Cooper defense needs to be in the right spot

By LANCE FLEMING / Staff Writer

The thing that has Cooper defensive coordinator Joe Crousen so concerned this week is Austin Westlake's diversity.

The Chaparrals base their offense out of a two-back set, but will throw a tackle-over scheme at defenses, as well as some option game.

Westlake is a little bit like Stephenville in that it will run its offense out of about 50 formations during the course of the game. Crousen said the Chaps have about 20 tackle-over sets where they will take the fullback and put him in the tackle's spot and move the tackle to the other side, making the fullback eligible.

They'll also take Ryan Read - the state's leading receiver with 105 catches - and put him out wide and bring him in motion, or they'll put at slotback. When they get in the formation with two wide receivers to one set and the tight end, they like to run the fullback in motion to the receiver side.

"They'll send the two wideouts deep and over the middle, and send the tight end on an out route," Crousen said. "But we can't forget about the fullback, because he'll sneak out in the flat, catch the ball and turn it up the field on us."

Quarterback Drew Brees directs Westlake's offense, and he's become a master at it.

He's thrown for 3,366 yards and 29 touchdowns while completing 200 of 315 passes. His favorite target is Ryan Read, who has 105 catches for 1,950 yards and 20 touchdowns.

The catch total is two off the single-season state record, while the yardage mark is the new state record.

Cooper's secondary of cornerbacks Peter Abrigg and Josh Button and safeties Melvin Barnes and David O'Shields will have its hands full against Read, David White, Jeremy Amos and tight end Hayden Briggie.

When Read is in the slot, he'll be covered by a safety. But when he's outside, he'll be covered by a cornerback.

However, that's when the confusion starts.

"They run things that messes up defensive schemes," Crousen said. "Sometimes you'll have two cornerbacks on the same side, and you're not used to having those two guys on the same side of the field."

Sophomore running back Brett Robin leads the team with 1,317 yards and 17 touchdowns on 181 carries. Fullback Jamie Tyler has 957 yards and 12 touchdowns on 133 carries.

And it's the Westlake running game that also has Crousen a little bit concerned.

"We can't forget about the draw," he said. "We know it's coming sooner or later, but we still have to stop it. They really run a good strongside draw play."

Stopping the draw and getting pressure on Brees will fall on the shoulders of Cooper defensive linemen Cory Aldridge, Kevin Stevenson, Roy Strahan and Charlie Andrade. But that will be difficult going against a decent-sized Westlake line that features 290-pound all-stater Seth McKinney at left tackle.

"Nobody has really put much of a pass rush on them," Crousen said. "But we've got to have a tremendous pass rush from our front four. But you can't really blitz them, or they'll burn you. So I wouldn't think we'd be able to blitz too much. We just have to rush with four men and hope we get good pressure on them."

But the No. 1 thing Cooper's defense has to do is make sure it's in the right place.

"The No. 1 thing is getting lined up in the right spot against all the stuff they do," Crousen said. "If we can do that we've got a chance. But we've got to get our run-stopping people and our pass defenders in the right spot.

"It'll be a heckuva thing to just get lined up right," he said. "The problem we might have is communication, because you can't hear anything at Texas Stadium. That's why we blew the coverage on the (52-yard pass) play last week against Lake Highlands. We can't afford to blow anything in the secondary this week."