Cooper's loss to Midland Lee showed Allen strength of team

By AL PICKETT / Sports Editor

Cooper's football team has won nine games in a row in its remarkable run to Saturday's Class 5A Division II state championship game.

But it may have been one of the Cougars' three losses which will be remembered as the defining moment of the 1996 season.

Actually, Cooper head coach Randy Allen believes there were three key moments in the Cougars' surprising season, but the other two probably point back to the first one.

The Cougars, then 3-2, fell behind ninth-ranked Midland Lee, 14-2, at halftime in the second district game of the season. Cooper rallied in the third quarter to regain the lead, 15-14, only to fall behind again 27-15. Cooper scored to cut the deficit to 27-22 and was driving again late when a fumble stymied its comeback plans.

Although it was a loss that dropped Cooper to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in District 4-5A, Allen walked away from the Midland Lee game feeling good.

"That's when we thought we had a good football team," he said. "When I came in the dressing room, I felt good. I told the team that if we correct a few mistakes next week we'll have the biggest win since '79."

And that's exactly what the Cougars did.

Cooper followed its strong second-half showing against Midland Lee by knocking off then-No. 6-rated Odessa Permian, 35-21. It was Cooper's first win over Mojo since 1979.

"The Permian game was a mental block," Allen said. "That freed us from that thinking."

Buoyed by the realization that they could be a good team in the Midland Lee game and proving it the next week against old nemesis Permian, the Cougars haven't been stopped since, rolling to nine consecutive victories.

But all teams that win championships have that one crucial hurdle they have to clear during their playoff run.

For Cooper, it was Dominic Rhodes' 57-yard touchdown run on the final play of its 21-14 bi-district win over Amarillo High.

"The Amarillo game gave us momentum, the way we won it," Allen said.

Three defining moments all played key roles in Cooper advancing farther than anyone expected.

Then, of course, there was also Courtney Martin's game-winning field goal in overtime last Friday night that gave Cooper a 24-21 win over Richardson Lake Highlands and a berth in the state title game.

Allen, who was a member of Cooper's last team to make the state final in 1967, said there is no comparison between that team and this year's squad.

"The '67 team was ranked No. 1 all year," he said. "We never had an injury all year. We were ahead 42-0 a lot and the starters didn't play in the fourth quarter. We were never challenged. In fact, we were never behind until Austin Reagan returned the opening kickoff (in the state championship game).

"This year's team got better and better. They improved and improved and improved. We've had injuries, and other guys have stepped in and done well. This team has come farther from the beginning than any team I've had."

Allen hopes it can win one more Saturday in Texas Stadium - ironically against another Austin team - to finally erase the memory of the Cougars' heartbreaking 20-19 loss to Austin Reagan in 1967 and give Cooper its first state football championship.