Wednesday, September 18, 1996

AHS, CHS coaches feeling pretty good about teams
By LANCE FLEMING
Staff Writer

With one week left before District 4-5A play starts, Abilene High head coach Steve Warren and Cooper head coach Randy Allen feel pretty good about where their teams stand.

And why not?

The Eagles are off to their best start since 1987 after Friday's 17-10 win over Stephenville pushed their record to 2-0.

And Cooper, after a season-opening loss, bounced back to demolish Wichita Falls Rider, 55-14, Friday to even its record at 1-1. The Cougars' offense, which struggled to score inside the 10-yard line against Garland, had no such troubles Friday night.

Now both teams have just one tuneup left before they open district play against each other a week from Friday at Shotwell Stadium. Abilene High's last tuneup will be a home game Friday against Cleburne, while the Cougars will go to Lubbock to take on the Monterey Plainsmen.

"I think everybody's excited about what we've been able to accomplish so far," Warren said Tuesday. "But we have another quality opponent this week, and it's going to take another good effort to win."

AHS takes on a Cleburne team this week that is 1-1 after beating Southlake Carroll, 21-7, last week.
The Eagles have built their undefeated start on back-to-back comeback victories. They rallied from a 14-7 deficit to beat Lubbock Monterey, then came back from a 10-0 first-quarter hole to beat Stephenville.

"Not many people gave us a chance to beat Stephenville," Warren said. "Most people thought that if we could go down there and give them a good game, it would be a moral victory for us. But we're not interested in moral victories anymore. We practice to win, and we play to win, and that's helped us."

The Cougars were helped Friday night by an offense that pounded the Raiders into submission.
One week after having trouble scoring inside the "Red Zone," the Cougars converted on a pair of scoring chances when Chris Cherry bulled over from three and five yards out. And the defense, which played well against Garland, continued that trend Friday, limiting Rider to 230 total yards.

But now the Cougars take on a Lubbock Monterey team that is an experienced playoff squad, one that will give the Cougars a good test.

"Monterey's a good opponent, and we'll have to play hard for 48 minutes and execute very well to win," Allen said. "It's a great game for us to play before district starts.

"But our players better be focused on what we're doing now and not next week, because Monterey has an outstanding team," he said. "We need to win this one for momentum and to gain confidence going into district play."