GENTRY — The defense turned in its best performance of the season.

But the Rogers offense was lost without senior quarterback Andy Couture and couldn’t catch No. 2 Har-Ber.

The Wildcats remained undefeated and atop the 7AWest Conference Standings, escaping Mountie Stadium with a 27-14 win Friday.

The Mounties (2-4, 0-3) trailed 21-14 but were driving deep in Har-Ber territory late in the second quarter when Couture — who had a passing and rushing touchdown in the game — was knocked out diving for a first down.

“This team has whole lot of confidence in (Couture) and when he went down, it was like we couldn’t even snap the ball,” Mounties coach Ronnie Peacock said. “We just fell apart a little bit and we can’t do that.”

That drive — which was fueled by three complete passes and two big Har-Ber penalties — stalled on the next play as the snap hit replacement quarterback Graham Parker at his feet. Har-Ber then blocked Spencer Dunlop’s 34-yard field goal attempt but missed its own field goal as time ran out in the first half.

The Mounties managed just 18 yards of offense the rest of the game but still had a chance thanks to the defense.

“It would have been a different story if No. 7 (Couture) didn’t go down,” Har-Ber coach Chris Wood said. “That was a hit for them. Overall, we dodged a bullet tonight.

“Rogers was very resilient and they battled to the bitter end. It wasn’t really decided there until the final two minutes.”

Rogers held the Wildcats (6-0, 3-0) to just two first downs and forced three punts and two turnovers in the second half until Har-Ber finally put the game away in the final minutes on Shawn Sayrinh’s 5-yard touchdown run with 1:27 left in the game.

“I was really proud of our defense,” Peacock said. “They played unbelievable. Probably one of the best games we’ve played defensively.”

Rogers cornerback Ben Cabell recovered a fumble at the Rogers 3 after the Wildcats got a first down on fourth-and-5 deep in Mountie territory.

The next Har-Ber drive ended with Casey Caton’s interception of junior quarterback Ryan Luther on fourth down. Rogers forced two more punts after that, surviving a roughing the kicker penalty to renew one of those drives.

But sophomore quarterback Andrew Conley, who played the entire second half, struggled. He completed 4 of 14 passes for 38 yards and was intercepted.

Har-Ber also held the Rogers running game to minus-14 yards in the second half.

The Wildcats put the game away with their running game, keeping it on the ground for five plays on the final drive.

The Wildcats rushed for 233 yards — led by Gordon Welch’s 109 yards on 23 carries — but had two big passing plays for touchdowns in the second quarter.

Luther hit junior Brett Stith for touchdowns of 45 and 47 yards — the second wide open for a 21-14 lead.

Luther finished 9 of 17 for 167 yards and Stith had three catches for 97 yards.

The Wildcats scored their first touchdown after two bad plays — a sack and a fumbled bad snap — pushed the Mounties 37 yards backwards. Har-Ber recovered the ball at the Rogers 6 and Kaleb Vaughn ran in on the next play to tie the game at 7 with 5:51 left.

A turnover helped the Mounties take an early lead.

Jason Oller recovered Welch’s fumble at the Har-Ber 39 and then set up the touchdown with a 13-yard gain on a shovel pass. On the next play, Couture rolled to his right and hit Parker in the back of the end zone.

In between the Wildcats’ two aerial scores, Couture tied the game with his feet.

Caton’s 39-yard kickoff return started the Mounties at the Rogers 44 and after a 13-yard pass to Parker, Couture faked a handoff, found a hole in the right side and outran the defense for a 43-yard score to briefly tie it with 6:40 left in the half.

Couture was 11 of 16 for 89 yards when he left the game.

Peacock said Couture and sophomore defensive back Mason Young, who collided with a teammate on a play, both went to the hospital for CAT scans after the game

Sports, Pages 10 on 10/14/2009

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