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Published Tuesday, November 03, 2009 in Sports

Cougars don't miss a beat with fourth region championship in succession

By Stuart Crosby

The Times-Herald

Going into the 2009 season, many of the Newnan Cougar faithful were optimistic but unsure of how their favorite team would fare due to a lot of change.

The first change was at the top when Mike McDonald took over for Robert Herring as head coach and the former had some shoes to fill considering the Cougars were three-time defending Region 4-AAAAA champions.

The large part of the challenge for the Cougars however was not at the head coach position but at the tackles, guards, center, quarterback positions as well as the other offensive spots occupied by the 2008 team that graduated.

McDonald and his staff had a daunting challenge, but nine games later, the Cougars are now four-time champions of the region after a 42-7 win over the Mundy's Mill Tigers at Drake Stadium Friday night.

"I am blessed with the coaches and kids that are here," McDonald said. "A lot of staff was here last year and that helped to have some continuity since we were going to have to start over on offense with 11 new players."

The win over the Tigers, which gave the Cougars a 9-0 record, was meaningful in that it was secured over a 1-7 club that had nothing to lose and could play spoiler.

Before the Cougars face either Warner Robins Demons or Valdosta Wildcats and their lameduck coach Rick Tomberlin on Friday the 13th at Drake Stadium, they face one more piece of business this Friday at home against Tay Willis and the East Coweta Indians in the local rivalry game on the schedule.

If Nick Hill has the type of game this week as he did against the Tigers, it will be a battle as he finished with 137 yards on 12 carries including a 90-yard run to go along with the two scores and a reception for nine yards.

The quarterback position also had a pleasant night for the Cougars as Lendell Arnold had four rushes for 25 yards and completed 7-of-12 passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns while Zach Farmer completed 7-for-8 passes for 99 yards.

Weston Yeager also saw action behind center after spending most of the evening holding on Patrick McAlpin's extra points.

The Ogletree brothers contributed on both sides of the ball in the win over the Tigers and have done so for most of the season as Alec had three receptions for 60 yards and two scores while Zander caught a pair for 33 yards.

Other contributors to the win on Friday were Bryant Ball who scored two touchdowns while Thad Johnson carried the ball four times for 57 yards.

The defense was also a force in the game as they held the Tigers to minus18 yards in the first half including a pair of sacks by Cameron Rosser and several stops by Anthony Cruver.

The only blip on the Cougars' radar was a Tigers' touchdown in the middle of the fourth quarter when the starting defenders had been given the rest of the night off.

The touchdown scored by the Tigers in the fourth quarter was the first in approximately 12 quarters since surrendering one to Riverdale on October 9.

The score by the Tigers gave the opposition 35 points for the season with 15 of those coming on August 27 against LaGrange.

Meanwhile, the 42 points recorded by Newnan marked the fourth time the Cougars passed 40 this season.

The win was also the 397th in the history of the program according to the Georgia High School Football Historians Association website.

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