COSBY-The football gods were shining on Dale Ball Stadium Friday night. On homecoming night, the Cosby Eagles (1-4, 1-1) soared past the Hancock County Indians (0-5, 0-2) 40-6, while senior Cara Asbell was crowned Homecoming Queen.

"I'm well pleased," said Eagles' head coach Tyler Shelton. "I couldn't come up with a motivational speech for the guys I was so giddy. It's about time we got to do the whipping for a change."

The Eagles clicked in every aspect of the game and scored just about every way possible. But for coach Shelton, there was one aspect of the game that led to a big smile.

"I happy for all of the kids, they really played hard tonight," said coach Shelton, "but I'm most happy for our offensive line. We've had everything in place just waiting for our offensive line to come around, and tonight they did. They blocked well tonight, letting us do some running and giving Jordan (Cates) time to throw. Our 'O' line really needed this one."

The job the offensive line did was highlighted even more when Hancock County came out in a defense that was unexpected.

"Their defensive scheme is something we did not see on tape and did not prepare for," said coach Shelton. "They split their tackles and moved them out wide. But, a great job by coach (Kevin) Hall for picking that up right away and making the adjustments. Our offensive line responded and we were able to pick on them some."

The Eagles finished the night with 188 yards total offense, 102 on the ground and 86 through the air while holding Hancock County to just 57 yards total offense, 41 on the ground and 16 through the air.

The Eagle defense was stellar. While holding the Indians to just 57 total yards on the night, the Eagles also forced five turnovers, including four interceptions and one fumble recovery. Two of those interceptions were returned for touchdowns.

The Eagles' special teams also got into the act, getting a safety off a punt and Robert Herzog getting his third punt return for a touchdown on the season, this time from 42 yards out.

"I told The Plain Talk in the weekly preview story this week that we would load the box to stop the run and force Hancock to throw," said coach Shelton. "I'm not bragging here, but that's exactly what we did. We knew that if we could stop number 23 (Jordan Herton), they would have to pass and I said we would pick some of those passes for touchdowns. We did that too. Our defensive game plan was spot on."

The Eagles struck on their first possession. After stopping the Indians on their first possession, the Eagles took over on the Hancock 49 yard-line. Six plays and two-minutes-39-seconds later, Cates went to the pass and connected with Herzog for a 40-yard score. Robbie Whitted's extra point kick was good, and the Eagles led 7-0.

On their third possession, the Eagles struck again going 56 yards on four plays in just one-minute-30-seconds when Nick Koenig punched the end zone from 12 yards out. Whitted's extra point attempt was blocked, but the Eagles started the second quarter with a 13-0 lead.

Hancock County took the ball at their 42 yard-line, but on the third play from scrimmage, Corey Swann picked off a pass, and blitzed into the end zone from 36 yards out, and with Whitted's boot, the Eagles led 20-0.

The Eagles did it again on the Indians next possession. On the third play, Herzog got Cosby's second interception.

After the Eagles ran out of downs, Hancock took over at their 30 yard-line. But on the second play, senior Nick Baxter got the Eagles' third interception.

The Eagles couldn't get anything going offensively on their next possession, and Hancock got the ball back on their 14 yard-line. After failing on three plays, the Indians dropped back in punt formation, but the boot was blocked by junior Jearus Deardorff and covered in the end zone for a safety, giving the Eagles a 22-0 lead.

The Eagles then took over offensively on the Hancock 19 with 59 seconds remaining in the half. But, with 32 seconds remaining, Koenig broke several tackles and bounced into the end zone for his second TD of the night. The two-point conversion attempt was no good, but the Eagles headed to the locker room with a 28-0 lead.

The Eagles found more success in the third quarter when Herzog returned an Indian punt 42 yards for a score at the 7:30 mark. And, the Eagles found pay dirt again when Deardorff picked off a pass and rambled 45 yards for the score, and suddenly it was 40-0.

From that point on, coach Larry Proffitt's Eagle junior varsity squad took the field for some game-time experience the rest of the way.

The Indians lone score came early in the fourth quarter when the Eagles fumbled the ball in their end zone.

"We needed this, there's no doubt about it," said coach Shelton. "It really gives us a big boost of confidence for the rest of our schedule, and the win came in the Region."

Next Friday night, the Eagles move out of their Region when they travel to 'the black hole' to take on Chuckey-Doak.

"Tough place to play," said coach Shelton. "I don't know anything about them this season. But, we'll see if we can dig up some tapes, put a game plan together on Sunday, and get ready to play again."

Eagle Notes: Nice to have senior Nick Baxter a full speed running the defense on the field. Baxter had an interception, a fumble recovery and five tackles against the Indians Friday night. Sophomore running back Nick Koenig has been patient waiting for his offensive line to give him some running room. They did on Friday as Koenig led the Eagles with 64 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Koenig also led the Eagle defense in tackles with seven. Junior receiver Corey Swann has been getting it done on both sides of the ball as well. After catching a touchdown pass and getting an interception last week at Pigeon Forge, Swann followed up in Player of the Week performance with an interception against Hancock County Friday night. Robert Herzog continues to amaze. In five games, the junior receiver/defensive back has three punt returns for touchdowns and one kick off return for a TD, and that has special teams coach Larry Proffitt smiling.

Region 1A: A big upset in Region 1A play on Friday night when Unaka dumped Cloudland 19-15. Hampton took care of business, however, rolling past North Greene 40-0. The Unaka victory over Cloudland shakes up the Region 1A standings. Hampton is still undefeated at 4-0, 2-0 in the Region followed by Cloudland and Unaka, who are now tied at 2-3, 1-1 and Cosby, who is 1-4, 1-1. Hancock County and North Greene remain winless in the Region as both are 0-5, 0-2.

Up Next: The Eagles are back on the road for the fourth time in the last five games next Friday night, September 25, when they travel to Chuckey-Doak (District 2-AA). The Black Knights have had a tough season so far, and are coming off a 22-6 loss to Grainger Friday night. Chuckey's lone victory this season came in week zero, 3-0 over Unaka. They have since fallen to Unicoi County 28-7 and Claiborne 29-14. Kick off is slated for 7:30 p.m.