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In a battle of the cats, Cahokia Conference foe the Breese-Central Cougars handed the Dupo Tigers their first loss of the season winning 21-0 at Breese-Central Friday night. The Cougars improved to 2-0 with their first conference win as the Tigers dropped to 1-1 with their first conference loss.
It was smash mouth football as both teams all but abandoned the passing game and focused on the run. It was not a game of penalties or miscues as the Tigers were only flagged once for 5 yards and the Cougars had no penalties. However the Tigers did lose a fumble and had a pass intercepted. After a scoreless first quarter the Cougars finally found the end zone scoring twice in the second quarter. The Cougar defense held when it had to taking a 14-0 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Tigers were not out of the game yet but after another scoreless third quarter the Tigers were running out of time. The Cougars then scored their third touchdown of the night in the fourth quarter while the Tigers could not generate enough offense to find the end zone.
The rushing attack of the Cougars was certainly the difference in the game. Mounting long, time consuming drives the Cougar offense kept the Tiger offense off of the field for most of the game and wore down a Tiger defense that fought valiantly but eventually wore down. The Cougars amassed 359 yards rushing on 44 carries for a rushing average of 8.2 yards per carry. In comparison the Tigers rushed the ball 41 times for 194 yards and an average of 4.7 yards per carry. While the Tigers were able to move the ball the Cougar defense seemed to come up with defensive stops at the right times to keep Dupo from scoring. The Tiger rushing attack was led once again by senior running back Joe Higgerson who had 89 yards on 14 carries for an average of 6.4 yards per carry. Tyler Maynard also contributed with 41 yards on 10 carries for an average of 4.1 yards per carry.
The Tigers continue Conference play next week as they visit the rival Columbia Eagles (1-1) who are also coming off their first loss of the season. The game is next Friday, September 11th, at 7:00 p.m. The 2-0 Cougars travel to Freeburg to play the Midgets (1-1) in conference play next Friday, September 11th, at 7:00 p.m.
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