MANSFIELD — The Cooper football team couldn’t keep pace with Colleyville Heritage in its Region I-5A Division II area-round matchup Friday, falling behind early and never recovering in a 55-21 loss at Newsom Field.

The Panthers raced out to 14-0 lead less than eight minutes into the game and increased their advantage to 35-7 by halftime, putting the game out of reach before the start of the third quarter.

Trailing 52-7 early in the fourth quarter, the Cougars added a pair of late touchdowns before seeing their season end at 5-7.