Sweetwater VS. Cooper game story

[wildstangs]

Looks like Sweetwater almost got back in this one. I feel pretty confident in the Mustangs after the way they shut down Cooper in the second half and got things rolling.


Cooper withstands SW rally

By RON HOWELL/The Reporter Sports Editor
WOODROW -- Friday's sea-son opener between Sweetwa-ter and Lubbock Cooper was a either a tale of two halves or a case of the half and half nots, if you prefer.

The latter description pretty much sums up the first 24 min-utes of the contest.

The Mustangs trailed only 14-0 at halftime, but it seemed worse due to their offensive **-tility. Sweetwater managed no first downs to Cooper's 12, and had only five yards of offense to the Pirates' 175, and also lost a fumble which Cooper returned for its second touchdown.

Running back Bradley Madi-son was responsible for most of the Pirate offense, gaining 103 yards in the opening half inclu-ding a 1-yard TD run.

Needless to say, it was hard-ly the kind of start Sweetwater head coach Kent Jackson and his players were looking for.

"It was unbelievable," Jack-son said.

"We were flat the first half. Everyone wasn't on the same page. At halftime we talked ab-out playing more together. And we did much better in the second half."

It was almost enough -- but not quite -- to save the Mus-tangs in a 17-14 defeat.

Sweetwater finally came to life on its opening drive of the second half, a six-play series that was capped by quarterback Jeremy Thompson's sensational 64-yard run.

Good kick returns helped Cooper get into Sweetwater territory on its next two series, the second one beginning from the Mustang 19. But Sweetwater's defense dug in both times, and surrendered only a 31-yard field goal by Jakob Cunning-ham with 3:43 left in the third quarter to make it 17-7.

Despite stalling out at mid-field on their next possession, the Mustangs were able to pin Cooper deep in its territory and the defense held again, allowing Sweetwater to get the ball back near midfield.

This time, it took nine plays to find the end zone and cut the Pirates' lead to 17-14. After get-ting some early help from an offsides penalty on Cooper, the Mustangs used a pair of first-down runs by Joseph Banyard and one from Thompson to get to Cooper's 3-yard line. A cou-ple of plays later, Kendal Car-rillo scored from the 1 with 7:13 remaining, and Parker Mor-row's second extra point kick got Sweetwater within three.

Unfortunately, the Mustangs were unable to get any closer. But they put a big scare into the Pirates on their last possession, which began with only 49 sec-onds to play.

Sweetwater started from its 31, and Thompson immediately connected on a 21-yard pass to wide receiver Brittan Pittman out of the shotgun.

Carrillo picked up four yards and got out of bounds to stop the clock with 34 seconds left. After an incompletion, Thomp-son found some running room down the left sideline and got to Cooper's 21. There was still 18 seconds remaining.

Thompson then tried to hit Pittman again on a short sideline route, but Cooper's Cory Cleveland stepped in front of the pass for the interception. The Pirates took over at their 14 and quarterback Howell Finch took a knee to run out the clock.

"We didn't do anything to help our defense in the first half and it was a collective effort," Jackson said. "But in the second half we put ourselves in po-sition to win the game until the kid stepped in front of the pass. That's what I was most proud of, that we were able to step up and show the savvy we did."

Jackson said there were posi-tive things which came out of the game despite the loss."

"We knew coming in it would be a learning process on the part of the kids, of learning to handle things when the lights are on," he said. "I think in the second half it felt a lot more like it was supposed to. Good things are happening. It's hard to see that when you've lost a game, but we told the kids to remem-ber the bright spots and that's what we've got to build on."

Sweetwater's offensive turn-around in the second half was so dramatic that the Mustangs actually wound up out-gaining the Pirates, with 227 yards to Cooper's 219. Thompson, held to negative-seven yards on his first five runs, finished with 99 on 11 carries.

Banyard, only a sophomore, had 38 yards, all in the second half, on nine runs and Carrillo, who is a junior, rushed for 32 on seven carries.

Another sophomore making a big contribution was cornerback Skye Green, who intercep-ted a first-quarter Cooper pass.

Sweetwater will face Class 4A San Angelo Lake View, a former district rival, in its home opener this Friday. The game is set to begin at 7:30 p.m.

[Da Mules]

Thanks for posting the Sweetwater viewpoint, Stang. Now for a completely different bias, here's the Lubbock_avalance Journal's article (Motto: the closer to Lubbock it is, the better it MUST be!)
You will see what I mean about A-J bias when you compare the two articles. BUt I have to give Cooper some respect for beating a class act like the Mustangs, regardless of how it was won.

Cooper holds off feisty Sweetwater squad
BY GARRETT LUFT
FOR THE A-J


WOODROW — After looking completely dominant in the first half of play, the Cooper Pirates were pushed to the limit by Sweetwater in the second half but still managed to open the 2004 campaign with a 17-14 victory at Cooper Field.

Jakob Cunningham's 31-yard field goal late in the third quarter turned out to be the difference for the Pirates, who withstood a determined Sweetwater comeback after leading 14-0 at the half.

