Cousin no friend to Bulldogs
Tazewell (14) vs. Graham (42)
Written: Sep 05, 2015
By LARRY HYPES
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD — Thunder rolled but lightning struck.
Tazewell dominated the clock but Graham owned the rest of the scoreboard and raced to a 42-14 triumph over the Bulldogs Friday.
Jamorya’ Cousin rolled up 191 yards and three touchdowns rushing on only 7 carries to pace the G-Men (1-1) while Tazewell’s Zach Hurley worked in yeoman fashion, barreling for 156 yards on 35 carries for the Bulldogs (0-1) on a perfect evening at Mitchell Stadium. Roman Workman passed for three Graham touchdowns.
Cousin capped the first two drives of the night with a 32-yard scoring run and followed that up moments later with a 75-yard bolt for another score.
Graham’s Tony Palmer, a member of the 1989 state champions, notched his first career win in his second game as GHS head coach.
The G-Men rolled up 318 yards on the ground and Tazewell picked up 288 in a rushing-dominated power game.
On the opening march, the G-Men’s Taymon Cooke got a 46-yard kick return and then reeled off 22 yards on his first carry to move the ball to the THS 32.
Cousin, a 5-11, 200-pound, lightning bolt, zipped 32 yards down the left sideline for the touchdown with 11:28 to go to in the opening stanza. Logan Surface drilled the first of six PATs to make it 7-0. Cousin hammered through three tacklers at the 15, racing untouched over the final yards.
A Tazewell fumble ended an 11-play drive as GHS recovered on the 12, just as seemed the Dogs might tie the score. Cook gained a yard and Roman Workman picked up yardage to the 25. Cousin bolted down the home sideline for 75 yards and another touchdown. Surface kicked the conversion and the G-Men led 14-0 at the 4:19 mark.
Once again, the Bulldogs answered with a long drive, going 15 plays for 81 yards. Led by Josh Hayes’ early running — he had 43 first quarter yards — the Dogs moved into GHS territory and Zach Hurley began to pile up yards for Tazewell.
Hurley carried five of the last six plays, combined with a 12-yard pass from T.J. Kitts to Dakota Crouse, to move the ball to the Graham two. Kitts bolted over for the touchdown with 9:17 to play in the half. Josh Murray booted the conversion, cutting the margin to 14-7.
Graham responded in dramatic fashion. Workman completed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Allen, floating the ball to an isolated Allen in the left corner of the end zone. Surface again drilled the conversion kick to give the G-Men a 21-7 cushion.
Running behind Hurley, Tazewell had another long drive at the beginning of the second half. The Bulldogs ran 9:30 off the clock in 16 plays with three fourth-down conversions along the way. Paris Ballard made the key play for Graham, however, tackling Kitts on 4th down at the 10. That stopped an 80-yard march.
It was Cousin to the rescue gain. He racked up a 53-yard gain before Cook added 17 and Israel Harris scampered for 13 more to give the G-Men a first-and-goal at the Dog 7-yard stripe. Cousin dashed in for the touchdown and Surface kicked another PAT making it 28-7. The G-Men, showing their determination, went 90 yards in 1:12 for the score.
“We have a lot of work to do on defense,” said a disappointed Shane Allen after his Dogs lost. “Graham has talent out there but we just have to go back and learn how to tackle. Our defense must be more effective than we have shown in the first two games. We will get to work on that in Monday’s practice.”
Harris displayed his power on the next Graham march, totaling 53 yards on four carries before Cook capped a six-play, 57-yard march with a 10-yard touchdown. Surface’ kick increased the margin to 35-7.
Corey Brewster scored on a three-yard run with 3:58 to play and Murray’s kick cut the margin to 35-14.
In a late flurry of passing, Graham went to the air on the final drive and DeQuan Booker caught a 26-yard scoring aerial from Workman with only :33 left as Surface’s kick closed out the scoring.
We had some bright spots,” said Palmer after the victory. “On the other hand, we could not stop Tazewell. We seemed to have an answer for third down but we could not get them on fourth down. We have to make some adjustments. Offensively, we got some big plays and that helped. It’s good to win.”
Workman finished with 111 passing yards and three touchdowns for the G-Men. Harris had 73 yards rushing in the fourth period.
Tazewell led 19-16 in first downs. The Bulldogs were flagged three times for 35 yards and Graham lost 65 yards on six penalties.
The Bulldogs host Grayson County Friday and Graham travels to Richlands.
At Mitchell Stadium
Tazewell...........................0 7 0 7 0 — 14
Graham.............................14 7 7 14 — 42
G - Cousin 32-yard run (Surface kick) 11:28
G - Cousin 75-yard run (Surface kick) 4:19
Second Quarter
T - Kitts 2 -yard run )Murray kick 9:17
G - Allen, 29-yard pass from Workman 3:48
Third Quarter
G - Cousin 7-yard run (Surface kick) 1:18
Fourth Quarter
Cooke, 13-yard pass from Workman 6:50
Booker, 26-yard pass from Workman :33
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