Cougars' season ends in 38-14 loss to Flower Mound

By AL PICKETT / Abilene Reporter-News

Cooper's dream season ended in a nightmare of turnovers Saturday.

Flower Mound Marcus parlayed three first-half Cooper turnovers into an early 21-0 lead, and the Marauders cruised to a 38-14 victory in front of a crowd of more than 11,000 fans at Shotwell Stadium in a Class 5A Division II quarterfinal football game.

Cooper's dream of returning to the state championship game ended with five turnovers -- four fumbles and an interception. The Cougars finished the season at 12-2, while Marcus takes a 12-2 record into the semifinals against the winner of Saturday night's Richardson Lake Highlands-Tyler John Tyler game.

"A good football team causes turnovers, I guess," Cooper coach Randy Allen said. "They were playing with a short field after each turnover, and we were playing with a long field all day. I kept thinking the breaks would even out, but they never did."

Tailback Steven Ennis scored all five of Marcus' touchdowns, four on short runs, as he carried the ball 26 times for 149 yards.

Ennis said the Marauders were not seeking revenge after losing to Cooper in last year's quarterfinals.

"It wasn't revenge," Ennis said, "we just want to win state. We beat them once (in 1995) and they beat us."

Meanwhile, the Marcus defense stuffed Cooper's running game, holding the Cougars to just 46 yards. Cougars quarterback Brandon Stover had a big day passing, however, throwing for 277 yards. Mark Rau caught eight passes for 118 yards.

"We didn't think they could run consistently on us and be successful," Marcus coach Que Brittain said. "We can usually stop the run. We blitzed most of the day. They did a good job of blocking and picking it up, so they hurt us with the pass. They have such good receivers, we knew we couldn't stick with them. That's why we blitzed."

Before Cooper had run its fourth offensive play of the game, the Cougars already trailed 14-0.

Cooper stopped the Marauders on their opening drive. But on Cooper's third offensive play, Stover's pass over the middle for Jesse Sharp bounced through Sharp's arms and into the arms of Marcus defender Lucas Prater, who returned it 47 yards to the Cooper 14-yard line. Sharp missed much of the game after suffering a concussion.

Ennis scored on a 3-yard run over left tackle to give Marcus a 7-0 lead with 5:21 to go in the first quarter.

Peter Abrigg then fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and Richard Grant recovered for the Marauders at the Cougars' 34-yard line.

An 18-yard pass from Spencer Stack to David Foster put the ball in scoring position, and Ennis then dove over from the 1-yard line to increase the Marauders' lead to 14-0.

With 7:25 to go in the second quarter, Cooper tight end Andy Rodgers, stretching for extra yards after a catch and a 14-yard gain, fumbled. Chris Krajnak recovered for Marcus at the Cooper 38.

That set up the Marauders' third touchdown -- all following Cooper miscues. Ennis swept left end for a 28-yard touchdown with 6:05 left in the second period.

Cooper responded with a 69-yard scoring drive of its own. A 37-yard screen pass from Stover to Rodgers was the big gainer. Stover then scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak with 3:13 remaining to pull Cooper to within 21-7.

The Cougars got the ball back right before halftime. But Abrigg's 42-yard field goal attempt into the wind on the final play of the half fell short.

Marcus increased its lead to 24-7 on Kelley's 30-yard field goal with 2:22 left in the third quarter, but Cooper countered with a five-play, 80-yard scoring drive.

Passes of 23 and 29 yards from Stover to Mark Rau and Adam Riddle and an interfence penalty against Marcus on a pass intended for Riddle set up Roy Strahan's 1-yard run with 10 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

At that point Cooper had pulled back to within 10 at 24-14 and appeared to have gained the momentum.

But on third-and-four from the 35-yard line, Foster caught a screen pass from Stack, got a couple of key blocks and tightroped his way down the right sideline for a 62-yard gain to the Cooper 3-yard line.

"I thought that play broke their back," Brittain said.

Ennis scored on a 3-yard run on the next play to give Marcus a 31-14 advantage.

Three minutes later, Ennis added a 2-yard TD run to complete the scoring. Like three of the Marauders' other four touchdowns, the final score was set up by a fumble recovery. Robbie Johnson coughed up the ball on a reverse and Damien Gordon pounced on the loose ball for Marcus.

Marcus 14 7 3 14--38

Cooper 0 7 7 0--14

SCORING SUMMARY

Marcus -- Steven Ennis 3 run (Jay Kelley kick)

Marcus -- Ennis 1 run (Kelley kick)

Marcus -- Ennis 28 run (Kelley kick)

Cooper -- Brandon Stover 1 run (Peter Abrigg kick)

Marcus -- Kelley 30 field goal

Cooper -- Roy Strahan 1 run (Abrigg kick)

Marcus -- Ennis 3 run (Kelley kick)

Marcus -- Ennis 2 run (Kelley kick)

Marcus Cooper

First downs 21 17

Rushes-yards 40-140 25-46

Passing yards 177 277

Comp-Att-Int 11-18-0 17-27-1

Punts 4-40.8 2-32.5

Fumbles-lost 2-0 5-4

Penalties-yards 6-44 6-50

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Marcus: Steven Ennis 26-149, Spencer Stack 6-(-15), Ryan Thornton 5-9, Matt Kipp 3-(-3). Cooper: Robbie Johnson 13-28, Richard Rodriguez 3-13, Brandon Stover 5-(-10), Roy Strahan 4-5, Adam Riddle 1-10.

PASSING -- Marcus: Spencer Stack 11-18-0, 177 yards. Cooper: Brandon Stover: 17-27-1, 277 yards.

RECEIVING -- Marcus: Ryan Smith 1-6, John Jeffries 1-0, Ian Bunn 2-11, Jeff Schaefer 1-31, David Foster 6-129. Cooper: Jesse Sharp 1-14, Mark Rau 8-118, Adam Riddle 2-40, Andy Rodgers 6-70, Luke Harrison 1-34.