Thursday, September 10, 1998

Cougars to face tough Waco defense

By JEFF WALKER

Staff Writer

WACO - The Cooper football team will get a good test this week in preparation.

After spending all of last week gearing up for an explosive offense, the Cougars must turn its attention to the opposite side of the ball if they are going to record their second victory of the season.

Cooper will square off against its second opponent from District 8 when the Cougars play Waco High at Paul Tyson Field tonight.

Killeen High came to Shotwell Stadium last week boasting a no-huddle offense that the Cougars held in check all night. The Kangaroos' only touchdown came on the opening kickoff, when Steven Murphy raced the length of the field to give Killeen a quick 7-0 lead.

Waco, on the other hand, comes in to tonight's game with a defense that lost one player - defensive lineman Kevin Emanuel - to Florida State, and another - middle linebacker Lamarcus McDonald - who is getting recruited by the Seminoles this year.

"(Lamarcus) has good instincts and he's always around the ball," Waco head coach Johnny Tusa said. "He's got good quickness, decent speed and a nose for the football. I guess that's what makes a good linebacker."

The Lions lost to Bryan High last week, 14-7, but both touchdowns the defense allowed were on big plays. Bryan scored on an 80-yard run and a 55-yard pass. The Waco High defense allowed just 92 total yards the rest of the game to the Vikings.

"We have good players but we can't give up the big plays any more," Tusa said. "We missed some scoring opportunities and you've got to be able to compliment your defense by taking advantage of those opportunities."

How will Allen and the Cougars alter their game plan to face a fierce defense? They won't.

"They are talented at every position," Cooper head coach Randy Allen said. "Our game plan, though, doesn't change from week to week. We're going to take whatever the team gives us. To us, it's a numbers game; if they put a certain number of people in the box we're going to have to adjust and be able to run or throw the ball."

The Cougar offense proved last week that it will have some weapons to fire at the Lions' defense.

Dowell Loggains completed 13 of 26 passes for 207 yards to lead the attack. His primary targets were Mark Rau (5 receptions for 95 yards) and Adam Riddle (4 for 85).

"They've got a pretty talented offense," Tusa said. "They've got good receivers, good running backs, a heads-up quarterback. You see what that did to Killeen."

Cooper also established a running game against Killeen, carrying the ball 32 times for 132 yards.

Carl Bloom took a brunt of the rushing load. He gained 49 yards on 13 carries, while Sebastian Mata added 35 yards on six carries.

"We didn't turn the ball over (against Killeen) and we made several big plays," Allen said. "Our offensive line protected Dowell well and our running backs ran tough.

"Defensively, we held them to negative yardage on 10 plays and our secondary held their own."

There is an area of concern for Allen.

"Our biggest weakness was our kicking game," he said. "We were 0-1 in field goal attempts, 2 of 3 in extra point attempts, 0 of 1 in conversion attempts. We also gave up a touchdown on the kickoff and a long punt return. Our kicking coverage has to improve."

D.J. Calloway started at quarterback for Waco against Bryan, but was replaced in the second half by Kaven Peoples after completing 8 of 16 passes. Tusa said that philosophy will not change this week.

"We (substitute) out of necessity," Tusa said. "We're looking for a quarterback and we're giving a couple guys a shot. Until that's resolved we'll keeping doing this."

Tusa said the coaches don't declare a starter until just before game time. He said the coaches don't even tell the players.

"We give them the same reps in practice and both guys work equally with the first and second team offenses."

Demarcus Carter ran for 59 yards on 19 carries in the Lions' loss, but Waco's true ball carrier, Jeremy Hicks, rushed for 40 yards on five carries before leaving the game with an ankle injury. Hicks is expected to miss the game with the Cougars.

-- Where: Paul Tyson Field, Waco

-- When: 7:30 p.m.

-- Radio: KGMM 1280 Sports

-- Directions: Take Highway 6 to Bosque St. exit. Turn left and follow to Lake Air Road. Turn left and football field will be about eight blocks down on the right side.

-- Last meeting: First meeting after Waco High, Jefferson Moore and Waco Richfield merged to form one Waco High. (Cooper and the old Waco High met three times between 1961-63 with the Cougars winning two of three).

-- Injuries: Cooper: QB Jeremy Janssen (collarbone), out; OG Shaylon Garner (knee), questionable. Waco High: FB Jeremy Hicks (ankle), out; WR Wilford Williams (ankle), questionable.

n Scouting Waco High: The Lions are built around their defense. They allowed plays of 80 and 55 yards in a 14-7 loss to Bryan High last week, but only allowed 92 yards the rest of the game. Hicks was supposed to be their workhorse on the ground, but an ankle injury took him out of the game in the first quarter last week and he isn't expected to play against the Cougars. Waco is still unsettled at quarterback and will rotate between Kaven Peoples and D.J. Calloway.

-- Scouting Cooper: The Cougars proved they could run last week with Carl Bloom and Sebastian Mata. They also proved they could pass to Mark Rau and Adam Riddle, using Dowell Loggains at quarterback. The key to this week's game may come down to special teams. Head coach Randy Allen was not pleased with the kicking game a week ago and in a tight game like this one is expected to be, Cooper will need a top performance from everyone.

What the coaches are saying

"Sputtering. I hope its not sputtering against Cooper because they have a pretty good defense."

-Waco head coach Johnny Tusa when asked to describe his team's offense.

"They use two-back and one-back formations and they try to be balanced. They've got some speed and good size on the offensive line."

-Cooper head coach Randy Allen decribing the Waco offense.