Cougars' inaugural football season comes to an end

Oct. 29—The first ever season of College Heights Cougars football came to a disappointing end on Friday when the Osceola Indians came to Joplin and gutted out a tough 53-44 win at Joplin High School.

The game was nip and tuck most of the way with the two teams heading into the locker room tied at 22.

The third quarter was wild with each team scoring twice and setting the stage for a nail-biter of a fourth quarter.

Then Osceola scored on its first two possessions, taking a 30-22 lead with 8:34 left in the third quarter, then taking advantage of a College Heights fumble to go up 37-22 with 4:55 left in the third quarter.

College Heights rallied before the end of the third. They overcame a holding call and a sack to reach the ends zone, but missed on the two-point conversion to pull to within 39-28 with 3:15 left in the third.

Then the Cougars recovered the onside kick and overcame a flag that pushed them back to first-and-25 to score a second touchdown with 2:22 left in the third and pull to within one point at 37-36, Osceola.

The Indians scored on a long drive to make the score 45-36 with 6:58 left in the game, then College Heights rallied for a touchdown with 5:55 left to trail 45-44.

Then it was Osceola's turn to overcome a long penalty and score with 1:53 left in the game and go up 53-44.

The Cougars tried to rally, but an interception by Osceola with 42 second left sealed the win and a trip to Drexel for the Indians.

College Heights finishes its first season with a 1-9 record.