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Published Saturday, November 21, 2009 in Sports

Numbers tell story of Cougars' victory

By Stuart Crosby

The Times-Herald

Besides the final score in Newnan's win over M.L. King at Drake Stadium, Friday night, other numbers stood out for both teams in the Cougars 15-6 victory.

One of the key statistics in the game was the number of conversion attempts on third down which seemed to favor the Cougars who converted six-of-12 attempts especially on the 13-play drive in their last series of the game as they ran almost six minutes off the clock.

During the series, the Cougars converted two-of-three third down attempts with plays that netted 10 or more yards.

While they did not score in the series, the Lions were faced with the situation of going 80 yards, scoring and getting the ball back for another scoring chance without a timeout.

Another scoreless drive but one that was lengthy was a 15-play series in the third quarter that started on the Newnan 18 with 5:38 remaining and ended with an interception at the MLK 2 but 4:30 ran off the clock. The ensuing series still pinned the Lions deep after a 15-yard penalty with the Cougars recovering a fumble and three plays later the second touchdown of the night was recorded for the home team.

While the Cougars were converting their third down opportunities when needed, the Lions were unsuccessful as they converted twice in 12 attempts and the end result was the two field goals as opposed to a pair of touchdowns as the two scoring drives were inside the Cougar 20.

The Lions (10-2) had unusual luck on fourth down as they tried a fake punt during one play in the second quarter that was good for 18 yards and helped lead to field goal while the other fourth down conversion was courtesy of a pass interference penalty in the fourth quarter.

Another statistic that could have been pivotal was penalties as the Cougars were called for 12 which netted 77 yards while the Lions were flagged six times for 40 yards.

A holding penalty in the second quarter against the Cougars negated a promising series as they faced a third-and-31 with a fumble that eventually led to a field goal for the Lions.

Another penalty came on fourth down on the LionsÕ final series of the night when the flag was tossed for pass interference and the Cougars not only did not take possession but the Lions had a first-and-10 at midfield.

While the number of conversions and penalties had some significance

in the game, the key numbers were 15-6 which favored the Cougars who

will now play in the third round for the third straight year.

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