Cooper 28, North Mesquite 3

By JEFF WALKER

Staff Writer

North Mesquite High was supposed to bring the dominating defense into Shotwell Stadium, but the fans who left may have a different opinion.

The Cooper defense blanketed the Stallions' offense all night and big play strikes from Dowell Loggains allowed the Cougars to upset the eighth-ranked team in the Associated Press poll, 28-3.

"This win ranks as one of the tops on my list as most satisfying," Cooper head coach Randy Allen said. "What we accomplished, to overcome adversity and injury like we did is a great tribute to our football team and student body."

Cooper, which found out early this week its 26-9 opening-week victory over Killeen High was negated due to an ineligible player, entered this game minus three starters on defense because of injuries -- Somdy Vorasane, Paul Mock and Lee Haggerty.

One of the replacements, sophomore Nivek Hatcher, stepped up and made several tackles early in the contest and picked off a pass deep in Cougar territory in the fourth quarter which dashed any hopes the Stallions had in making a comeback.

"Nivek is an outstanding athlete," Allen said. "He started at linebacker on the junior varsity last year and we moved him to safety this year because he loves to tackle. He's a physical player and he's only going to get better with more experience."

Hatcher played a key role but he was not alone. Defensive end Brian Baker pressured Stallions' quarterback Jacob Spoerl throughout the game and forced a fumble when he sacked Spoerl in the fourth. The Cooper defense also stopped the Stallions on fourth down on three separate occasions.

"Brian had a great game, he came to play today," Allen said. "He was definitely ready, as was the entire football team. We might have underestimated Waco High last week but we knew exactly what we were getting into this week.

"I can't say enough about our coaches. We knew we had players out and the guys that came in did better than we could expect and the rest of the team picked up the slack around them."

After Cooper took a 7-0 advantage in the first quarter on an 18-yard run by Carl Bloom, the Cougars opened the game in the second quarter with two long pass receptions.

North Mesquite cornerback Jason Benjamin went for the interception on a short pass to Adam Riddle, but after the senior came up empty, Riddle raced 73 yards for the touchdown with 5:46 to play before halftime.

The Cougars made it 21-0 just before the half when quarterback Dowell Loggains hit Luke Harrison on another short pass. After breaking a couple tackles, Harrison outran the rest of the defense for an 87-yard TD which put Cooper ahead by three touchdowns at the intermission.

"We've got some big-play receivers and anything can happen with them," Loggains said. "The offensive line did a great job giving me time to find them."

The Stallions added a field goal in the third quarter after Benjamin put North Mesquite in great field position with a 61-yard punt return.

But Hatcher intercepted a pass from quarterback Spoerl on fourth down at the Cooper 15 with 10:41 remaining in the game, and Elliot Strader led the Cougars on a nine-minute drive that ended in a 9-yard strike to Mark Rau to seal the win.

"The offensive line did a great job especially on that long drive that ate the clock," Allen said. "That's winning football when an offensive line can take control like that, that's impressive."

The offensive line opened holes for Bloom, who had his most productive game of the young season. The junior gained 84 yards on 19 carries.

Jeff Walker can be reached at 676-6711 or sports@abinews.com

North Mesquite 0 0 3 0--3

Cooper 7 14 0 7--28

SCORING SUMMARY

C -- Carl Bloom 18 run (Ryan Gibbs kick)

C -- Adam Riddle 73 pass from Dowell Loggains (Gibbs kick)

C -- Luke Harrison 87 pass from Loggains (Gibbs kick)

NM -- 30 yd field goal Cory Teurman

C -- Mark Rau 9 pass from Elliot Strader (Gibbs kick)

N. Mesquite Cooper

First downs 5 11

Rushes-yards 31-31 36-97

Passing yards 92 226

Comp-Att-Int 10-23-2 11-21-1

Punts 6-36.3 7-30.7

Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-1

Penalties-yards 5-40 3-20

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- N. Mesquite: Ryan Westbrook 14-15, Jason Benjamin 5-13, Bo Hubbard 2-2, D'Marquis Brown 1-1, Jacob Spoerl 7-3, Ryan Allen 1-0, Derek Sauls 1-(-3). Cooper: Carl Bloom 19-84, Sebastian Mata 8-20, Kyle Wiskow 2-3, Dowell Loggains 4-2, Elliot Strader 3-(-12).

PASSING -- N. Mesquite: Spoerl, 10-23-0, 92. Cooper: Loggains, 8-18-0, 197 yards; Strader 3-3-0, 29 yards.

RECEIVING -- N. Mesquite: Aaron Booze 3-10, Charles Briscoe 2-31, Allen 1-20, Raul Martinez 1-9, Donald Carroll 1-6, Sauls 1-5, Westbrook 1-2. Cooper: Luke Harrison 2-91, Adam Riddle 2-87, Mark Rau 3-27, Andy Rodgers 3-22, Bloom 1-(-1).