Frontier’s Austyn Kephart (20) goes up to make a catch as Conotton Valley’s Brooks Bower (21) defends during Friday’s game in New Matamoras. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

NEW MATAMORAS — Conotton Valley put a roadblock on Frontier’s initial plans.

So Frontier rerouted its offensive approach and tried to match the Rockets’ passing game Friday night at Cougar Field.

In a game which featured a combined 70 passing attempts, Conotton Valley stayed true to its strength and defeated the Cougars, 46-20.

“They presented a pretty strong defensive line and linebacking crew — we kind of overlooked them,” Frontier coach Damon Metheney said after his ballclub slipped to 3-4. “They kind of shut down our run early so we resorted to spread. We had numbers but we kind of figured that out too late.

When CV shut down Frontier’s ground game at the outset, the Cougar coaching staff put a load on quarterback True King’s shoulders. The senior responded with 23 completions on 42 attempts for 225 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Frontier’s Caleb Kirkpatrick (4) makes a catch as Conotton Valley’s Brooks Bower (21) makes a hit during Friday’s game in New Matamoras. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“We’ve never had quite that many passes,” Metheney said. “We usually stay pretty balanced. That’s not what we were wanting to do but that’s about the only thing we could get going tonight.”

After throwing a pick on his second pass of the game, King went the next 39 pass plays without an interception. He hooked up with Avery Powell running a slant route which resulted in a 39-yard TD reception on the opening drive of the second half.

“Being a senior and having experience, True has stepped in real well,” Metheney said. “He held his composure. He took a lot of big hits tonight and held his own. I am proud of how he controlled himself.”

Perhaps his most impressive completion occurred in the early moments of the fourth quarter. A CV defender had King’s ankles wrapped, but the quarterback remained upright and managed to get the deep ball off to Davyn Ferrell running a fly pattern. Ferrell caught the ball in stride and reached the end zone for a 63-yard TD reception which cut into the CV lead at 38-20 with 10:39 still remaining in the fourth quarter.

Hannan caught eight balls for 94 yards, while Powell finished with seven receptions for 71 yards.

Frontier’s Avery Powell (1) is brought down during Friday’s game against Conotton Valley in New Matamoras. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

CV’s passing game, however, was just a touch better from beginning to end. The Rockets, who scored the first 12 points of the game, created some breathing room with a TD compliments of their third quarterback of the game – Kamden Wright, who found Brooks Bower open for a 20-yard scoring strike with 4:07 left in the game.

Frontier was quite aware of CV’s bread-and-butter and the Rockets, who entered the game averaging 27 pass plays per contest. CV produced four touchdowns through the air.

CV starting quarterback Zach Putnam completed 15-of-26 passes for 150 yards before leaving with an elbow injury in the third quarter.

Second-string QB Kaden Leggett played just one series, which resulted in a three-and-out in the final minutes of the third period. Leggett then lined up as the punter on fourth down. When he received the snap he immediately reached for his leg, flipped the ball forward several yards and fell to the ground.

Receiver Kamden Wright, who caught three balls for 22 yards and a TD, entered as the emergency QB for the rest of the game and completed his only pass. He also rushed nine times for 59 yards and another score.

Frontier’s True King (11) tries to break a tackle during Friday’s game against Conotton Valley in New Matamoras. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Frontier’s ground game manufactured just 51 yards on 22 carries. Caleb Kirkpatrick rushed for a team-high 34 yards on 11 carries. His 5-yard TD run with eight seconds remaining in the first quarter cut the CV advantage in half at 12-6.

Putnam threw for one TD and called his own number a second as part of a second quarter which saw CV increased the gap to 26-6 at intermission.

Both teams had their issues with the yellow hanky. CV was penalized 13 tims for 140 yards, while Frontier committed 12 penalties for 80 yards.

“I like the way we fought towards the end,” CV coach Derek O’Hara said. “We got pushed around a little bit. Our kids stepped up until the end and got the job done. Obviously, penalties have to be cleaned up. Our kids have to be smarter in certain situations.”

Despite the loss in a matchup of top 10 teams in the region, Frontier still feels part of the postseason conversation. Coach Metheney doesn’t want his team getting ahead of itself. He wants them to stay in the moment and take care of business one week at a time. On Friday, the Cadets meet Magnolia.

“We just need to keep grinding away like we have been doing,” Metheney said. “We tell the kids these are building blocks for the postseason. We have to clean up all the little stuff. Every week is a new challenge.”

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com