: In other action involving District 2A teams Friday night, Hampton defeated Unicoi County 36-12, South Greene crushed North Greene 67-7, and West Greene rolled past Unaka 52-20. Also in Region 1A, Avery County, NC downed Cloudland 51-20 and Claiborne defeated Hancock County 39-15.

Up Next: After three straight road games, the Eagles finally return to Dale Ball Stadium to host Hancock County in a Region 1A match-up next Friday night. Both teams are looking for their first victory of the season.