Playing in one of the toughest districts in the state is preparing the Cooper football team for the remaining tough games.
The Jaguars have learned many lessons from a tough loss to Covington Catholic in four overtimes Sept. 24. Cooper squandered a 14-0 lead in the second half and missed a field goal in overtime that would have won it.
The Jaguars have rallied from that loss with a vengeance, beating Madison (Indiana) 51-19 and county rival Conner 43-7 before dispatching Boone County 34-0 Friday night. Cooper is now 6-2 and 2-1 in 5A, District 5.
The CovCath game both taught the Jaguars lessons and gave them confidence.
“We were 0-6 against them coming into this year,” Cooper head coach Randy Borchers said. “None of them were really close ballgames. Our kids can see now that they can compete with anyone in Northern Kentucky. The kids see that it comes down to one or two plays to win the game. In that game, we had multiple plays to possibly close the game. Costly penalties. The kids understand that they need to put a full game together and hopefully we get another chance later in the season.”
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Cooper has run behind one of the top running back tandems in Northern Kentucky, if not the state.
Heading into the Boone County game, senior Brendon Tye has rushed for 784 yards and 11 touchdowns. Big games include 152 yards vs. Dixie Heights, 123 vs. Campbell County, 150 vs. CovCath, and 202 vs. Conner.
Junior Eli White has rushed for 603 yards and 10 scores. He had 210 yards and six scores vs. Madison and 137 vs. Campbell.
Cooper is likely one of few teams in Kentucky with two backs who have had 200-yard games.
“It’s a really nice one-two punch,” Borchers said. “Eli has done a really good job for us. Last year he played receiver and we’ve moved him over. Physical runner, runs well between the tackles. Tye is an elusive runner and he does very well for us.”
Senior quarterback Drew Warth has thrown for 988 yards and five touchdowns. He’s picked up in the second half of the season, Borchers said. He missed last year with a rare condition that affected the use of his throwing arm.
On defense, linebacker Jack Lonaker leads with 88 tackles, 12.6 per game. Jake Harmeyer also anchors the backing corps, with 56 tackles.
Heading into the Boone contest, Cooper is allowing 12 points and 185 yards per game. That includes 17 points by CovCath in the four overtimes, in which each possession starts at the opponent’s 10-yard line.
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“Defensively, it’s been a great unit,” Borchers said. “We stress if everyone does their job and everyone plays well we’re going to be great defensively. Make teams put drives together and prevent the big play. In high school, if you force teams to drive the ball and prevent the big play, they’ll eventually make a mistake.
Borchers is proud of the play of his defensive line, who leads the way.
“Our D-line has done a tremendous job of engaging the line and freeing up our backers. When you play defensive line, it’s not important how many tackles you make, it’s freeing up the backers.”
Cooper will end district play by hosting Highlands Oct. 22. The Jaguars beat the Bluebirds last year and likely need to win this time and get a home game in the first round of the playoffs.
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