Cougars capture win in first season home game
Published 1:31 am Saturday, August 26, 2023
Dalton Jordan puts the first score on the board for the Cougars with a 63-yard sprint to the end zone.
A handoff by Brayden Moore to Jake Lawrence results in the Cougars’ second touchdown.
The Cougars’ defense work hard to ensure the Generals never gained the lead Friday night.
Head coach Brandon Burleson credits the Cougars’ offensive and defensive lines with Friday night’s victory.
Head coach Brandon Burleson coaches his first home game at Cougar Stadium.
Crenshaw Christian Academy (CCA) captured the first home-field win of the season Friday, defeating Abbeville Christian Academy 58-24 at Cougar Stadium.
The second season win for the Cougars, was new head coach Brandon Burleson’s first home field win as CCA athletic director and followed the team’s Aug. 18 shutout 48-0 victory over Sparta Academy.
“We got a win last week,” Burleson said. “I was really happy about the way the guys played tonight.”
Throughout the first half, the Generals followed close behind the Cougars, matching touchdown for touchdown and holding the line to prevent CCA from broadening the lead. But, when the game resumed after halftime, the Cougars came back with new motivation, widening the gap on nearly every turnover until Abbeville could not regain the lost ground.
“We got off to a really slow start,” Burleson said. “We gave up some big plays on defense that we shouldn’t have. But [the team] answered the bell after halftime and really buckled down and played Cougar ball.”
Dalton Jordan, No. 9, put the first points on the board for the Cougars with a 63-yard sprint for the touchdown. The Generals wide receiver, No. 2 Peyton Harper, answered with Abbeville’s first touchdown on the turnover.
The first half ended with the Cougars ahead 8-6. Jake Lawrence, No. 2, reached the goal on the Cougars’ first second-quarter possession, followed by another Abbeville touchdown by Harper.
On the next turnover, two Abbeville fouls erased two would-be Cougar touchdowns from the board, but No. 10, Ashton Acreman caught a passing touchdown, bringing CCA to a 22-12 lead.
Then, Acreman received the punt return and made a 55-yard run to reach the end zone again for CCA.
Two more touchdowns by Harper, alternating with a score by Lawrence and another by No. 7 Brayden Moore, were followed by two successful two-point conversions by CCA, bringing the score to 44-24 and CCA ahead at the third quarter’s end.
Grant Taylor and Moore both reached the end zone for CCA in the fourth quarter. As the clock ran out, all hopes of an Abbeville victory slipped away.
Burleson credited the Cougars who landed points on the scoreboard. But he also said the team’s offensive and defensive lines laid the foundation for CCA’s second season victory.
“A couple of our guys got long runs, good runs, but it really started up front,” Burleson said. “The offensive line really showed up and the defensive line did too, the second half especially.”
Abbeville head coach Matt Mims said the Generals fielded a young team this year but is working hard to develop an edge on the gridiron.
“Our conditioning is really good,” Mims said. “We’re going to get some things figured out. We’ve got a lot of young guys.”
The loss was the General’s second loss of the season, following an overwhelming Aug. 18 defeat by Autauga Academy.
The Cougars travel to meet Lakeside on Sept. 1.
