Watts, Coyer Lead Cougars Past Annandale
The Cougar Defense put pressure on the Annandale offense all night long in route to a 37-7 win...Oakton will play on the road against T.C Williams next Saturday...
Photo By: Barry de Nicola / Gameday
The Cougars found their running game on Friday night with Trey Watts and Jonathan Meadows.
Photo By: Barry de Nicola / Gameday Magazine
VIENNA, VA - The Annandale Atoms and the Oakton Cougars were victorious in their season debuts last weekend. Annandale was able to cruise past McLean with a 49-19 victory, while Oakton played through an abundance of turnovers and penalties to survive at Madison 21-14. Both squads are looking to improve from last season where the Atoms were 4-6 and the Cougars were 5-5. After Friday night, Oakton looked poised to rise to the next level of elite teams in the area.
After watching his team suffer through double digit penalties and three turnovers on their first three drives last weak, head coach Joe Thompson demanded to see better execution from his players this week. He was not disappointed. The Cougars defense forced the Atoms to punt on their opening drive, and Trey Watts returned the kick 50 yards for an apparent touchdown. With another yellow flag staring coach Thompson in the face, the touchdown was called back due to an illegal block in the back. What seemed reminiscent to the start of last week's game was not. The offensive attack, led by quarterback Chris Coyer, was not phased by the penalty while Watts was given the ball back and scored a one yard rushing touchdown, giving Oakton an early 7-0 advantage.
The next few series saw a bizarre exchange of turnovers giving the Atoms first and goal from their five-yard line twice, only to be denied with an interception and a missed field goal. The Oakton defense came out unscathed clinging to their one touchdown advantage. The Cougars offense took the field with team captain Ryan Harris at quarterback. He led an exciting drive converting a long 4th and 12 to eventually set up a 28-yard field goal from Ray Goins, and the Cougars went into halftime with a 10-0 lead.
The second half of the game was all Oakton. After Annandale's defense forced Oakton to punt on their first possession, the punt was muffed and recovered by the Cougars. It wasn't long before a 15-yard touchdown pass from Coyer to Watts gave Oakton an insurmountable 17-0 lead. Oakton was just dominant and repeated the Coyer to Watts' connection with another touchdown pass to end the third quarter leading 24-0.
Harris rotated in at quarterback in the fourth quarter and didn't miss a beat hitting lengthy receiver Jay Young on a 39-yard scoring strike, and the rout was on with Oakton leading 30-0. With the Annandale defense wearing down physically, Harris rushed for an 11-yard touchdown and the Cougars led 37-0 with 6:40 left in the game. As Oakton rotated in their second and third string players, head coach Dick Adams' Atoms were able to capitalize and get on the scoreboard with a touchdown pass from Cason Kynes to Melvin Robinson. The game ended with an Oakton 37-7 victory, where coach Thompson saw his team perform with near flawless execution.
