Shortage of offense, haunting mistakes leave West Laurens with sting of defeat at Cook

ADEL – West Laurens had more than enough defense and special teams to get by in Friday’s low-scoring rock fight. But the Raiders’ offense, down a few key starters who were out with injuries, was too short in supply to make up for a few critical mistakes that cost them a shot to scrape one out a little more than two hours from home. 

Cook, whose rushing attack never got to the end zone but kept the chains and the clock moving on an average of five yards per carry, broke the stalemate with its kicking game to come away with the 6-0 win. 

The Hornets’ David Del-Angel knocked through his first two field goals of the season to grab points on drives that West Laurens had seemingly stonewalled outside of their established scoring range early in the fourth quarter. 

But the sophomore, after an earlier miss in desperation that amounted to a half-court heave as time expired in the second quarter, surprised with two outstanding kicks from essentially the same spot on back-to-back possessions. 

He nailed a 38-yarder to make the night’s first set of points stick to the scoreboard only seconds into the final period, and returned to do it with virtually identical form from 37 on the same hash less than five minutes later. 

West Laurens, in do-or-die mode with about seven minutes left, would reach Cook territory for its last of only seven turns with the football, but wound up giving it over on downs. 

But what stung a good bit worse than the Hornets’ two late triples and final stop was a red zone disaster back in the first half that cost the Raiders a surefire chance at six points. In an alternate destiny, those would have had them battling to preserve the lead, or at least a tie, rather than clinging to some dwindling hopes by that point in the night.  

“We played great on the defensive side of the ball,” said West Laurens head coach Kip Burdette. “They gave us a chance to win, and we’re still one mistake from really winning the game. Hindsight’s 20/20. We’ve gotta learn from it. We’ve gotta get better.” 

The battle was even in two of the phases. But it was uneven on offense. 

The Raiders’ options on that side were limited with a list of injuries that included running back Braylen Robinson, the leading rusher in the Dodge County win the week before, as well as Jace Williams and J.D. Hogan, two other important skill athletes in the rushing and receiving mix. 

That left Justin Blash, the only remaining tailback, to grind it out. 

The senior was on the field for every snap, and carried the ball every time they handed it off.  

Blash finished with 81 yards on 23 attempts. The other seven out of a mere 30 rushing plays on the game were keepers by quarterback Duggan Malone. 

Deducting 18 in team losses, the Raiders’ total on the ground was minuscule 65 yards. A single screen completion that went for seven, out of six passes for Malone, accounted for the rest of their 72 yards for the night. 

Cook ran for 256 of its 292. 

Still, the game’s only turnover had West Laurens just two yards away from scoring a touchdown that appeared to be a foregone conclusion, before its most glaring of mishaps set in motion a sequence of unfortunate events. 

The Raiders recovered a gift as Cook’s return man got a bit too casual, and touched a rolling punt that wound up in opposing hands at his own 17. 

Blash broke a 15-yard run to the left on the next play, skipping one tackle around the 7, but getting knocked off balance by the finger of a second defender just shy of the end zone. 

West Laurens had it first and goal from the 2, but then airmailed the snap way over the head of Malone, who’d retrieve it standing, but soon after take a sack for a two-yard loss from the drive’s original starting position. 

The next two plays got none of it back, and Malone ended up trying a field goal that impressively soared through from 40 for what would have been a new career best. But the successful save was invalidated by illegal motion before the play. 

He’d try once again from 45, but this time didn’t get all of it, and the low kick bounced short to keep the game scoreless.  

“We had our chances to win the ballgame, and we made the mistakes that you can’t make,” Burdette said. “We had points on the board, we got them taken off. We were on the 1-yard line, we didn’t get any points. We had a first down down here, and we had a bad snap right there, driving to move the ball again. It’s just, we’re going to have to learn how to get out of our own way a little bit.”

Both sides possessed it four times in the half, and made one venture each into the opposing red zone. 

Cook’s opportunity came on drive No. 1 after an opening Westside three-and-out, and a short punt that expired near midfield. 

34 yards of progress led to the West Laurens 15, but Leroy Mack and Nicholas Hester held the line on a fourth and short to turn the Hornets away. 

Punts, and a Del-Angel’s miss on an ambitious end-of-half field goal try concluded the rest. 

The same trends continued in the second half – West’s of mostly woeful field position (besides the plus takeover, its best start was at its 35 on the final drive), and Cook of time-consumption. 

The Hornets held the football for six minutes on a drive that ultimately punted to open the third quarter, then used up the rest after the Raiders kicked it directly back. Their tiebreaking field goal came just 17 seconds into the fourth. 

The Raiders got the ball only one other time, and also punted, before their last shot. 

Blash busted through the middle for his second fourth-down conversion of the night to keep the final drive moving on one fourth down, but minimal gains on two of the next three plays, and another shaky snap, ended up resulting in a second with a bunch still to go for the ballgame. 

Malone was chased to his right on a roll, then had the ball knocked loose from a defender behind. After the recovery, Hornets were everywhere in sight, and a quick tackle made to end the threat. 

Time got away from the Raiders on the way to the line for their fourth down play, forcing the use of a precious first timeout before the giveover… So a double-digit Cook gain by leading rusher Dawson Davis on first down of its series effectively sealed the deal, if it wasn’t already. 

The Hornets took two knees to make them burn the other two, but didn’t have to snap it on fourth down after a third ran out the remaining time. 

Mack, Hester, Jaden Stanley and Devin Watkins all had eight or more tackles for the West Laurens defense. 

After starting the month of September with two on the road (and this matchup a third against a member of AA’s top 10), the Raiders (1-2 overall) will finish it with a two-game homestand beginning this Friday with Homecoming against Monroe Area. Hopes, by then, are to have some things cleaned up, and most if not all of the above healthy enough to get back on the field. 

But those disadvantages weren’t, by any stretch, things that Burdette felt this one could be blamed on. 

“We expect to get them back, but injuries are part of football,” he said. “It is what it is. We’ve got to get them healthy, gotta get ready, and whoever’s out there’s gotta be ready to play.”