Despite trailing Lakeside by as much as 20 points, CCA managed to pull out a 28-27 win in Eufaula on Friday night.

“We didn’t play very well, but we got through it,” said head coach Roland Jones.

Lakeside was up 7-0 by the end of the first quarter, and at one point in the second quarter, the score was 20-0.

The Cougars had several miscues in the first half that contributed to Lakeside’s early lead.

Two drives ended in fumbles and one ended in a missed field goal.

Quarterback Gunnar McCollough helped the Cougars get on board with a one-yard run to make the score 20-7 at halftime.

In the second half, the Cougars came alive.

McCollough connected with Alex Bowen for a 38-yard touchdown pass, and Will Moses had touchdown runs of four and five yards.

After scoring their only touchdown of the second half, Lakeside elected not to go for two points and kicked the extra point.

The Cougars’ extra point from Joe Smith with just over six minutes left in the game gave CCA the one-point margin of victory. Smith was perfect on the night’s PATs.

Moses ended the game with 16 rushes for 100 yards and two touchdowns, while McCollough had 17 rushes for 83 yards and a touchdown.

McCollough also completed two passes, one for 38 yards and a touchdown to Bowen and the other for six yards to Gavin McKenzie for a first down that sealed the game.

Defensively, Trey Dillon, Nic Henderson and Justin Fuller all had seven tackles and one assist, Jordan Phelps had seven tackles, and Bowen and Rann Smyth each had six tackles.

Both Bowen and Austin Brown had interceptions.

“Lakeside has a good team, and they threw the ball well,” Jones said. “We just stepped it up in the second half and came back.”