Category: Cooper Cougars

by Daniel Youngblood

ABILENE NOTEBOOK: Talking Wylie football, predictions slump, local volleyball turnarounds

Following their 0-2 start, I was consistent in my belief that the Wylie Bulldogs would finish the season with a much stronger football team than the one that started it. I said as much on our weekly podcast after each of Wylie’s defeats, downplaying the ultimate significance of season-opening home losses to quality outfits from Brownwood and Lubbock Monterey.

But I’d be lying if I said I expected the type of quick turnaround we’ve seen the last two weeks from coach Clay Martin’s team, which is now 2-2 after gritty road wins over Lubbock Cooper (35-34) and Stephenville (42-32) — both double-digit favorites according to a prominent power ranking service. 

When I talked about Wylie finding its stride and eventually turning a corner, I was thinking more about October than September. So to see the Bulldogs go from where they were in Weeks 1 and 2 to beating a pair of good, established programs on the road was a surprise to even me.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 2-5A DIV. II WEEK 4 REPORT: Wylie downs Stephenville; Plainview keeps winning

Wylie 42, Stephenville 32 — Bear Meng passed for 252 yards and three touchdowns and added 78 yards and another TD rushing to lead the Bulldogs to a exciting road win over the Yellow Jackets.

Trailing 10-7 at the 7:58 mark of the second quarter, Wylie (2-2) reeled off 28 consecutive points to go up 35-10 with just under eight minutes to go in the third quarter, before holding off a furious Stephenville rally with a late touchdown drive to put the game away.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Valiant defensive effort not enough for Cooper in home loss to Coronado

A week after running for 366 yards and seven touchdowns, both school records, Cooper running back Daniel Bray was well on his way to backing that up with a 200-plus yard performance on Friday night against Lubbock Coronado.

A third-quarter injury stopped Bray’s progress as he finished with 138 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries and the Cougars fell 27-21 to the Mustangs for homecoming.

Bray’s injury put more pressure on the Cooper offensive line to protect quarterback Austin Cummins in a passing game that struggled all night. Cummins finished the game with 92 yards passing and one score, nearly all of which came in the fourth quarter.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: AHS volleyball picks up big home win over Cooper to stop skid, even district record at 1-1

Entering Tuesday’s crosstown volleyball match off district-opening losses on Friday, both Abilene High and Cooper needed a win to avoid falling in an 0-2 hole to start to District 4-5A play. 

In the end, it was the Lady Eagles celebrating in front of their home crowd at Eagle Gym after sweeping the Lady Cougars 25-20, 25-23, 25-15 to snap a seven-match losing streak.

AHS, which fell in four games to Wylie last week in its league opener, started strong and never let up Tuesday, improving to 8-18 overall and 1-1 in district action with one of its most complete performances of the year.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 2-5A DIV. II WEEK 3 REPORT: Cooper, Wylie break into win column; Rider, Plainview stay perfect

Cooper 53, San Angelo Central 45 — Junior running back Daniel Bray had a record breaking night, rushing for 366 yards and seven touchdowns to fuel the Cougars to their first win of the season.

Bray did all that damage on just 21 carries, finishing with four touchdown runs of at least 50 yards, including three of 70 yards or more. Behind the standout back, Cooper held a narrow 27-24 lead at halftime, before facing a pair of third-quarter deficits. The Cougars scored the final touchdown of the third quarter and the first of the fourth to take the game’s only two-score lead at 47-38 and held on from there for the victory.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME REPORT: Bray’s seven-touchdown night fuels Cooper to thrilling road win over Central

SAN ANGELO — Junior running back Daniel Bray had himself a night Friday, rushing for school record 366 yards and seven touchdowns to fuel Cooper to a 53-45 win over San Angelo Central.

Bray, who broke Amon Pimpton’s single-game record of 306 rushing yards, had five TD runs of 18 or more yards, including four of at least 50 yards to help the Cougars spoil the Bobcats’ homecoming festivities and get CHS in the win column for the first time this season.

Behind the running back’s heroics, Cooper finished with more than 500 yards as a team, rallying from a pair of third-quarter deficits to outlast Central for the thrilling victory. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

ABILENE NOTEBOOK: Talking Shotwell renovation, TLCA’s big football win, ACS’ matchup with Benjamin and Wylie volleyball

It’s no secret that the Abilene High-Cooper rivalry — dubbed the Crosstown Showdown — is among the best series in the state of Texas.

