Category: Cooper Cougars

by Daniel Youngblood

GAME REPORT: Cooper rallies for wild 41-35 win at Wichita Falls Legacy

WICHITA FALLS — Trailing 35-26 midway through the fourth quarter, the Cooper football team scored a pair of touchdowns in the final five minutes Friday to rally past Wichita Falls Legacy for a thrilling 41-35 win.

Joel Soto hit Matt Balvantin with a 25-yard touchdown pass to pull the Cougars within 35-33 with 4:55 to play, before Tayden Bender capped a nine-play, 94-yard drive with a 5-yard TD run to score game-winning points with just 1:03 remaining on the clock.

Bender’s touchdown run, which gave Cooper its first lead since the 3:02 mark of the first quarter, pushed the Cougars to 5-3 overall and 3-1 in District 2-5A Division I play — bolstering the team’s hopes of hosting a first-round playoff game in the process.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Abilene High volleyball secures Pink Out sweep of rival Cooper in final home match

The Abilene High volleyball team’s final home match of the season couldn’t have gone much better that it did Tuesday, when the Lady Eagles cruised to a 25-12, 25-13, 25-14 sweep of archrival Cooper in front of a packed crowd at Eagle Gym.

Playing its annual Pink Out match to raise money toward the cancer treatment of a pair of local women, AHS (20-17 overall, 3-3 in District 4-5A) seized control early and never relinquished it in clinching a season sweep of the Lady Cougars and securing a playoff berth with two regular-season matches remaining.

Sophomore Brailey Aston paced the Lady Eagles attack with eight kills, followed by freshman Alex Sanders with five, to help the senior group of Mallon Murray, Zia Gravitt, Elizah Willis, Miela Brown, Abigail Weatherby and Kate Breckenridge to a resounding win in their final match at Eagle Gym.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Pair of defensive scores help Abilene Cooper pull away from shorthanded Lubbock Cooper

For the better part of three quarters Friday, the Cooper Cougars were on the verge of falling victim to a trap game during District 2-5A Division II play against 0-5 Lubbock Cooper — which entered the night at Shotwell Stadium with four losses of at least 23 points this year.

Leading just 7-6 in the third quarter, it took a pair of second-half defensive touchdowns for the hosts to get some breathing room on their way to a 27-6 win. It was the closest game of the three contested between the two squads.

Despite the struggle, Cooper coach Scott Stewart was happy with what he saw on the defensive side of the ball as the Cougars held the Pirates to 129 yards of offense on 49 plays — an average of just 2.6 yards per play.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Cooper battles but falls in four to WF Legacy to close out first half of district play

The Cooper volleyball team closed out the first half of District 4-5A play with a 25-13, 21-25, 25-15, 25-21 loss to Wichita Falls Legacy on Tuesday, but second-year coach Kandice Williams left the Senior Night match at Cougar Gym encouraged by the fight her team displayed.

While an inability to stop extended runs eventually proved their undoing, the Lady Cougars battled through a slow start and bouts of adversity throughout the match to give themselves a chance to force a fifth set before ultimately falling in four.

The loss left CHS at 11-21 overall and 0-4 in district — one match behind Legacy (20-18, 1-3) for the fourth and final playoff spot at the midway point of league play. But Williams saw signs for hope as her team looks ahead to its final four regular-season matches.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME REPORT: Palo Duro rides fast start, dominant defense to 35-7 win over Cooper in key district matchup

Photos by Joe Garcia, PressPassSports.com

AMARILLO — Traveling to Dick Bivins Stadium with the District 2-5A Division II lead on the line, the Cooper football team found sledding tough against the defending district champion Palo Duro Dons on Thursday.

Finishing the game with just 92 yards of total offense, the Cougars fell behind 14-0 by the five-minute mark of the first quarter and saw the deficit balloon to 35 points in the second quarter before scoring just before halftime to narrow the gap to 35-7 — a score that would stand the rest of the way.

Led by Raymond Johnson, who rushed for 201 yards and four touchdowns, the Dons ran for 337 of their 419 total yards, improving to 5-1 on the year and 2-0 in league play with the dominant victory.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Graham QB Corley takes this week’s top honor

A week ago, Graham senior quarterback Cooper Corley narrowly missed taking our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award.  
 
This time around, there was no stopping him.  

Corley, who led the Steers to a 48-21 win over Peaster, hit 16 of 27 throws for 307 yards and two TDs.  

He also rushed 12 times for 132 yards and four more scores and caught a 29-yard TD pass for seven touchdowns on the night.  

