Cougars in first championship game since 1967

By AL PICKETT / Sports Editor

IRVING - Does that beat a meeting at midfield by the officials and coaches at the end of the game to determine which team is ahead in penetrations?

"Oh, man," was all Cooper head football coach Randy Allen could reply when posed that question as he stood among well-wishers on the Texas Stadium turf.

The first overtime game ever played by an Abilene high school under football's newest rule this season resulted in a thrilling 24-21 victory for Cooper over Richardson Lake Highlands, sending the Cougars on to the Class 5A Division II championship game for the first time since 1967.

The hero was Courtney Martin, who received the rarest of opportunities - a second chance in life.

After missing a 44-yard field goal in the overtime, the Cougars kept possession in the extra period because Lake Highlands' Anthony Harden was called for a 15-yard roughing-the-kicker penalty.

Three running plays by Dominic Rhodes moved the ball from the 13 to the 6-yard line, setting up Martin's 22-yard field goal. This time he was perfect on his second attempt at the game-winner.

One of the interesting things for the 10,865 fans in Texas Stadium - most of whom had probably never seen an overtime football game before - was the strategy in the overtime.

In previous years, the outcome of the game which ended in a 21-21 tie at the end of regulation would have been decided on first downs, which was 16-15 in Cooper's favor.

Penetrations, the first criteria before first downs under the old rule, were tied at 3-3.

But in 1996, a trip to the state finals was decided on the field in an overtime period in which each team gets a possession from the 25-yard line.

The strategy for the team which wins the coin toss is to play defense first, and that's exactly what Cooper did.

Lake Highlands' possession lasted exactly one play.

Cooper defensive tackle Roy Strahan broke through, stripped quarterback Sean Stilley of the ball and then recovered it.

That gave possession to Cooper, and the Cougars knew all they needed was a field goal to win.

But they almost made a critical mistake.

On third-and-six from the 21-yard line, quarterback Michael Anderson was sacked for a 6-yard loss, turning Martin's first winning try into a much longer attempt.

"We were going to run the screen pass to the tight end," Anderson said. "We'd been getting 20 yards on it all night, but they were spying on him (Cory Aldridge). I didn't want to give it away."

So Anderson took the sack.

And Martin missed the field goal.

"I got under it, I didn't get all of it," Martin said. "When I came through, the guy hit me in the leg. I didn't even see where (the kick) went."

But thanks to the roughing-the-kicker call, Martin got a second chance - and made good on it.

"The fumble (recovered by Strahan) was the turning point and the roughing-the-kicker was the difference," Allen said. "Six years ago when I came back to Cooper, we had a goal and vision to get back to the state championship game (which Allen and assistant coach Jon Harrison played in in 1967).

"This team has improved as much as any I've ever seen from the start of the season to now. Our goal has been to get that one more inch we didn't get on the last play in 1967. Now this team has that chance."

Thanks to an incredibly exciting overtime.