Cougars get "ugly" region win over Tigers

The Newnan Cougars definitely followed the phrase "don't make it pretty, make it work" to perfection Friday night at Drake Stadium as they defeated the Douglas County Tigers 21-13 in a key Region 3-AAAAAA contest.

The Senior Night victory improved the Cougars' overall record to 6-2 and the region mark is now at 2-1 with games at Westlake and East Coweta remaining.

Why was the win not so pretty?

The officials were testing their arms throughout the evening as Newnan was penalized eight times for 50 yards while Douglas County saw the hankie tossed in their direction nine times for 57 yards.

One of those penalties haunted the Tigers in the first quarter when a 41-yard field goal by kicker Juan Serna with approximately 3:20 remaining negated by a false start and on a subsequent play lost possession of the ball with an incomplete pass.

Both teams also were guilty of turnovers as they combined for six and the two saw the quarterback go down four times and the center-quarterback snap became an adventure as the clubs were guilty of four fumbled snaps.

The miscues would lead to a scoreless first quarter as both teams saw drives stall.

However, Quinton Dix broke the scoreless tie when he powered through the middle of the Tigers' defense on a five-yard run through the end zone with 9:08 remaining in the second quarter and Newnan took a 14-0 lead when Traon Moss caught a 22-yard pass from Bailey Bryant and Tyler Mulvenna converted the extra point with 1:32 remaining.

The 14-0 lead for the Cougars remained through halftime until Terrell Gibson raced down the sideline on 57-yard pass play from Ellis Richarson a minute into the third quarter into the end zone for the Tigers to cut the margin to 14-7 after the extra point.

Douglas County had a chance to draw closer on their next series as they began at midfield and moved to the Newnan 20 when Richardson mishandled a snap for a 10-yard loss stalled the drive and a subsequent 47-yard field goal attempt by Serna was blocked.

The play of the game for the Tigers came with seven minutes remaining in the game when Mulvenna tried a rugby style punt on to have it blocked and recovered in the end zone by the Tigers’ Devante Williams to cut the margin to 14-13.

However, the Tigers were unable to tie the game as Serna’s extra point attempt was deflected and went to the left of the goalpost.

The Cougars took possession after the score at their own 17 yard line and behind an 18-yard pass from quarterback Bailey Bryant to J.K. Britt and a 34-yard completion to Tray Edwards, Newnan moved the ball to midfield.

However, a pair of false start penalties slowed down the drive but a 16-yard run by Nix solved that problem and the running back appeared to have a 36-yard touchdown run to seal the win but that was partially negated by a holding penalty at the Tigers’ 10 yard line.

Again, Nix came through as he would score on the next play with a 20-yard run with 2:18 remaining and Mulvenna drilled the extra point for the final margin.

Douglas County had an opportunity to tie the game on their final series of the game but an interception by Newnan’s Terence Geter with 1:10 remaining ended the drive and Bryant went down to one knee three times to run the clock out.