“Very rarely do you see a kid total 7 TDs in a night and score in three different ways,” Graham coach Clay McChristian said. “He scored at least one touchdown passing, rushing, and receiving.

“That is right at 1000 total yards and 13 TDs in the last two weeks against two quality opponents.” 

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 2-5A DII WEEK 5 REPORT: Cooper, Wylie open district with comfortable wins; Palo Duro blasts Legacy

Abilene Cooper 49, Wichita Falls Memorial 28 — Markquel Sims ran for 129 yards and two touchdowns, and Jamarion Dunson ran for three touchdowns and added a fourth score receiving to lead the Cougars to thorough victory over the Mavericks in the district opener for both teams.

The game featured four ties — the last at 28-all early in the fourth quarter — but Cooper (3-2, 1-0) closed the game with 21 unanswered points to close out the victory.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Cooper makes statement in district opener with 49-28 win over Wichita Falls Memorial

Facing off with a high-scoring Wichita Falls Memorial squad to open District 2-5A Division II play, Cooper coach Scott Stewart was worried about his Cougars being drawn into a shootout.

And for a little over three quarters Friday night, it looked like that was the direction things were headed.

But after Memorial took advantage of a muffed punt by Cooper to pull even at 28-all with 11:54 remaining in the game, the Coogs took control of the line of scrimmage, the clock and eventually the game, scoring the final 21 points in a 49-28 victory at Shotwell Stadium.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Wylie volleyball rolls past rival Cooper to open District 4-5A play

Hosting crosstown rival Cooper to open District 4-5A play, the Wylie volleyball team kicked off league action in dominant fashion Tuesday, sweeping the Lady Cougars  25-5, 25-12, 25-13 at Bulldog Gym.

It was the 11th consecutive victory and 21st in the last 22 matches for the Lady Bulldogs, who are now 27-4 on the year.

Cooper, which split a pair of five-set matches on Saturday with Brownwood and Midland Lee, fell to 11-18 overall and 0-1 in district play with Tuesday’s loss.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Dominant rushing attack leads Cooper to homecoming win over Odessa High

Cooper football coach Scott Stewart had to wait until the fourth week of the season for his home coaching debut — but his squad made sure that he picked up the win in pretty dominating fashion on Friday night.

The Cougar offense held the ball for over 30 minutes of action and ran for 364 yards on 48 carries, getting rushing scores from four players as CHS picked up a 34-14 win to close out nondistrict play with a 2-2 record.

“An old coach once told me that you want to keep the offense sweaty and the defense dry,” Stewart said. “We had some sustained drives and tired their defense out, and ours was ready to go when they came out.”

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by Daniel Youngblood

MIKE LEE’S WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Stephenville’s Eakin helps Tech rally past Oregon State

Note: If you know of a former Big Country Prep athlete now performing in college or professional sports, contact Mike Lee at michaellee7@att.net.

Coy Eakin led Texas Tech in receiving and scored the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter last Saturday as the nationally ranked Red Raiders rallied past the Oregon State Beavers 35-24 in Corvallis, Oregon.

Eakin, a fifth-year receiver from Stephenville, caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from Will Hammond that rallied Texas Tech to a 28-24 lead with 6:31 left in the game. The Red Raiders eventually won 35-24.

Nine Tech players caught passes last week, and the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Eakin led the Red Raiders in receiving with six catches for 79 yards.

Tech, 2-0 and ranked No. 13 in this week’s Associated Press poll, hosts No. 22 Houston (2-0) at 7 p.m. Friday — yes, Friday — on FOX.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 2-5A DII WEEK 3 REPORT: Cooper, Wylie pick up wins to highlight 4-3 week for league

Cooper 28, San Angelo Central 21 — Jamarion Dunson’s second rushing touchdown run of the second half broke a 21-all tie with just over two minutes remaining, serving as the winning points for the Cougars in a come-from-behind win over the Bobcats.

Cooper trailed at 7-0, 14-7 and 21-14 in the first half, before shutting Central out in the second half. The Bobcats had an opportunity to tie or take the lead in the final minutes, thanks to a long kickoff return that set them up inside the Cooper 30, but an incomplete pass on a fourth-down play allowed the Coogs (1-2) to celebrate their first victory of the season.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME REPORT: Cooper spoils San Angelo Central’s homecoming with thrilling 28-21 win

SAN ANGELO — The Cooper football team rallied past San Angelo Central for a thrilling 28-21 win Friday at San Angelo Stadium, earning Scott Stewart his first win as a head coach in the process.

The Cougars overcame first-half deficits of 7-0, 14-7 and 21-14 in the victory, outscoring the Bobcats 14-0 over the final two quarters to improve to 1-2.

