By PATRICK BYRD
News Sports Writer
The Escambia Academy Cougars held their first home game of the season on Thursday, September 8, after a weather threat caused the game to be moved forward one night. Banks Academy traveled from Birmingham to see Bachelor Field and to meet the Cougar football team for the first time. This season marks Banks’ fourth year of AISA football, and previously they have only faced the Cougars in other sports, namely track and field.
The field was wet as Cougar captains Christian Crook (#3) and Cameron Ball (#12) met the Jets captains for the coin toss at midfield. The Cougars were set to receive the ball first, and the game kicked off.
Banks Academy kicked a field goal early in the first quarter, making the score 3-0 for the first quarter.
The second quarter saw more action than the first, with a quick Banks touchdown by #1 and a good kick bringing the score up to 0-10.
This touchdown was quickly followed by a fumble recovery by Banks on the Cougars’ 28-yard line. The Cougars had something to say about this, and a fumble recovery by the Cougars’ Ty McCants (#2), who made an 86-yard run after taking the ball, led to quarterback Jacob Lee making a 3-yard carry with 4:27 left on the clock; the Cougars attempted a 2-point conversion, but failed to break the plane.
With 23.9 seconds left on the clock before the half, Luke Bell (#9) intercepted a 9-yard pass to help the Cougars attempt to change the score before the half; however, with the short time left on the clock, the Cougars left the field for halftime with a trailing score of 6-10.
The third quarter saw the last of the region game’s action, starting with a Jet touchdown 3 minutes in after a 13-yard pass was completed in the end zone. A no-good kick left the score 6-16.
The Cougars soon answered, as a 20-yard pass to Samorion Clark (#22) led the Cougars down the field. With 3:26 left on the clock, a 10-yard pass to Crook brought 6 points to Escambia; a 2-point conversion was attempted unsuccessfully.
Banks would have the final say in this game, however, after a 2-yard rush led to the final touchdown of the game with 28 seconds left in the third quarter; the kick was good, and the score became 12-23, which became the final score after the fourth quarter saw no score changes.
Defensively, the Cougars made 28 tackles throughout the game. Charlie Sasser (#56) made the most tackles, with 5 tackles, 4 assists, and 2 tackles for loss. He was followed closely by Nick Cain (#60) who made 4 tackles and 3 assists.
The Cougars will play Jackson Academy this Friday at home on Bachelor Field. This will be the first non-region game of this season, and the Cougars would love your support! Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Come out and cheer the boys on!