Joey D. Richards

Cooper coach Mike Spradlin has been pleased with the Coogs' development thus far. He said the offense, which returns quarterback Ryan Heslep and nearly all receivers, has been sharp. That's helped the defense, especially the secondary. T.C. Robinson is the only returning starter in the defensive backfield.

"It's going real well," Spradlin said. "We've got a lot of really good receivers, so our secondary has been challenged every day."

Josh Bowman, receiver Tommy Bowman's little brother, is playing safety. Two former receivers -- Damor Barnes and Clayton Longmire -- also are in the defensive backfield with Lawrence Brownfield and Robinson.

"Seven-on-7 was good for us, particularly in the secondary, because we were inexperienced," Spradlin said. "We wound up going to four tournaments. You look at those guys now. They've got experience against the DeSoto's, Leander's and Lake Travis'. Now they've been under the gun. It's made them better. I really like where we are defensively right now. We're flying around. We're a fast team. We're not just a fast offense or fast defense. We're a fast team. We thought we were fast a year ago. I don't think that's fallen off. We look in the secondary, I think we're faster."

Cooper scrimmages Odessa High at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Shotwell Stadium, before opening the season against Fort Worth Wyatt at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 28 at Shotwell.