The Cooper defense was dominating in the first half, allowing no Sweetwater first downs and a mere 6 yards of total offense. As if allowing no Sweetwater yardage was not enough, the Pirate defense went on the offensive late in the second quarter when linebacker Trey Wood blitzed and sacked Mustang quarterback Jeremy Thompson with a jarring hit that knocked the ball loose. Tyler Maberry scooped up the loose ball and scampered 16 yards to give Cooper a 14-0 lead.

While the Cooper defense was shutting down the Sweetwater attack, the Pirates were pounding away at the Mustang defense behind the legs of Bradley Madison. He capped off a 14-play, 93-yard drive with a 1-yard lunge to open the scoring early in the second quarter. Madison carried nine times for 62 yards on the drive and 20 times for 109 yards in the half.

But cramping legs kept Madison on the sideline for much of the second half while Sweetwater discovered its offense for the first time in the young season.

The Mustangs managed their initial first down and scoring drive on the opening possession of the second half when Thompson scored on a 64-yard quarterback keeper. Thompson ran around the right end, made a nifty change-of-pace move on the cornerback and then outsprinted the rest of the Cooper defense down the sideline to cut the Pirate lead to 14-7.

Cunningham's kick came with 3:43 left in the third quarter, but Sweetwater scored another touchdown on a 1-yard Kendall Carrillo run with 7:13 left in the game. Carrillo helped set up Sweetwater with solid field position on the previous Mustang possession when his punt pinned Cooper deep in its own territory at the 6. After the Pirates went three-and-out, Sweetwater started a drive at midfield and used Thompson's legs to move downfield before Carrillo's touchdown run.

COOPER 17, SWEETWATER 14

Cooper 0 14 3 0 — 17

Second Quarter

COO—Bradley Madison 1 run (Jakob Cunningham kick), 10:43

COO—Tyler Maberry 16 fumble return (Cunningham kick), 5:29

Third Quarter

SWE—Jeremy Thompson 64 run (Parker Morrow kick), 10:05

COO—Cunningham 31 FG, 3:43

Fourth Quarter

SWE—Kendall Carrillo 1 run (Morrow kick), 7:13

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs 7 14

Rushes-yards 35-175 47-186

Passing yards 42 37

Comp.-att.-int. 2-10-1 2-6-1

Punts-avg. 7-44.6 5-37.4

Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0

Penalties-yards 2-20 7-45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Sweetwater, Jeremy Thompson 11-99, Joseph Banyard 10-38, Kendall Carrillo 7-35, Alan Copeland 5-11, Justin Clowers 2-2; Cooper, Bradley Madison 24-123, Cory Cleveland 11-29, Josh Barnett 1-17, Trace Gurss 4-11, Howell Finch 7-6.

PASSING: Sweetwater, Thompson 2-10-1 42; Cooper, Finch 2-6-1 37.

RECEIVING: Sweetwater, Alan Copeland 1-21, Brittan Pittman 1-21; Cooper, Josh Barnett 2-37.

[wildstangs]

I get what your saying Mules. According to the respective papers, it looks like two different games. Cooper is good, no doubt, I just wish Sweetwater had started out a little better. That fumble return for a TD hurt pretty bad.

[Da Mules]

Yeah your center posted last night saying it was the worst half of football they ever played... da Mules definitely had the 1st game jitters last night; lots of holding penalties, blown coverage, etc. A non-existent kicking game; we actually made 4 touchdowns and didn't score even 1 extra point; that MUST be fixed or it's gonna hurt us bad down the road. We even an unexcusable unsportmanslike conduct that I think came from mouthing off to the officials about a holding call!! That is pure self-defeating stupidity.. but we weren't playing a very good team, so we still won.

[imahoser]

well the mustangs got beat. but its still too early in the season to be givin up on them. if u were there u saw the o come alive in the second half. if they can play 4 quarters instead of two theyll win. hopefully theyll have it together this week goin up against lakeview.

[TheDOCTORdre]

Imahoser you may be right but you never know. It is early in the season and the stangs did come alive in the 2nd half. S'water has always had the saying "Tradition Never Graduates" and I do believe that this saying is true you can never lose your tradition but what happens when expierence graduates?

[westTXbest]

Sweetwater will beat lakeview, and if they met Cooper in the post season i bet they win by 14.

[stangcenter60]

one thing about the game...if u compare our stats to theirs...all of our stats are basically from the second half.....and we still almost matched their game totals in one half....i mean ya they looked really good but looks can be decieving.....

[Black_Magic]

Originally posted by westTXbest
Sweetwater will beat lakeview, and if they met Cooper in the post season i bet they win by 14.

Im gona say Lake View by 7

[Stangster]

We still have some wrinkles to iron out, but thats to be expected of a young team.

Isn't it interesting that a Snyder fan always picks Sweetwater to lose?

wishful thinking? ...hmmm

[Redman]

Originally posted by Black_Magic
Im gona say Lake View by 7

I have to disagree with Black Magic, Lakeview will have their hands full with the Mustangs. Sweetwater by 14.