In the weeks before
the 2001 football season started, Cooper coach Randy Quisenberry
made himself clear. If the Cougars wanted to equal their success
of seasons past, they would have to play better defense.
From the looks of their season-opening game against Lubbock Coronado,
the Cougars are well on their way to that goal.
Cooper held Coronado to 228 yards of total offense, came up with
a pair of key stands in the first half and posted a 23-0 shutout
over the Mustangs.
"We put our defense in some bad binds with mistakes we made
on special teams," Quisenberry said. "Our defense made
some huge stops for us."
The first of those stops came in the first half when Coronado
took possession of the ball on Cooper's 30-yard line after a
14-yard punt by Matt Uselton.
Cooper linebacker Edmond Harris sacked Coronado quarterback Bryan
Keefner for a 6-yard loss. The Mustangs faced fourth down two
plays later and came up a yard short when running back Ben Bratcher
was cut down just short of a first down on a short pass from
Keefner.
"We made some big plays and shut them down in the first
half," Harris said. "That set the tone for the game."
Cooper turned Coronado back a second time in the first half after
a fumbled punt allowed the Mustangs to take possession of the
ball at the Cougars' 36.
Coronado was called for holding and failed to pull itself out
of a second-and-20 hole.
When the Mustangs' offense headed off the field, Cooper linebacker
Troydale Gaston felt as if the Cougars were in control of the
game.
"That second stop seemed to take the wind out of them."
Running back Brandon Diles took care of the rest, rushing for
163 yards on 25 carries. Diles scored two of Cooper's three touchdowns
in the game.
"Brandon made some key runs and kept the clock rolling,"
Quisenberry said. "We needed that tonight."
Diles made his presence felt early in the game, taking advantage
of a Coronado mistake to give Cooper an early lead.
Coronado return man James Conwright fumbled a punt deep in his
own end of the field. Cooper pounced on the ball at the Mustangs'
19-yard line and converted the turnover into a touchdown when
Diles scampered through the middle of Coronado's defense and
into the end zone.
Diles also keyed a second-quarter drive that led to Cooper's
second touchdown of the first half. The junior carried the ball
five times for 51 yards during a 76-yard drive, including a 33-yard
scamper.
Wide receiver Will Galusha capped the drive when he caught a
21-yard touchdown pass from quaterback David Butler.
Coronado blocked the extra point attempt, but still trailed 13-0
at halftime.
Cooper extended its lead to 16-0 in the fourth quarter when Matt
Uselton kicked a 36-yard field goal.
Diles tacked on a 13-yard touchdown run with 3 minutes and 52
seconds left to give the Cougars a 23-0 advantage.
Friday night's game marked Diles' first start on the varsity
team in a regular-season game. He spent last season on the JV
team with Butler before the pair moved up to the varsity this
season.
Diles and Quisenberry both said the Cougars' offense has a way
to go before its finds its stride. With the Cooper's offense
struggling, both were happy to see the team's defense get off
to a quick start.
"Our defense picked us up on offense," Diles said.
"They played great."
Contact sports writer
Brett Vito at 676-6771 or vitob@abinews.com.
1st
Q
2nd
Q
3rd
Q
4th
Q
FINAL
Coronado
0
0
0
0
0
Cooper
7
6
0
10
23
Cooper - Brandon Diles 19 run (Matt Uselton kick)
Cooper - Will Galusha 21 pass from David Butler (kick failed)
Cooper - Uselton 36 field goal
Cooper - Diles 13 run (Uselton kick)
.........................Coronado.....Cooper
First Downs...............5.............12
Rushes-yards......28-141.....33-161
Passing-yards...........87..........123
Comp-Att-Int.........11-21-0....10-16-0
Punts-avg................8-35..........4-26
Fumbles-lost..........4-2............4-1
Penalties-yards.....5-25..........6-40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - Coronado: Teddy Morgan 4-37, Chad Hill 4-32, Ben Bratcher
9-20, Bryan Keefner 7-4, Brandt Stravlo 2-(-13), Craig Rodriguez
1-(-10), Shaun Scott-Jones 1-(-2) Cooper: Brandon Diles 25-163,
Stephen Branes 1-(-3), Rafel Matthews 2-2,
RECEIVING - Coronado: Gabril Hall 4-20, Chris Williams 1-8, Shaun
Scott-Jones 4-49, Ben Bratcher 2-10, Chris Williams 1-8. Cooper:
Tony Cunningham 6-53, Will Galusha 2-25, marcevie Ralston 1-4,
Kurtis Lay 1-40.
