Cookeville lets victory slip away in OT to Blackman

By Michael Heitman

November 17, 2002

The Cookeville Cavaliers saw their first state quarterfinals berth slip away in overtime to Blackman Friday night by the score of 10-7. The cold, wet and muddy field which affected play all night was not kind to the Cavaliers in overtime. Quarterback Brandon Cowan, who was the holder on the play, couldn't get a handle on the ball and not allowing kicker Jack Lynn to put three points on the board. Blackman did get an 18-yard field goal on fourth down to stun the Cavalier crowd.

All night the sloppy conditions, caused by a steady, all day rain, dictated play all night. Neither team was consistent in moving the ball. Only four combined passes were completed by the teams who struggled to hold onto the slippery pigskin all night. All in all eight turnovers took place with Blackman giving away four fumbles and an interception while Cookeville coughed up three fumbles as well. The first half saw both teams try and adjust to the conditions, but neither could put points on the board.

Stevie Buckner plunges into the end zone from a yard out to give the Cavaliers a 7-0 lead in the third quarter.

The third quarter saw things go Cookeville's way. Cookeville punted after their opening drive of the half and pinned the Blaze inside their own five yard line. A few plays later, Cookeville's Brian Jernigan recovered a fumble on the Blackman one-yard line. That was the break the Cavs needed as on the next play, Stevie Buckner punched through the goal line to give Cookeville the first lead. Lynn's extra point made it 7-0 with 7:41 remaining in the third quarter.

The crowd and the team seemed to feel that the 7-0 lead might hold given the sloppy playing conditions. That theory seemed to hold true until late in the fourth quarter when the Blaze started moving the ball down the field. Blackman was also helped by Cavalier penalties including a personal foul. As the Blaze moved inside the red zone, quarterback Elliot Prince through a pass to tight end John Marc Stephens who apparently caught the Cookeville defense off guard as he moved down the left side for a 16-yard scoring pass. The extra point knotted the score at 7 and a huge momentum swing had moved to the Blackman sideline. Both teams tried some deep passes in a miracle effort to avoid overtime, but to no avail.

Cookeville won the coin toss for overtime and elected to go first. After, three rushes for little gain, the Cavaliers had to try a 25-yard field goal attempt. Nothing came easy all night in the poor playing conditions and it was a little thing that hurt the Cavs. Cowan tried to take the snap to hold the ball for Lynn's kick. However, Cowan couldn't keep a handle on it and Lynn picked it up and could only scramble to no avail. Now the defense had to hold.

Blackman took the ball and tried to run. On second down Blaze running back Rico Turner plunged through the middle towards the goal line. As Turner was crossing the goal line the ball squirted out an was recovered by the Cavs. Initially it was signaled a touchdown, but the referees quickly said that he was down inside the one and the Blaze still had possession. Many Cavalier fans were upset thinking he fumbled. However, on third down and the ball inside the one, the defense held. That made it fourth down and Blaze kicker Josh Dennis came on to kick an 18-yard game winning field goal. The snap was good and so was the kick.

The Blackman fans ran onto the field while the Cavalier defense walked off the field stunned while some just fell down into the mud and wondered how it slipped away. After the game head coach Jerry Joslin reassured his players. No matter the loss, this team went where no other Cavalier team had gone before.

Quarter     1  2  3  4  OT    Final
Blackman    0  0  0  7   3 -- 10

Cookeville  0  0  7  0   0 --  7

Scoring
3rd quarter

Cookeville - Buckner 1 run (Lynn kick), 7:41

4th quarter

Blackman - Stephens 16 pass from Prince (Dennis kick), 2:44

OT

Blackman - Dennis 18 FG

                    Blackman    Cookeville

First downs                9            14

Rushes-yards          41-149        47-176

Receiving                 24            10

Total                    173           186

Comp-Att-Int           6-2-1        2-10-0

Punts-avg.            4-22.3        5-32.8

Punt returns-yards       1-9           2-5

Kickoff returns-yards   1-17          1-12

Fumbles-lost             4-3           3-2

Penalties-yards         6-52          8-60

Sacked-yards lost        0-0           0-0

Time of possession     24:13         23:47