Cooper 21, Midland Lee 14

By JEFF WALKER

Staff Writer

The Cooper football team deserved a little luck.

After playing through injuries to three different starting linebackers this season, the defense rallied around each other to stymie the seventh-ranked Midland Lee Rebels, 21-14, Friday in front of around 10,500 fans at Shotwell Stadium.

The luck came when the Rebels were trying to score on their final possession to even the game at 21-21.

Facing a 2-and-10 on the Cooper 40 yard line, quarterback Jon Rogers tried to hit T.J. Glover on a streak pattern down the middle. Cooper cornerback Elijah Quesada turned around just in time to watch the ball land in his chest for the interception that preserved the Cougars' victory.

"I think this was one of those great efforts by everyone that we needed," Cooper head coach Randy Allen said. "I guess there's a little magic left in those air force-blue pants. The guys stepped in for the injured players and did a good job and that made the others around them work that much harder."

The victory was the second this season over a ranked opponent for the Cougars, who knocked off North Mesquite earlier this season, 28-7, when the Stallions were ranked eighth in the state.

"This one was a lot more significant because it was a district game," Allen said. "It puts us back on track for the playoffs. I'm just excited for these guys because they overcame the injuries and the loss last week (to Odessa Permian) and played a tremendous football game."

The win puts Cooper in a very good position for winning back-to-back titles if the Cougars win their remaining ball games. With the Cougars winning by seven, and losing to Permian by three, Cooper needs Lee to knock off the Panthers next week by less than seven points.

If the Rebels knock off Permian in Midland next week by less than seven, and all three teams win their remaining games, Cooper would win district by virtue of having the highest margin of victory over the teams that were tied.

"Any win in district is huge," wide receiver Mark Rau said. "We should be the team to beat in district but some people seem to look past us. But we've just got to take it one game at a time."

Rau was Johnny-on-the-spot for the Cougars.

With the score tied 7-7, the Cougars went on a four-minute drive just before the first quarter ended and took the lead when Dowell Loggains found Rau wide open in the right corner of the end zone to give Cooper a 14-7 advantage.

Neither team scored again until Loggains found Rau streaking over the middle for a 23-yard TD pass with 5:13 to play in the game.

Lee took the next possession and marched 80 yards in just over three minutes to pull within seven, 21-14.

The Rebels recovered the ensuing on-side kick, but were flagged for being offsides. Rau gathered the next attempt to give Cooper the ball.

After the Rebels held Cooper to three-and-out, Rau sent a punt that pinned Lee down to the 12 yard line, forcing Lee to drive 88 yards for the game-tying score.

"Mark came through in the clutch for us," Allen said. "He's a senior and he's on the captain squad and he's been in these games for two years. He played a great all-around game."

Rau, however, credited the defense for the Cougars' victory.

"They were huge," he said. "Everybody stepped in and played great. They were on the field for a long time on a couple of drives and I'm very proud of the way they played."

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

Midland Lee 7 0 0 7--14

Cooper 14 0 0 7--21

SCORING SUMMARY

L -- Clint McNutt 1 run (Matt Seguija kick)

C -- Roderick Spurlock 5 run (Ryan Shahan kick)

C -- Mark Rau 2 pass from Dowell Loggains (Shahan kick)

C -- Rau 23 pass from Loggains (Shahan kick)

L -- Eric Neatherlin 4 pass from Jon Rogers (Seguija kick)

Lee Cooper

First downs 13 15

Rushes-yards 37-111 33-105

Passing yards 155 192

Comp-Att-Int 11-28-1 15-23-2

Punts 6-37.3 5-35.2

Fumbles-lost 8-2 3-1

Penalties-yards 4-30 6-62

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Lee: Cedric Benson, 12-84, Clint McNutt, 11-50, Alan Griffith, 2-8, Jon Rogers, 9-(-8), Michael Wynn, 2-(-23). Cooper: Carl Bloom, 16-53, Dowell Loggains, 12-26, Kyle Wiskow, 2-10, Luke Harrison, 1-9, Roderick Spurlock, 2-7.

PASSING -- Lee: Rogers, 11-28, 155, 1. Cooper: Loggains, 15-23, 192, 2.

RECEIVING -- Lee: McNutt, 4-75, Jerad Calobreves, 1-33, Benson, 3-28, T.J. Glover, 1-10, Eric Clodfelter, 1-5, Eric Neatherlin, 1-4. Cooper: Adam Riddle, 6-93, Harrison, 3-49, Mark Rau, 5-45, Bloom, 1-5.