CUMBERLAND — The offense did what they had to do in the second half, but the name of the game Friday night at 2A East Webster for the South Pontotoc Cougars was — DEFENSE.

“The defense played great for us tonight,” said second-year Cougar head coach Mark Bray after his charges had defeated the 2006 1A State Champion Wolverines, 21-20. “They kept us in the game.

“We made a lot of mental mistakes that we had to overcome and they just hung in there.”

The deciding 12 minutes

After East Webster had taken a 20-13 lead early in the fourth quarter, South senior Marcus Holsey returned the kickoff from the South Pontotoc 14-yard line and rambled down to the East Webster 5-yard line.

“That was big, big,” Coach Bray declared while pointing out that Holsey is the team’s No.3 return man. “Our starters were out, so we put him back there, and that was great big.”

Three plays later, senior Cougar running back Monte Love plunged over from the 2-yard line to make it a 20-19 affair. Love finished the game with 88 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.

The South Pontotoc sideline made the decision to go for the 2-point conversion with 8:31 showing on the game clock.

Junior quarterback Wesley Barefield, from the shotgun formation, found junior receiver Seth Roye wide open on the left side of the endzone. The catch was made and the Cougars took the 21-20 lead. Barefield completed only four of 11 passes on the night.

Now it was time for the Cougar defense to stop the Wolverines for eight more minutes.

The Cougar ‘D’

On the 10th play of East Webster’s next offensive series, a sweep right gained 17 yards and put the Wolverines on the South 16-yard line.

They tried the sweep to the left on the next play, but South senior lineman Marshall Williams was there to drop the runner for a 2-yard loss. Williams stuck around and on the next play dropped the Wolverine runner for a 3-yard loss back at the 21.

“Marshall did a great job tonight,” Coach Bray said after the game.

Then on third down and 15, the East Webster quarterback scrambled right. He was hit twice before he was brought down for another loss by senior linebacker Ty Priest. Priest was in on 15 tackles in the game.

The Wolverines were not going the field goal route, but rather tried a trick halfback pass that never got out of his hands.

South took over at the East Webster 29-yard line with just over two minutes left in the game. But, after two short gainers by senior running back Monte Love, the Wolverines picked up a lose football in the Cougar backfield and took over possession at the South Pontotoc 27-yard line with 48 seconds remaining to be played.

A sweep right again produced yardage for the Wolverines down to the 10-yard line. An offside penalty moved them back to the 15, before another tackle behind the line of scrimmage put them at the 18-yard line with the clock running.

The East Webster quarterback then spiked the ball to stop the clock at 00:12.

On third and 18 and goal to go, Cougar junior linebacker Joseph Wiggington leveled the Wolverine quarterback as he was releasing a pass — incomplete.

With only six seconds left, East Webster called a time out to stop the clock at 00:06 and get their field goal unit onto the field. South Pontotoc then called a time out to set up their defense.

The Wolverine kicker appeared to have gotten enough leg into the kick, but it sailed wide left and the South Pontotoc Cougars had won their opening game, 21-20.

“This was almost a must win for us tonight,” Coach Bray said with a happy bunch of Cougar players and fans all about him. “After last year and whatnot — to get everybody headed in the right direction — we needed this.”

The third quarter

Trailing 14-0 at the start of the third quarter, South got a good kickoff return from sophomore Matt Bailey, a 25-yard sprint out to the Cougar 40-yard line.

On fourth down and eight from the Wolverine 42-yard line, a roughing the punter (Wiggington) was called against East Webster.

With renewed life at the Wolverine 27-yard line and about 10 minutes left in the third quarter, the Cougars began their march to their first points of the game.

“Wesley and Monte came in and led the offense on down the field,” Coach Bray declared. Love ran the football five times on the drive, including a 3-yard smash through the middle to the goal line. After senior Dilan Sims’ point-after-touchdown, the Cougars were back in the game, trailing 14-7 at the 7:20 mark of the third.

East Webster started their next possession from their own 35, but coughed up the football on the first play and South senior linebacker Corey Jolly got the recovery.

Six plays later, Barefield, on a sneak, took the ball in from the 1-yard line. The PAT was missed and East Webster still held a 1-point, 14-13 lead with 3:45 left in the third period.

Again, the Wolverines would fumble the ball away. This time senior linebacker Ty Priest made the recovery at the Cougar 28-yard line. But South was forced to punt on a fourth and six situation from their own 32.

Then, for the third time in the second half, East Webster lost a fumbled football. Sophomore Dustin Ivie, who made seven tackles and three assists in the game, claimed the recovery. But South would give it right back at the Wolverine 44-yard line where the East Webster defender picked up the ball and returned it the distance for a touchdown.

On the Wolverine attempt for a 2-point conversion, Wiggington dropped the runner for a loss, but East Webster held a 20-13 lead with 10:20 showing on the game clock.

The first half

Mistakes were made on both sides of the football by South in the first half.

A mishandled punt by the Cougars after the Wolverines first offensive series gave East Webster possession again at the South 49-yard line. Nine plays later, after burning up eight and one half minutes of the first quarter clock, East Webster held an 8-0 lead.

South finally got their first chance with the football after junior J.J. Mooneyham returned the East Webster kickoff six yards out to the South 30-yard line.

Love got three touches for 29 yards in the Cougars opening possession, but South gave up the ball on downs when Barefield’s fourth-and-four pass attempt from the Wolverine 45-yard line fell incomplete.

A bad snap to the punter on South’s next possession gave East Webster the football on the Cougar 30-yard line. A six-play Wolverine drive ended with a 2-yard touchdown run. Their two-point conversion attempt failed, but the home team held a 14-0 lead with 4:51 showing on the second period clock.

Dropped passes on the Cougars next possession forced a punt, but the South Pontotoc defense held and the two teams went into their locker rooms at the break with East Webster leading 14-0.