Blackhawks vs Cougars: Round 2

No matter the sport, games take on extra meaning as the season winds down.

Truer words were never spoken for the football teams at Floyd T. Binns and Culpeper Middle School, which will meet tonight at 6 p.m. in a game with obvious implications.

“It’s the biggest game of our year,” said CMS’s first-year coach Monty Fritts. “The first time we played them was not only our first game, but it was our first game together as coaches and as a team.”

Even though Binns coach Kemp Pullen has downplayed the significance of the cross-town rivals’ second meeting of the season, there will be plenty of excitement coming from the Blackhawks’ sideline tonight at Comet Field.

“Every game is as big as the other,” said Pullen, who has amassed a 27-1 record over three years at Binns. “It’s just another game that we have to play, but the goal every year is to win 10 games and go undefeated.”

The Blackhawks (9-0) are hoping to end their season the same way it began — with a win over the Cougars.

Culpeper’s two middle schools opened the season against one another — with Binns shutting out the Cougars 20-0 — but Fritts was impressed with his team’s early-season performance and both squads are coming into the game riding winning streaks.

“I thought we performed pretty well for that being our first game of the season,” Fritts said. “We’re on a bit of a roll right now, so this is a big game for us in terms of seeing where we are because they (Binns) are a great team.”

After beginning the season 0-2, the Cougars (4-2) have reeled of four straight victories with their latest being a 26-12 win over Locust Grove.

“The biggest thing for us has been our offense,” Fritts said. “In our first couple games, the defense kind of kept us in the game but over the last four games our offense has just exploded.”

Moving the speedy Adrian Strother from quarterback to wide receiver and putting Joe Riddle under center has paid dividends for the Cougars, according to Fritts. Running back Dustin Gilbert has also played a role in the offensive success, and the defense has been led by Henry Butler.

“The great thing is that we’ve been in complete control of the last four games,” Fritts said. “We’ve been just handing the ball off, eating up the clock and getting the ball into our playmakers’ hands.”

Tonight, the Cougars will face a team that knows a thing or two about controlling games via the running attack. Binns comes into the game riding a 19-game winning streak — after going 10-0 last season — and it’s mostly because of the running game.

“Running the ball is our offense,” Pullen said. “We pass to keep other teams honest, but as long as we’re getting positive yards running, that’s what we’re going to do.”

Marlin Glascoe has led the Blackhawks’ rushing attack this season, while Bruce Mosley, Austin Jenkins, Marcellus Green and quarterback Nate Yates have contributed yards on the ground as well.

This may be the Blackhawks’ final game of the season, but the Cougars have two more contests left before they can put this year in the books and Fritts said his team definitely isn’t looking past tonight’s game.

“We’ve never beaten them so we really want this one,” he said. “The main thing is we just have to hang on to the football. We have to get the ball out of their running backs’ hands because they’re just too good on offense to let them control the ball.”

Want to watch?

Who: Floyd T. Binns vs Culpeper Middle School

When: Today at 6 p.m.

Where: Comet Field, behind Floyd T. Binns