By: Railey Ayers

On a September night slightly chillier than most in Luverne, Alabama, the Crenshaw Cougars lost their “turnover battle” for the seventh game in a row.

In a 35-20 loss to Hooper Academy on homecoming night, the Cougars turned over the ball six times compared to the Colts’ one turnover. However, the Cougars managed to win in every area of the game save turnovers and the score itself.

Offensively, the Cougars outgained the Colts 2:1, led for the second week in a row by senior running back Junior Wright. Wright boasted 147 yards of total offense, and CCA was not forced to punt even once.

In a match where the Cougars managed 18 first downs, and the Colts only had four, Hooper still outscored Crenshaw 35-20.

Defensively, sophomore Logan Johnson and junior Gauge Cornelius led with 10 tackles each.

Though the defense held Hooper to only four first downs, the opposing Colts scored twice without even earning a fresh set of downs, and were only forced one turnover.

“I feel like we’re getting better,” said CCA first year head coach Mike Sims.

“We’re a young-minded team, and it’s really hard for us to overcome our mistakes right now. We work every day on new things and continue to fix and learn, but our guys have got to learn how to fight for a win and focus on the little things. Our learning curve hasn’t come quick enough and we are all dissatisfied with that, so we’re going to keep working and learning. My guys work very hard, but they have to learn to have faith in the process.”