What Cooper is saying...

By Lew
November 19, 2004

Dear Mustangs....

I guess Cooper reads this blog..
Take a look at some of their comments!!


Pirates face Sweetwater in playoffs
By GEORGE WATSON
AVALANCHE-JOURNAL


What can change in a 12-week span? In the case of Cooper and Sweetwater, a lot, or very little.

Those two teams opened the 2004 football season with a 17-14 nail-biter won by the Pirates in Woodrow, a game considered by many as a possible playoff preview. Now, three months later, those predictions have come to fruition as Cooper and Sweetwater meet in a Class 3A Division II area playoff game today at 7:30 p.m. at Abilene's Shotwell Stadium.

While the schemes are largely the same as they were in the opener, not much else will be with a spot in the regional round on the line.



"We've read a little on some of the message boards that said that win over them was a fluke and they're preparing as such," Cooper linebacker Tait Langston said. "I'm sure they're looking for a little revenge on us and that gives us all the incentive to work harder and keep things going. They'll just try to ram it down our throat like last time, so I don't really know any difference in them. They'll just probably be out to get us more."

The Mustangs (9-2), who finished in a three-way, first-place tie in District 4-3A, are a little different. The offense still flows through quarterback Jeremy Thompson, who rushed for 981 yards and threw for 322 during the regular season, and running back Kendall Carrillo, who carried 62 times for 500 yards.

Those two combined for 134 rushing yards and two touchdowns against Cooper in August. Since then, role players like Joseph Banyard (48-325) and Skye Green (18-310) have been big contributors.


"They're a little more dangerous offensively than when we first saw them," Cooper coach John Windham said. "They had some younger kids and have developed them and they're looking very good on film. They look a lot faster than the last time."

Of course, the Pirates (9-2), winners of District 3-2A, won't be the only team with a different look. In the first game against Sweetwater, the Pirates lost for most of the second half starters Bradley Madison and Josh Barnett on offense and Shawn Stults on defense to leg cramps. Madison had torched the Mustangs for 109 rushing yards and a touchdown in the first half.

Madison finished the regular season with 1,172 rushing yards, Barnett had 613 receiving and 361 rushing, and quarterbacks Howell Finch and Trey Wood combined for 893 passing yards and eight touchdowns. Also, over the last few weeks, role players like Cory Cleveland (38-384) and Trace Gurss (40-313) have been big pluses.

But Windham said the biggest area of concern for his team is on defense, particularly in finding the form that helped the Pirates swarm to the football in that first meeting. That defense held Sweetwater to no first downs and 6 yards total offense in the first half.

"Back then we really swarmed to the ball more, and I think we've kind of gotten lax on that," Langston said. "Now we're looking to swarm better and get to the guy with the ball quicker."

And if that can happen, Cooper's historic season can continue another round. The program, however, is looking to go much farther.

"The kids are really hungry and want to keep this going," Windham said. "We've got 18 seniors and they're not ready to stop playing. They don't want it to end. We've got a good chance if we're fortunate enough to get past Sweetwater, we feel we can go a ways. They're not near satisfied."

george.watson@lubbockonline.com 766-2166

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