ADEL —
The Cook Hornets opened their football season in dominating fashion, winning their fourth straight game over the Worth County Rams on Friday night at Memorial Stadium.
The Hornets were able to cruise to a 36-2 victory behind big performances from quarterback Ross Pickle, halfback Kareem Edwards and wide receiver Zak Williams. Pickle threw for 124 yards, 83 of them to Williams, and rushed for 63 more. Edwards had 73 yards and a score on the ground in the win.
Despite the convincing win, and 375 yards of total offense, Cook head coach Ken Cofer was not entirely pleased when describing his offense on the night.
“Sloppy at the beginning,” Cofer said. “Defensively, outstanding. They got two points. That was on the offense. Very sloppy, offensively, at the beginning — probably throughout the game, but definitely the beginning. We did that (stuff) last year. Just very undisciplined. I hate it. I don’t care if 36 points are on the board, we gotta work on some things if we want to be region champions.”
Cook led 8-2 after a wild first quarter that included four turnovers and a safety, which came on the Hornets’ second offensive play of the game. Pickle was sacked in the end zone to give the Rams an early 2-0 lead.
The Rams’ lead could have been even greater if it wasn’t for some costly turnovers by Worth County.
Pickle was intercepted, setting up a first-and-goal from the Cook one-yard line for the Rams. Then on the very next play, Jeremiah Smith recovered a fumble on an attempted quarterback keeper, and took the ball 99 yards the other way for the Hornets’ first score of the game, making the score 8-2 after the two-point conversion.
The teams traded turnovers on back-to-back plays midway through the second quarter after the Rams threw a red zone interception. Cook promptly gave the ball right back to Worth County with a fumble on the next play.
The Hornets were able to pull away at the end of the first half with an impressive 11-play drive, overcoming five penalties and a third-and-16 on the drive, thanks to a 25-yard scramble by Pickle. Cook capped off the drive with a touchdown on a 15-yard touchdown reception by Williams over the middle.
Overcoming penalties was a theme for Cook on Friday night.
The Hornets were penalized 17 times for well over 100 yards. Cofer already has the solution to fix the problem.
“Run,” said Cofer. “That’s a good word for it right there. We already run a lot anyways, but I promise you this, we’ll run for every penalty that we had. We’ll fix it, we’ll definitely fix it. The kids know to be a region champion, and a state champion, you can’t do anything like that. Seventeen. That ruined my night right there.”
Cook hosts Crisp County next Friday night at Memorial Stadium.
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