Video: Brown and Bone Continue To Lead The Cougars On The Field

PONTOTOC, Miss. (WCBI) – Cole Brown and Troy Bone are looking to finish the season strong.

The South Pontotoc Cougars are off to their best start in thirty two years.

The Cougars are currently sitting 7-1 overall and 1-1 in division play, and two senior leaders,  quarterback Cole Brown and linebacker Troy Bone are big reasons for the team’s success this season.

“It’s been really good,” said quarterback Cole Brown. “It’s come from a lot of hard work the past couple of years since coach Bradley’s been here. It isn’t like it just started this year. It was all a process leading up to it, and now all the hard work is paying off for us.”

“It’s been a run ride through the first eight games,” adds linebacker Troy Bone. “We are not really where we wanted to be. We would rather been 8-0, but that’s a minor setback. We just got to focus on the next three games.”

Both Bone and Brown have been a part of the up’s and down’s at South Pontotoc, but the hard work has paid off with both of them sticking together.

“Troy is one of the hardest workers on the team,” Brown said. “If not the hardest worker on the team. He works hard in the weight room. He’s going to do his reps. Maybe even more than what he’s suppose to do.”

“Cole is not a really vocal guy per say,” Bone said. “But he’s been vocal at times when we needed him to be. He can control the huddle.”

Head coach Michael Bradley has coached Troy and Cole the last four years. Bradley also knows that he can expect a lot out of them when they come to practice and on game night.

“He’s the kind of leader of our offense,” said Michael Bradley. “He’s really matured over the last couple of years. He’s the guy that keeps everything under control on Friday nights and keeps us focused. Troy is our middle linebacker. He kind of makes the quarterback of the defense. He kind of sets the standard for our effort, our passion, and our intensity. He’s done a real good job of doing that for us this year.”

The Cougars suffered their first loss on the season last week when they played at Nettleton coming up short by one point, but now the team says they have to move past that loss and get ready to hit the road again on Friday when they face another divisional opponent in Houston.

“It’s going to be a tough one of course,” says Brown. “They are physical on defense. Hard to the ball. Fast, but we got a good game plan to come in. I think we are going to execute it. We should be right in there with them.”

Bone adds, “I think we match up pretty well with them. I think it’s going to be a good game. Just got to play fundamentally sound football and do your job.”

That match up between Houston and South Pontotoc will kick off Friday at 7 p.m.