Saturday, September 20, 1997
Cooper 56, Lubbock Monterey 12By LANCE FLEMING / Abilene Reporter-News
The Cooper Cougars had a checklist of things they wanted to get done Friday night at Shotwell Stadium.
It went something like this:
-- Win and win big;
-- protect the football;
-- get the reserves some significant playing time;
-- get out of the game healthy;
-- enjoy homecoming.
You can put a big check mark by each one of those things as the fifth-ranked Cougars rolled to a 56-12 win over Lubbock Monterey in front of a homecoming crowd of 10,000 fans.
The victory pushes the Cougars to 3-0 and sets up their District 4-5A showdown with 3-0 Abilene High next week at Shotwell Stadium. Both teams are 3-0 going into district play for the first time since 1967, and both are undefeated going into the cross-town game for the first time in history.
"This game was a great way to get ourselves ready for district play," Cooper head coach Randy Allen said. "We got our backups a lot of work, we protected the football and we got out of the game healthy, and those are things we wanted to get done in this game."
Cooper's players were probably already thinking about the Abilene High game at halftime when they went to the dressing room with a 35-6 lead over the outmanned Plainsmen. In fact, most of the Cougars were out of the dressing room just a few minutes into the halftime festivities to see who would be crowned homecoming queen (Paige Robinson won the award).
By that point this game was long over, thanks to three touchdown passes from Brandon Stover, two to Jesse Sharp and one to Mark Rau. Richard Rodriquez scored on a 65-yard run on his first carry of the night, and Eric Gobert scored when he picked up a punt that he blocked and carried it in from seven yards out.
Monterey actually jumped on top with a 13-play, 74-yard drive that culminated in a 1-yard scoring pass from David Gard to Branum Noble. But just as soon as the Plainsmen started thinking they might be able to play with the Cougars, the Cougars put an end to that thought.
On Cooper's first play on its second possession, Rodriquez ran left, cup up the sideline and went virtually untouched for a 65-yard touchdown and a 7-6 Cooper lead.
Four plays later the lead went to 15-6 when Gobert scored on the blocked punt return and Peter Abrigg scored the two-point conversion on a run. On Cooper's next possession, Stover hit Sharp on third-and-goal for a 5-yard scoring pass and a 22-6 Cooper lead.
After Monterey again went three-and-out, the Cougars needed just two plays to score, this time hitting paydirt on a 45-yard scoring pass from Stover to Sharp.
Monterey again went three-and-out and on Cooper's first play Stover hit Rau for a 41-yard scoring pass and a 35-6 lead.
Cooper's defense was dominant in the first half as it forced Monterey to go three plays and out five times in its final six possessions of the first half.
"We went into halftime with a good feeling, and that's the first time that's happened this season," Allen said. "In our other two games we've been a little frustrated, but tonight we felt like we had the game in hand."
On the Monterey sideline, however, the game was total frustration.
"We were outmanned, and nobody would doubt that," Monterey head coach Buster Leaf said. "I'd like our defense to be able to slow some people down and give us a chance to stay in a game. But our defense just doesn't have the ability to stop people right now. We're playing soft on defense right now. We're giving up big plays and missing tackles and busting assignments."
Cooper tacked on 21 more points in the second and Stover got it started five plays into the third quarter when he connected with Adam Riddle on a 9-yard scoring strike. That would do it for Stover, who finished nine of 14 for 152 yards and four touchdowns.
His understudy, Dowell Loggins, was equally efficient, completing six of nine passes for 123 yards and one touchdown, that a 58-yarder to Ryan Gibbs that came on the third play of Cooper's second possession of the third quarter.
Cooper backup running back Lawrence Riley closed out the scoring in the fourth quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run.
And now comes the game between the only two undefeated teams in District 4-5A.
"We'll enjoy this win for 24 hours and then we'll start thinking about Abilene High," Allen said. "But I'll say this: Anybody who misses that game next week is going to miss a great high school football game."
Monterey 6 0 6 0--12
Cooper 15 20 14 7--56<graf
SCORING SUMMARY
MHS -- Branum Noble 1 pass from David Gard (pass failed)
CHS -- Richard Rodriquez 65 run (Peter Abrigg kick)
CHS -- Eric Gober 7 return of blocked punt (Abrigg run)
CHS -- Jesse Sharp 5 pass from Brandon Stover (Abrigg kick)
CHS -- Sharp 45 pass from Stover (Abrigg kick)
CHS -- Mark Rau 41 pass from Stover (Scott McNea kick)
CHS -- Adam Riddle 9 pass from Stover (Abrigg kick)
CHS -- Ryan Gibbs 58 pass from Dowell Loggins (McNea kick)
MHS -- Travis Grant 2 run (kick failed)
CHS -- Lawrence Riley 1 run (McNea kick)
Monterey Cooper
First downs 18 17
Rushes-yards 43-115 23-147
Passing yards 132 275
Comp-Att-Int 18-28-0 15-23-0
Punts 3-36.7 3-37.3
Fumbles-lost 3-2 1-1
Penalties-yards 4-40 5-29
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Monterey: Cleo Andrews 1-11; Adrian Cortez 1-0; Kitrick Manuel 14-46; Travis Grant 11-14; David Gard 3-(-13); Taylor Noles 2-9; Nigel Baldwin 1-9; Brady Baldwin 9-59; Team 1-(-25). Cooper: Richard Rodriquez 3-106; Robbie Johnson 8-20; Brandon Stover 4-0; Mark Rau 1-(-7); Lawrence Riley 7-28.
PASSING -- Monterey: David Gard 18-28-0 132 yards 1 TD. Cooper: Brandon Stover 9-14-0 152 yards 4 TD; Dowell Loggins 6-9-0 123 yards 1 TD.
RECEIVING -- Monterey: Dwight Smith 9-93; Dameion Hall 1-(-1); Travis Grant 2-18; Phillip Starr 1-5; Branum Noble 1-1; Kitrick Manuel 3-12; Doug Reeves 1-4. Cooper: Ryan Gibbs 3-77; Mark Rau 3-62; Jesse Sharp 2-50; Anthony Rozell 1-8; Andy Rodgers 1-13; Adam Riddle 2-19; Jeremy Janssen 2-32.