With the players he had back from last year’s team, Cooper coach Aaron Roan knew coming into this season that he had a good secondary.

So when his team allowed 351 passing yards in a season-opening loss to Keller — and saw standout safety and captain LaDainian Diaz lost for the year to a torn ACL in the process — he didn’t panic. He simply made a couple of personnel adjustments and continued the course as planned.

That confidence has proven well-placed as the Cougars finished the regular season allowing just 180.5 passing yards per game with 12 interceptions. And entering Friday’s bi-district playoff against an explosive El Paso Eastwood team, Roan remains confident in his ball-hawking secondary to make the plays it must to help the team win.