Cooper wins 24-21 thriller in OT

By LANCE FLEMING / Staff Writer

IRVING - One more for a title.

The Cooper Cougars moved to within one victory of their first-ever state football championship Friday night with a thrilling 24-21 overtime win over Richardson Lake Highlands at Texas Stadium.

Courtney Martin's 22-yard field goal on Cooper's first overtime possession won the game and sent the Cougars into the Class 5A Division II state championship game next Saturday at noon. Cooper's opponent will be determined tonight when Aldine and Austin Westlake meet in the other semifinal at the Astrodome.

It will mark Cooper's first appearance in the state championship game since 1967 when it lost 20-19 to Austin Reagan. Cooper head coach Randy Allen was a starting running back on that Cooper team.

Cooper (12-3) let a 21-7 fourth-quarter lead slip away as the Wildcats (13-2) took advantage of a blocked punt and a 52-yard pass play to knot the game at 21-21 with 2:31 to play. The Cougars then ran the clock out and sent the game into overtime, the first overtime game in District 4-5A history.

Lake Highlands got the ball first, but quarterback Sean Stilley - playing for Davaren Hightower, who left the game in the first quarter with a hairline fracture of his right tibia - was hit by Cooper tackle Roy Strahan, fumbled and then saw Strahan pounce on the loose ball at the 27-yard line.

"I got my helmet on the ball on the exchange," Strahan said. "I landed on top of the ball. We knew in the overtime we had to go all out or go home upset."

Cooper then took over, but on third-and-six from the 21, quarterback Michael Anderson was sacked for a 6-yard loss, pushing Cooper back to the 27. Martin came in to try a 44-yard field goal, but it was wide right.

But Lake Highlands defensive back Anthony Harden was flagged for roughing the kicker, and the Cougars had new life.

Three Dominic Rhodes runs from the 13 yard line moved the Cougars to the 6 yard line, and from there Martin drilled a 22-yarder to win the game.

"I've made that kick 100 times in practice," Martin said as bedlam ensued around him. "On the first one, the guy hit my leg as I came through the ball, and I didn't even see where the ball went.

"I wasn't really nervous on the second kick," he said. "It was a lot shorter, and I knew the line would give me time, and that the snap and hold would be good. I just went out there to do my job."

Allen said the sack of Anderson came as he was trying to set up a tight end screen to Cory Aldridge.

"It was a play we had run with a lot of success earlier in the game," he said. "But when Cory came in they kind of sniffed it out. I guess I just went to the well one too many times.

"I didn't see the flag on the first field goal try," Allen said. "I was watching the ball, and I saw it short and right and I turned around. But then I heard all our coaches and players start yelling and I knew something good had happened."

The game was tied 7-7 at halftime, but Hightower, outside of an 11-yard touchdown run, and Cooper's Dominic Rhodes, with just 17 rushing yards in the first half, were pretty much non-factors.

Rhodes, though, quickly became a factor in the second half when he returned the opening kickoff 48 yards, then was hit late out of bounds to move Cooper to the Lake Highlands 36 yard line.

Cooper proceeded to move 36 yards on seven plays to a 4-yard touchdown pass from Anderson to Cory Rodriguez to make it 14-7 with 9:02 left in the third quarter.

Lake Highlands was ineffective on its first possession of the half and was forced to punt after five plays. Cooper set up shop at its 17-yard line with 6:33 left in the third quarter.

On third-and-10, Anderson hit Chad Forman for 13 yards and a first down. Four plays later, on third-and-3 from the 48, Rhodes ran for four yards and a first down. On the next play, Anderson eluded Aaron Ball and got the ball to Jesse Sharp for a 16-yard gain down to the Lake Highlands 32-yard line.

Four plays later, that combination clicked again for a 23-yard touchdown pass to make it a 21-7 lead with 1:36 left in the third quarter.

Cooper again stuffed Lake Highlands on three plays, forcing another punt. But the Cougars couldn't move, and the game turned on Cooper's punt.

Harden blocked Mark Rau's punt, giving Lake Highlands the ball on the Cooper 39 yard line. Three plays later, Stilley broke up the middle and ran 35 yards for a touchdown to cut the Cooper lead to 21-14 with 8:42 left in the game.

"The whole game changed on the punt block," Allen said. "And then they got the big pass."

That came on Lake Highlands' next possession as it took over at its 20 yard line with 6:34 to play.

Six running plays moved the ball to the Cooper 39 yard line. Two plays later, Stilley hit Drew Harden with a 52-yard pass to the Cooper 1 yard line. Fullback Sam Needum then burst over from the 1 to tie the game at 21-21 with 2:31 left in the game.

Cooper then settled for the overtime period.

The first half was a battle of defenses as neither would budge or give up the big play.

Cooper stuffed Lake Highlands on its first three possessions, and after a Rhodes fumble and an Anderson interception, forced a Hightower fumble at the Cooper 7-yard line.

Three plays later, Anderson rolled right, kept and scored from 5 yards out. Lake Highlands, however, came right back and moved 78 yards on 12 plays to Hightower's 11-yard run to tie the game at 7-7 with 10:31 left in the first half.

But Cooper dominated the third quarter, held on in the fourth and won the game in overtime.

"It's hard to put this into perspective right now," Allen said. "I dreamed of coming back to my alma mater and taking it back to the state championship game and getting that one extra inch we didn't get in 1967. Now we've got our chance."