Archive : August 2006

August 26, 2006

Cooper vs Plano East Scrimmage Results

I went and watched the Cooper vs Plano East scrimmage this morning in Burleson. Here is my short assesment of how the Coogs looked. First, it must be known that Coach Spradlin told the Coogs at the end of the game that he accepted responsibility for the "loss" because he held back on the play calling. I'm sure scouts from Weatherford and other future Cougar opponents were at the scrimmage or will be watching film of it to try to pick up some tendencies and scout the competition. Therefore Spadlin did not unleash the offense nor did Coach Ivy (defensive coordinator) show many blitzes and defensive plays. Look for the Cougars to open up the playbook on both sides of the ball in future contests that actually count for something.
On the offensive side of the ball, I thought quarterback Zach Stewart looked good leading the offense. He seemed relaxed in the pocket and his throws were accurate. Receiver Lane Wise caught two touchdowns. Unfortunately the Cougar receivers had some dropped balls. I'm sure the Coogs will continue to work on the fundamentals and will be ready next week to rack up the receptions. On the sidelines, right guard Bo Strobel had an equipment failure when his chin strap broke and he fumbled his helmet.
On the defensive side of the ball, the defensive line kept good control of the line of scrimmage. I would have liked to see the linebackers fill some of the holes faster in the running game. The secondary ran step for step with the Panther receivers, and they just need to get their timing down to turn around when the receiver does and break on the ball. Also the Coogs missed some routine tackles but like I said with the dropped balls on offense, the rust is being shaken off from summer lay-off and I'm sure the Coogs will make the big plays next week and throughout the season.
If you were at the scrimmage, please comment on how you feel the Coogs looked in their first action of 2006.

August 25, 2006

Coogs Set to Scrimmage Plano East

This Saturday the Coogs will travel to Burleson to take on the Plano East Panthers in a controlled scrimmage. If you are not familiar with how the scrimmage works, it will not be a game situation but rather each team will run a set amount of scripted plays. For example the Cougars will run 15 offensive plays, then the Panthers will run 15 plays and so on. Plano East is coming off a 6-6 record last year and should be a good test for the Cougars. This scrimmage will allow the Cooper coaching staff to evaluate players and see what areas the Coogs can improve in. The Panthers have a very strong defense, led by linebacker Keenan Robinson. Rivals.com has Robinson ranked as the number four linebacker in the nation and he has already verbally committed to the University of Texas. With that being said, the Cougars hope to have a wide-open offense that will be able to move the ball so this should be a great early test for them. So load up and make the short trip to Burleson Saturday morning and support the Coogs as they prepare for the 2006 football season and take the steps to return to the play-offs!

View some film of Keenan Robinson and the Panthers here.

August 18, 2006

The 2006 Cougar Football Season is Officially Underway!

Practice started Monday, the 14th, and Friday, the 18th will be the Cougar's first day of practice in full pads. Saturday the team will take their football pictures at Shotwell stadium. This is going to be an exciting year to be a Cooper Cougar fan as this will be the year that the Coogs end the play-off drought! The Cougars will have some new looks both on offense and defense this season. On offense, new coach Mike Spradlin will install the spread offense which is a wide open offense that will look to move the ball and put some points on the board. On defense the Cougars will scrap the 3-4 defense and return to the 4-3 defense which has an extra down lineman and one less linebacker on the field in normal situations. Also, I saw a recent interview with Coach Spradlin in which he said that the defense would be looking to take some risks this season in the hopes of making some big plays. I can only assume that to mean that the Coogs will bring different blitzes to put some pressure on opposing offenses. The Cougars scrimmage against Plano East is only a week away so clear your schedule and make plans to support the Cougars as they continue to prepare for a memorable 2006 season!


Here are some interesting links you may enjoy.
Here is an interesting post that shows the results of every Cooper game from 1985 to 2004.

Here is the Texas HSfootball.com Disrict 3-5A preview. They have Cooper finishing 4th in district. Also, although I’m not sure what this means exactly, they list DT Nick Castleberry as the district’s “diamond in the rough.”

August 8, 2006

This Space Could be Your's

We are looking for people to volunteer to be bloggers — fans, parents, students, whomever. You would need an Internet connection to access via a Web browser the application to post messages about your team. Bloggers discuss everything from game predictions to team rankings to grandstand antics.

What makes a successful blogger? Passion. You are so excited about your team that you want to share your enthusiasm by writing regularly on your blog. Your post can be just one or two paragraphs, sometimes more. No long essays — just fun, bright insightful musings.

If you want to be a blogger, e-mail us at gofridaynight@reporternews.com. And, remember, we can host only one blogger per team, so you might want to include a sample of your writing if we have to choose between volunteers.

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