Saturday, November 29, 1997
Cooper 36, South Grand Prairie 20By AL PICKETT
Sports Editor
GRAND PRAIRIE - South Grand Prairie's speed made Friday night's Class 5A Division II regional semifinal game with Cooper resemble more of a track meet than a football game at times.
Fortunately for Cooper, the Warriors dropped the baton a couple of times as the fourth-ranked Cougars outscored South Grand Prairie, 36-20, in front of 8,301 fans at the Gopher Bowl.
The victory sends Cooper (12-1) into the Region I championship next Saturday against the winner of today's Amarillo High-Flower Mound Marcus game.
In the game of big plays, a punt by Cooper's Rocky McWhirter made have been the biggest.
The Cougars were clinging to a 23-20 lead but were forced to punt on the first play of the fourth quarter. South Grand Prairie tried to block the punt, but McWhirter somehow boomed a 60-yarder against the heavy pressure.
Brandon Johnson, going back to try to field the long punt, fumbled it, and Peter Abrigg recovered the ball at the Warriors' 24-yard line.
The Cougars then turned the ball over to 225-pound Roy Strahan, who carried the ball four straight times. He scored on a 5-yard run out of the power-I formation with 10:09 to go.
Abrigg's PAT kick increased Cooper's lead to a slightly more comfortable 30-20 advantage.
"It seemed like that (the punt and fumble recovery) turned it around for us," McWhirter said.
Cooper coach Randy Allen agreed.
"That fumble recovery off the punt and the subsequent score gave us a little cushion," he said. "Our defense played well. South Grand Prairie has great speed. When their quarterback starts to run, he's hard to catch. They were as good as I thought they would be.
"I thought we could score 36; I just didn't know we would need 36. They are such a threat."
McWhirter's fumble recovery of an errant pitchout to tailback Damien Newton at the 37-yard line with 7:08 remaining set up Cooper's final insurance touchdown.
A 32-yard pass from quarterback Brandon Stover to Adam Riddle moved the ball to the 3-yard line, and two plays later Stover scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak, increasing Cooper's lead to 36-20 with 4:38 remaining.
"Cooper is one of the best teams we've seen," South Grand Prairie coach David Thompson said. "I thought that punt was a big turning point. The kid who fumbled it is a sophomore. He'll learn from that. We should have blocked it, but their guy made a great punt."
The third quarter was a wild exchange of scoring plays by the two teams.
Cooper took the second-half kickoff and drove for a 30-yard field goal by Peter Abrigg, giving Cooper a 16-6 lead.
South Grand Prairie linebacker David Killough intercepted a pass on Cooper's next possession, however, and the scoring exchange was on.
The Warriors drove 51 yards in seven plays, scoring on Newton's 15-yard run with 5:40 left in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 16-13.
But Cooper responded with a 77-yard run up the middle by Richard Rodriguez to up its lead to 23-13.
"It was a counter play," Rodriguez said. "The offensive line opened up a hole that anyone could run through. I saw the open field in front of me, but I knew they had good speed and they would be on my heels. I had to swerve and weave to keep them off my ankle."
Rodriguez wasn't even expected to play in the game; he hadn't practiced the last two weeks because of an ankle injury. But starting tailback Robbie Johnson sprained his ankle late in the first half, and Rodriguez stepped in to rush for 131 yards on 11 carries in the second half.
South Grand Prairie (10-3) came right back with a scoring drive of its own as Newton swept right end from 10 yards out for his third touchdown, trimming Cooper's lead to 23-20 with 1:05 to go in the third quarter.
And the game hung in the balance until McWhirter's punt and Abrigg's fumble recovery to open the fourth quarter.
The Cougars had a big game offensively, rushing for 248 yards, while Stover was 13 of 26 passing for 188 yards.
Cooper took the lead for good with an impressive 14-play, 95-yard drive in the closing minutes of the first half.
With the score tied 6-6, the Cougars took over possession at their own 5-yard line with 4:27 to go. With Stover completing 6 of 10 passes on the scoring march, the Cougars moved to the South Grand Prairie 27-yard line. Big plays were passes of 12 yards to Jesse Sharp, 14 and 13 yards to Mark Rau, and a 20-yard screen pass to tight end Andy Rodgers.
A pass interference call against the Warriors on a pass intended for Riddle gave Cooper first down at the 13-yard line.
On the next play, Stover hit Sharp on a flag route. Sharp caught the ball inside the 5-yard line and bulled his way into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown with 26 seconds remaining before halftime. That gave Cooper a 13-6 halftime advantage.
South Grand Prairie scored first in the game on a 5-yard run by tailback Damien Newton. The big play on the eight-play, 80-yard scoring dive was a third-down draw play in which fullback Byron Miller picked up 26 yards.
Brent Grubbs' extra-point kick was blocked by Kevin Stevenson, leaving the Warriors in front 6-0.
But Cooper countered with a 10-play, 79-yard scoring drive of its own. Johnson completed the drive with a 9-yard TD run with 11:47 to go in the second quarter. Abrigg, who missed a 28-yard field goal attempt in the first quarter, missed the extra point, however, leaving the score tied at 6-6.
Cooper ... 0 ... 13 ... 10 ... 13-36
S. Grand Prairie ... 6 ... 0 ... 14 ... 0-20
SCORING SUMMARY
SGP - Damien Newton 5 run (kick blocked)
C - Robbie Johnson 9 run (kick failed)
C - Jesse Sharp 13 pass from Brandon Stover (Peter Abrigg kick)
C - Abrigg 30 field goal
SGP - Newton 15 run (Brent Grubbs kick)
C - Richard Rodriguez 77 run (Abrigg kick)
SGP - Newton 10 run (Grubbs kick)
C - Roy Strahan 5 run (Abrigg kick)
C - Stover 1 run (pass failed)
... Cooper ... SGP
First downs ... 24 ... 15
Rushes-yards ... 42-248 ... 34-152
Passing yards ... 188 ... 69
Comp-Att-Int ... 13-26-1 ... 7-22-1
Punts ... 2-42 ... 5-34
Fumbles-lost ... 4-3 ... 3-3
Penalties-yards ... 2-15 ... 4-49
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - Cooper: Johnson 15-49, Rodriguez 11-131, Stover 4-(-15), Jeremy Janssen 1-6, Strahan 11-67. South Grand Prairie: Newton 22-65, Byron Miller 6-43, Shannon Bennett 6-44.
PASSING - Cooper: Stover 13-26-1, 188 yards, 1 TD. South Grand Prairie: Bennett 7-22-1, 69 yards.
RECEIVING - Cooper: Sharp 5-72, Mark Rau 4-46, Adam Riddle 3-50, Andy Rodgers 1-20. South Grand Prairie: Brandon Johnson 3-27, Newton 4-42.