Cooper and El Paso Irvin meet again

By LANCE FLEMING / Staff Writer

Just once, Randy Allen would like to win a playoff game in ho-hum fashion.

No last-minute or even last-second heroics, no comebacks by the opponent and no second-half scares.

Unfortunately for the Cooper head coach, the last two playoff games his team has won have been of the miraculous fashion.

Last season Cooper beat tonight's area-round opponent, El Paso Irvin, when Jamine Rozzell returned a fumble 60 yards with 3:21 to play to lift the Cougars to a 19-13 win.

And last week Dominic Rhodes scored on a draw play from 57 yards out on the final play of the game to give the Cougars a 20-14 win over Amarillo High.

"I'm tired of these nail-biters," Allen said.

Allen, however, is expecting nothing else tonight when the Cougars take on the Rockets, 9-2 and the champions of District 1-5A.

The Rockets earned the Cougars' respect in last year's game at the Sun Bowl. They blitzed Cooper unmercifully, held the ground game to just 97 yards and almost became the first El Paso team ever to beat a team from District 4-5A outright.

And now they're back to give it one more crack.

"I don't know if they can be more motivated to play us this year than they were last year," Allen said of the Rockets. "It seemed like last year they were playing twice as fast on the field as they were in any video we saw of them."

Irvin head coach Tony Shaw said he and his players have had this rematch on their mind since last year's bitter ending.

"We haven't forgotten that game at all," Shaw said. "You could have heard a pin drop in our lockerroom after the game ... and it stayed that way a while. It was just an ache. It was like I had a knot in my stomach. We were already seeing the hole in the roof at Texas Stadium (where the Rockets would have played the next week), and they stole our dream."

One good thing about the last-second heroics, Allen said, is that Irvin knows Cooper can make plays to win when it needs them.

"I'm sure Irvin has a lot of confidence it can play with us," Allen said. "But in the backs of their minds they know we made the plays when we needed to. I would think that had to be a big blow to them. They thought they had a game at Texas Stadium and didn't get it. I'm sure they'll be motivated."

A motivated Irvin team could be dangerous because of an offense led by preseason all-state quarterback Edmund Stansbury, who has thrown for 2,129 yards and 25 touchdowns this season. Stansbury, a 6-3, 220-pound senior, is the state's No. 1 quarterback recruit.

He'll be aided by running back Jason Flores, who has rushed for 1,318 yards and 21 touchdowns on the year. Flores, no doubt, will be looking for redemption, because it was his fumble that led to Rozzell's game-winning score.

"Irvin, obviously, has a great quarterback in Stansbury," Allen said. "He's able to throw it short and long. If we let anybody get behind us in the secondary it's six points. He's the total package, and he's a threat to score when he runs the ball as well."

That means it'll be up to Cooper's front four to pressure Stansbury and not let him get into a rhythm. Which, as usual, means tackle Kevin Stevenson needs to have a big game.

"That No. 42 (Stevenson) is impressive on defense," Shaw said. "He looks like he's frothing at the mouth to get to the quarterback. He plays mad. It doesn't matter who else they have on the line, he makes them all look good."

Cooper's secondary of Melvin Barnes, David O'Shields, Josh Button and Peter Abrigg - which hasn't been tested by a good passing game this season - will need to come up with some big plays.

Speaking of big-play players, the Cougars have one of their own in Rhodes.

He's rushed for 1,302 yards and 13 touchdowns this season, including two last week against Amarillo High.

"Rhodes is a spectacular player," Shaw said. "I'm worried about how we're going to stop him. With that big offensive line of theirs combined with his talent, he can score anytime he touches the football."

Cooper, though, will have to make up for the loss of receiver Miles Durham, who separated his left shoulder in last week's win and is out for the rest of the season. Mark Rau will move out to his spot and Chris Cherry will slide into the slotback position.

"When you lose a big-play player, everybody has to take more responsibility and look at it as a challenge to reach our goals," Allen said. "Because of that, everybody has to play harder."