Cougars to face Resurrection Catholic, Miss. Friday

Escambia Academy will be tested this week as the Cougars host Resurrection Catholic, Miss. in a regular-season contest at Bachelor Field.

The Cougars are coming off a 56-19 rout over Jackson Academy, in which running backs Kris Brown and Louie Turner accounted for five of their team’s touchdowns. Turner finished with 171 rushing yard, and Brown had 161.

Resurrection Catholic, like EA, is 4-1 on the season, and from what film indicates, the Eagles are pretty good, Cougars head football coach Hugh Fountain said.

“They’re very methodical,” Fountain said. “They run the ball very well, and they can throw the ball well. They’re balanced.”

Fountain said that the Eagles prefer to run the ball as Patrick Watts, a 233-pound senior running back, is a plugger.

“He’s good,” Fountain said. “He reminds me of Mitchell Lewis, who played at Lee-Scott last year. He’s very effective.”

It’s been two weeks since the Cougars’ only loss to Northview, and Fountain said a big emphasis on the team is how it fights through adversity.

“We were disappointed in some of the things we did in the Northview game that hurt us,” he said. “In the fourth quarter, we played a little undisciplined in the game.

“So, we’ve been emphasizing let’s see how we do in a closer game,” he said. “Let’s see how we do when the chips are down.”

During last week’s game against JA, the Cougars faced early adversity by getting behind 7-0. However, Turner helped EA stay in it with three touchdowns in the first quarter to give the Cougars a 21-13 advantage and lead they wouldn’t relinguish.

By halftime, it was 43-13 after Brown added his 14 and 2-yard TD rushes, and Fred Flavor’s 37-yard scamper.

In the second half of the game, Kainoa Gumapac rushed in from 12 yards, and Flavors added a 67-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the fourth.

Fountain said the home game, which is the Cougars third this season — comes at a good time in the season.

“Home games are always big and important to us to play here in Canoe,” the coach said. “This is always a good little atmosphere. We‘re glad to have them at home, and glad to have another home game under our belt before we hit the open week during the midseason.”

Kick off in Canoe is at 7 p.m.