APEX – Turnovers often tell the story in high school football, and Friday night at Apex High School that certainly was the case. Cary took advantage of two late Cougars miscues to edge out rival Apex 16-12.

With 3:31 left in the game, the Cougars had the ball, a 12-9 lead and the game in hand when disaster struck.

Shawn Knox, who led Apex in rushing with 66 yards on the night, fumbled the ball on a run right up the middle on his own 29-yard line, breathing life back into an Imps team that seemingly was out of chances.

Cary capitalized on its final chance, taking the lead for good on a 1-yard R.J. Banks plunge with just 1:25 left in the game. The Imps' Gideon Akinsola iced it just a few plays later with an interception, allowing Cary to run out the clock.

“This is standard for Cary and Apex,” Imps coach Ben Kolstad said. “This is a big rivalry. And Apex is a tough place to play, but our kids played hard. This is an awesome win for us.”

On the other side it was not so cheery afterwards.

After blocking a punt out of the end zone for a safety and recovering a fumbled punt snap which turned into three points, it looked as if the Cougars would be the ones to benefit from mistakes the most. But in the end, they made the most costly mistake of all.

“This is tough,” Cougars coach Bob Wolfe said. “It wasn’t just turnovers that hurt us, but it played a part in it. If we would’ve just taken care of business we would’ve won this game.”

Sophomore running back Deandre Henry gave Cary its first lead at 6-0 on a 26-yard touchdown run with 8:41 left in the first quarter. The extra point was no good.

Henry finished with a game-high 169 yards on 23 carries. In all, the Imps totaled 327 yards on the ground.

Apex answered promptly on its first possession, scoring on a 13-yard toss from junior quarterback Adam Nelson to senior wideout Tremaine Woods. The Cougars converted their point after attempt and led 7-6 midway through the first quarter.

Cary kicker William Gilfillan, who returned the lineup this week from injury, gave the Imps a 9-7 lead on a 23-yard field goal with 8:38 left in the first half.

The second half was more about defense.

After Apex tied the game on the safety and took a three-point lead after the muffed punt snap, neither team could anything going on offense until Cary’s final drive of the game.

“We played real good defense in the second half,” Wolfe said. “It shows we’re getting better. We look great at times.”

Kolstad was just as pleased with his defense, but unlike Wolfe he was mostly excited about the outcome of the game.

“Our defense was awesome,” Kolstad said. “We have a young defense and sometimes it takes us a few series to get into the flow of the game, but they keep playing hard and (Friday) they made enough plays to win.”