Cooper, which had outgained each of its first two opponents handily in one-score losses, was outpaced 402 yards to 347 on Friday. But the Coogs defense buckled down when it needed to most, helping facilitate the win with a second-half shutout.

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by Mike Lee, Special to Big Country Preps

MIKE LEE’S WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Rigdon still making plays in college for Arizona State

NOTE: If you know of a former Big Country Prep athlete now performing in college or professional sports, contact Mike Lee at michaellee7@att.net. 

Rigdon accepts his Offensive MVP trophy following Benjamin’s 2022 victory over Loraine for the 1A DII state title.

Grayson Rigdon is listed as the No. 3 running back on the Arizona State football depth chart, but the former Strawn-Benjamin High School player scored two long-distance touchdowns in the Sun Devils’ 70-7 season-opening win over Morgan State last Saturday.

The 5-foot-11 sophomore scored on receptions of 54 and 56 yards. On both touchdowns, quarterback Cutter Boley threw to Rigdon coming out of the backfield, and he used his running skills to turn the short receptions into long touchdowns.

Rigdon’s first touchdown extended ASU’s lead to 35-7 early in the second quarter. His second score made it 56-7 early in the third quarter.

In addition to the two receptions for 110 yards, Rigdon finished Saturday’s game with four carries for 22 yards rushing and one kickoff return for 18 yards.

The Sun Devils play at No. 10-ranked Texas A&M at 11 a.m. Saturday on ABC-TV.

As an ASU freshman last season, Rigdon played on special teams in six games. He also had two carries and one reception in the Sun Devils’ Sun Bowl loss to Duke.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 2-5A DII WEEK 2 REPORT: Wylie blasts Monterey, Cooper falls to AHS as district goes 4-3

Photos by Susanna Jackson, HubCityPreps.com

Wylie 49, Lubbock Monterey 3 — Jadin Karleskint passed for 252 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs to a runaway win over the Plainsmen.

Blaze Ruffin (4-124, 3 TDs) and Jackston Williams (4-108, 1 TD) both eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark in the win, which saw the Bulldogs explode for 42 unanswered points in the first half.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Abilene High opportunistic on both sides of ball in 14-6 win over archrival Cooper

The Abilene High football team managed just 226 yards and a pair of touchdowns Friday in the 66th annual Crosstown Showdown against archrival Cooper.

But thanks to an opportunistic defensive effort that saw the Eagles force the game’s only two turnovers and make a pair of key stops on their own end of the field, that was enough to secure a 14-6 victory in front of a healthy crowd at Shotwell Stadium.

The Cougars outgained AHS by 112 yards, including a 104-58 advantage on the ground. But the Eagles turned their only two trips inside the Cooper 35-yard line into touchdowns and turned the Coogs away without points in two of their three trips inside the AHS 40 to claim their fifth straight win in the rivalry series.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 2-5A DII WEEK 1 REPORT: Wylie, Cooper drop tight games as league goes 2-5 openers

Brownwood 13, Wylie 7 — Four empty red zone trips, including three inside the BHS 10-yard line, proved too much for the Bulldogs to overcome in a tough home loss to the Lions.

A pair of unsuccessful field goals, a fumble and a turnover on downs kept Wylie from capitalizing on a 301-250 yardage advantage, as the Bulldogs only points came on a 35-yard touchdown pass from Jadin Karleskint to Dylan Regala with a 1:40 remaining in the game.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME REPORT: Cooper drops 28-24 heartbreaker to Azle in Stewart’s first game as head coach

AZLE — Cooper never trailed until the final minute of its season opener at Azle on Friday, but Auston Morgan’s fourth touchdown pass of the evening — a 38-yard strike to Kaden Haas with 57 seconds remaining — left the Cougars on the wrong side of a 28-24 heartbreaker in Scott Stewart’s first game as head coach.

The Cougars outgained the Hornets 270-159, limiting Azle to minus-19 yards on the ground, but the home team found a way to rally from a 21-7 second-quarter deficit to pull even in the third period.

And after kicker Felipe Herrera gave Cooper a 24-21 lead with 9:56 to play in the fourth, the Hornets completed the comeback with less than a minute to play when Morgan found Haas for the winning score.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Quarterbacks

After a week of highlighting area playmakers, we wrap up our eight-part preseason position rankings series with the Big Country’s best signal callers.

To complete our look at the area’s top players, we’ve ranked our top 15 quarterbacks with a list of others to watch in 2026.

We hope you enjoy this list and that you’ve enjoyed our position rankings as we get set to kick off a new season.

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