Experienced Conant handles Wheeling
Conant's football roster includes 15 players from last year's 4-5 squad that failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.
One of those is senior running back Jake Jakubosky.
His experience did not go unnoticed.
Jakubosky rushed for 3 touchdowns in the Cougars 41-13 victory at Wheeling on Friday night.
"Last year was a rough year for us," Jakubosky said. "We went 4-5 and I had to learn a lot.
"It was my first year at running back and this year I put in the summer work. I went hard and hopefully this year we can pull it off and go to the playoffs."
Conant coach Bill Modelski said the experience helps and makes a big difference.
"It's because kids have been through the battles and so there's some lessons that you've already taught them that you don't have to teach them again," he explained. "It's always a benefit to have some experience."
Jakubosky opened and closed the scoring and provided a third rushing touchdown in between.
He put the Cougars on the board with a 5-yard touchdown run (7-0 lead) with 1:26 remaining in the first quarter.
Another Jakubosky rushing touchdown (8 yards) made it 27-0.
Jakubosky produced the final touchdown for the Cougars with a 15-yard run to make it with 7:53 left in the contest. Thomas Urbanski booted his seventh extra point to make it 41-7.
Wheeling senior running back Josh Diaz accounted for the final score with a 9-yard run that made it 41-13.
"(Jakubosky)'s a very good back," Modelski said. "He's versatile. He can run, he can block and he can catch the ball. He does a lot of good things for us and so he's what we thought he'd be."
Conant's second TD came when senior Jack Lunkes returned Jalen Dennis' punt 75 yards for a touchdown to extend the Cougars' advantage to 14-0 with 4:02 remaining in the first half.
With the Cougars facing second and 10 from their own 46 yard line, senior quarterback Kyle Bradley threw an incomplete pass as the halftime horn sounded.
However a Wheeling 'roughing the passer' penalty allowed Conant to have one more play to conclude the half.
The Cougars (3-0) made the Wildcats pay with a 35-yard touchdown pass from Bradley to senior wide receiver Brandon Vinson, extending the lead to 21-0 at intermission.
"That was a big momentum boost," Jakubosky said. "Going up another touchdown really did help us out a lot and it made us hungrier and want to go out there and win this game."
A 19-yard touchdown pass from Bradley to senior Carl Hahn extended the Cougars' advantage to 34-0.
Wheeling senior running back Dylan Draka put the Wildcats (0-3) on the board with a 56-yard touchdown run to close the deficit to 34-7 at the end of the third quarter.