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Turnovers and penalties limited what was otherwise a very productive Friday night for the Cosby football team.

Taking on Cocke County at the Cocke County Jamboree, Cosby moved the ball down the field but fell victim to turnovers. Cocke County ran in a touchdown on their second drive that proved to be the only score of the contest.

Despite the outcome, Cosby head coach Levi Cooper was proud of the way his team competed and held their own.

“Obviously, we need to clean up the penalties and the turnovers,” Cooper said. “I talked to the guys before we went out and told them that the big difference last year was turnovers. We had three last year and two tonight so we have to clean that up. I am super proud of how hard they played and competed. I am super excited about the growth in this program.”

Devonte Wigfall got the nod at quarterback for Cosby during the 20-minute period and guided the Eagles down the field on three separate drives. The Eagles completed a 30-yard fourth-down pass on their first drive to extend it and completed a long pass downfield on their final drive. However, one drive ended with a fumble while time ran out on the final drive for Cosby.

“We’ve struggled the first couple scrimmages to move the ball, so it was good,” Cooper said. “Replacing as many guys as we are offensively, there’s going to be some growing pains. We had a really good practice on Wednesday. We separated the offensive line and they had a session and figured some things out. That showed tonight. I thought we were able to come out and run the football and had time to throw.”

Friday night’s Jamboree was played in front of a large crowd as the Newport community showed up to see how both teams in the area are going to shape up this season. For Cosby, that meant some younger players got to experience what a Friday night during the regular season is going to look like.

“We’ve got a third of our football team as freshmen,” Cooper said. “The biggest thing was getting them out here and in pounds in front of a crowd with the lights on. We can use that next week. This is super valuable for them and I think they went out there and had some fun.”

The scrimmage was also good for the Eagles as a whole, going up against a Cocke County team that is in Class 5A. Cosby is a Class 1A school with 800 fewer students than their Newport counterpart.

Despite the gap, Cooper felt his team held their own and will only benefit from the contest.

“Cocke County is a better football team than we have played so far,” Cooper said. “They’re a 5A football team with a ton of athletes that are good in space. We took a huge step forward tonight.”

The fun starts now for Cosby as they get set to take on Cumberland Gap on Friday night in their season opener. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.

For Cooper, he just wants his team to continue to focus on themselves and worry about what they can control.

“Where we’re at with our football team, we have to continue to work on us,” Cooper said. “We’re so young, and we’re just going to continue to try and get better up front and get these quarterbacks to see what they need to see in the passing and run game. Those guys will figure it out. It’s just about getting familiar to them. I’m really excited at where we’re at, and we just need to continue to go out and get better.”