Cook Goes To Work For Fayetteville

FAYETTEVILLE — Brayden Cook has battled injuries for much of his time with the Fayetteville Bulldogs.

But when he’s healthy, the senior running back has proven to be invaluable to the Bulldogs’ offense.

Friday was the perfect example, as Cook rushed a career-high 34 times for a career-best 196 yards. He also added three touchdowns, another career high, after scoring just two rushing touchdowns through the first seven weeks.

“We had to have (Brayden) tonight,” Fayetteville coach Daryl Patton said after the game. “Playing on grass for the first time, and that’s not an excuse, but we had that and it was windy and we just weren’t clicking on offense. But that’s OK. We needed a game like this.”

Cook has missed two games this season while nursing an ongoing knee sprain. But in Fayetteville’s 35-14 win at Siloam Springs on Friday, he appeared to be back at full strength.

For the season, Cook now has 131 carries for 756 rushing yards and five touchdowns in six games played.

Play of the Night: Fayetteville biggest play was actually a series of plays in one drive. The Bulldogs led just 21-14 with 6:53 left when they put together a 12-play, 80-yard touchdown drive to put the game away.

Player of the Game: Cook was the clear workhorse for the Fayetteville offense, but the Bulldogs’ defense also had key plays as well. Terrell Tyson’s 35-yard interception return for a touchdown was one of three picks by the defense, the others coming from Kennedy Wade and Jordan Dennis.

Injury Report: Fayetteville is about as healthy as it has been all season long. Both Cook and Tyson are back from lingering knee sprains and the Bulldogs had no other players go down with significant injuries on Friday.

Notable: Fayetteville is 8-0 for the first time since 2003. … The Bulldogs rushed and passed for more than 200 yards Friday. … Fayetteville has a plus-nine turnover margin through eight games, tops in the 7A/6A-West.

That Figures:

3 — Touchdowns scored by the Fayetteville defense this season

196 — Single-game career-high rushing yards for Brayden Cook on Friday

2003 — Last season Fayetteville started 8-0

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