Mountain Lions fall to the Warriors
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HAMBLETON – In their 2026 home opener, the Tucker County Mountain Lions fell to the visiting Pocahontas County Warriors, 31-16, at R.H. Armstrong Memorial Stadium on Friday evening.
Pocahontas County scored a quick touchdown to jump out to a 7-0 lead early in the game.
Tucker County responded by moving the ball to inside the Pocahontas 30-yard line, but then a hard Warriors hit dislodged the ball from running back Cade Rapp, causing a fumble that Pocahontas recovered inside their own 20.
Pocahontas then turned the ball over on downs, with Tucker taking possession inside the opposing 20-yard line, only to fumble the ball once more after only one play.
Unable to pick up a first down, the Warriors punted, with the Mountain Lions taking over on their own 48. After a steady diet of positive-yardage runs, Tucker moved the ball down inside the Warriors’ 20-yard line.
Mountain Lions quarterback Branson Hyre then connected on a pass within the five-yard line, which Cade Rapp followed with a short-yardage running touchdown. Rapp then scored on the two-point conversion, with Tucker County taking the lead at 8-7 with 1:44 left in the half.
After the kickoff, the Warriors started their next possession on their own 35-yard line. Quarterback Griffin Taylor ripped off a quick 10-yard run to pick up a first down, only to be sacked by the Mountain Lions for a loss on the next play.
The Warriors’ Flash Gregory then galloped down the field for a 40-plus yard run to take the ball inside the Tucker 5-yard line with less than 10 seconds in the half.
Taylor then crossed the goal line on a short-yardage run just as time expired in the half, but a penalty flag was thrown. The penalty was announced as offensive holding, so the touchdown was taken off the scoreboard and the ball was moved back 10 yards for one final play of the half.
Taylor ran the ball to within the two-yard line, but the Mountain Lions’ defense held, and the half ended with the 8-7 Tucker lead intact.
A flurry of scoring after the half-time break resulted in a 23-16 Pocahontas County lead at the end of the third quarter.
During the fourth quarter, Pocahontas stretched their lead to 31-16.