Sunday, December 7, 1997

Cougars miscues spelled end of season

By Al Pickett / Abilene Reporter-News

Obviously, it was a quiet Cooper locker room Saturday at Shotwell Stadium following a 38-14 loss to Flower Mound Marcus.

Lots of hugs. A few tears. Tremendous disappointment.

For a year, the Cougars had their sights on winning a state championship, something which Cooper fell just short of last year when they lost in the title game to Austin Westlake.

But it was not to be in Saturday's Class 5A Division II quarterfinal game as five turnovers made things easy for Marcus. The Marauders had to drive only 14, 34, 38 and 47 yards for four of their five touchdowns following Cooper miscues.

"We hadn't done that in awhile," said Cooper quarterback Brandon Stover, who had an impressive day despite the loss, throwing for 277 yards. "The turnovers put us in a hole.

"We came into this season with high expectations. We didn't meet all of them, but we did some things other teams didn't. We had a good year. It's just a hard way to end it."

A state championship is just about the only thing that eluded this group of Cooper seniors.

They posted a 24-6 record over the last two seasons. Making the school's record fifth- and sixth-straight playoff appearances, they became just the second Cooper team ever to advance to the state championship game last year.

This year they reached the quarterfinals for just the fourth time in school history.

"It was a great season," said Cooper coach Randy Allen, after making his way around the somber locker room to congratulate and console each member of his team. "We have 30-some great seniors who have had great careers. They'll go on to great things, but it's sad I won't get to coach these seniors anymore."

Allen listed this year's 12-2 record, his best in seven seasons back at his alma mater, among the many accomplishments of this year's senior class.

"They won the district bell, something we hadn't done before," he said. "They put four trophies in the trophy case this year and five last year. They've left a tremendous tradition behind.

"You know the old saying 'If you shoot for the moon, you'll land in the stars.' We missed the moon, but we had a great season."

The pain of the moment was too much for most of the seniors to probably appreciate what they had accomplished.

But they will in time. To play 30 football games over the last two seasons stands as a testimony to the remarkable run that these Cooper seniors have enjoyed.

It's just that they would have liked to have the dream last two more weeks.