Countryside Touchdown Club

PINELLAS PARK - After an exciting pre-season game last week, the Countryside Cougars took the field at Pinellas Park High to open the '08 campaign against the Patriots. A confident Cougar team was ready to play a meaningful game where it would count in the standings. After it was all said and done, the team headed back to the buses after a stellar victory over the home team and a ride back to school to enjoy a well-earned thrashing of their opponents. Early on, both squads executed the no-huddle offense, capping off drives with short passes for good yardage. CHS paved the way running the ball, amassing over 200 yards between Jimbo Chmelik and Dawrence Roberts. it would be William Griswold that would finally tack on the first 3 of the game four minutes into the second quarter. The teams would have to settle for a 3-0 score at halftime.

As the third quarter commenced, it was apparent the Countryside defense was the unit that would have the say in the score. Pinellas Park had a host of punts, and penalties undid the Patriots for the majority of the game. Halfway through the quarter though, the boys in red and black somehow threaded the needle for a 5 yard touchdown pass on a bullet from Devon Olson to Carlton Green to go up 6-3. The score would remain that way after missing a two-point conversion. The Cougars would regain momentum as the team would put together its best drive after the ensuing kick-off to silence the crowd when Dawrence Roberts caught a screen pass and gave the Cougars the lead once more. This was set up by his second 40+ yard run of the game. Hungry for more, Andrew Davis sacked Olson in the end zone for a safety and a 12-6 advantage.

Countryside's first score was set-up by a Justin Brooks interception, and so would the last. A wide open Ryan Harrington picked it off in the fourth to allow Alton Taylor to smash his way into the promised land from 10 yards out and give the Cougars a 19-6 victory to begin the season (1-0). The team continues its three game road trip on Thursday, September 11 at Gibbs, who beat Lakewood in Week 1, setting up a showdown on Brighthouse Network's Catch 47 Game of the Week. Game time is 7:30.

For all who saw this article originally, my apologies if it sounded unfavorable for our team. This is a respectable website and my articles have circulated for some years now, and no inadequacies were meant in any way to put down the Countryside football program. Pardon the inconvenience and GO COUGARS!!!

CORRECTION: I apologize for a discrepancy in last week's article vs. Alonso. The JV player mentioned as Daryl Hobbs is actually Dylan Hopp. Sorry for the inconvenience. The JV team will be taking on Clearwater at Countryside for their first game on Wednesday, September 10.