When the Eagles and Cougars get together, you know you’re going to excellent effort from both teams in front of close to 15,000 rowdy fans.

In that way, Friday’s matchup, which saw AHS earn a 26-7 win in the 63rd playing of the series, was a lot like many before it. But there was one factor that made the most recent Showdown just a little bit unique: It marked the first game played in Shotwell Stadium since the historic venue got one heck of a facelift.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 2-5A DIV. II WEEK 2 REPORT: Wylie, Cooper drop to 0-2; Rider, Plainview stay unbeaten

Lubbock Monterey 34, Wylie 21 — A 17-0 first quarter run was all the Plainsmen needed to score a road victory over the Bulldogs, improving to 2-0 after going winless in 2022.

Wylie outscored Monterey 21-17 over the final three quarters, but the Plainsmen’s fast start proved the difference in the game. Quarterback Luke Arrington (6-10-0—212 passing) and Kashious Lewis (4-174 receiving) led MHS, hooking up for three touchdowns in the game.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Defense fuels Abilene High to 26-7 win over Cooper in 63rd Crosstown Showdown

It wasn’t the dominating-in-every-phases effort they enjoyed in their season opening win at Odessa Permian, but the Abilene High Eagles did more than enough Friday to take care of their crosstown rival and improve to 2-0 on the season.

Led by a defense that allowed just 195 total yards and forced two turnovers, AHS overcame an uneven offensive performance to down Cooper 26-7 at the newly renovated Shotwell Stadium and claim its second consecutive win in the Crosstown Showdown series.

The Eagles turned two big plays — an 81-yard touchdown reception by Ryland Bradford and a 49-yard punt return touchdown by Demarco Upshaw — into a 16-0 second-quarter lead, and that was all that was needed for a defense that limited the Cougars to a single scoring drive just before halftime.

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by Daniel Youngblood

ABILENE NOTEBOOK: Catching up with local volleyball and talking a little AHS, ACS football

It’s an unfortunate truth in this profession that there are more sporting events going on in a given week than we could ever hope to attend. 

And while we here at Big Country Preps pride ourselves on providing the most comprehensive high school sports coverage you’ll find from any Big Country source, we can never make it to all the games and matches that we would like to.

With that in mind, we’re adding a new feature this year to try to catch up on some of the things we missed or just to double back on some notes that we couldn’t quite give the attention they deserved. 

Introducing the “Abilene Notebook,” our collection of such odds and ends from the past week of local athletic action. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 2-5A DIV. II WEEK 1 REPORT: Wylie, Cooper fall as league goes 3-3 to open season

Brownwood 35, Wylie 21 — Ike Hall rushed for 163 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 81 yards and another score to lead the Lions past the Bulldogs in the season opener between the former Class 4A rivals.

Leading 14-7 at halftime, Brownwood scored two unanswered touchdowns out of halftime to go up 28-7. Wylie fought back to pull within a touchdown on Kenny Scott’s 43-yard fumble return with 4:37 remaining in the game, but Hall broke loose for a 66-yard touchdown run on the second play of the following possession to put the game away.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME REPORT: Keller too much for young Cooper squad in season opener

KELLER — After a competitive first quarter, the Keller football team pulled away from Cooper over the next three to secure a 37-14 win in the season opener for both teams Thursday at Keller ISD Athletic Complex.

Quarterback Beckham Robinson passed for 151 yards and three touchdowns, and running back Cameron Rayford rushed for 69 yards and two scores to lead the Indians, who scored 30 consecutive points after Cooper answered KHS’ game-opening TD drive with a scoring drive of its own to the tie the game at 7-all in the first quarter.

Keller outgained the Cougars 312-248 for the game, scoring on four of its first five drives to take a 24-7 lead into halftime.

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by Daniel Youngblood

COOPER FEATURE: Junior running back Bray a big-play threat, budding leader for Coogs

It didn’t take Daniel Bray very long to prove his value to the Cooper football team last year as sophomore.

With track speed, good football instincts and the durability to handle an every-down load, the running back emerged as one of the top playmakers for a veteran Cougars team.

Now a veteran himself on a younger CHS squad, Bray is ready to take on even more as a junior — including adding a some leadership responsibilities to his role.

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by Daniel Youngblood

2023 COOPER FOOTBALL PREVIEW: Youthful Cougars leaning on program tradition, consistency

The Cooper football team isn’t returning a particularly large group from last year’s 6-6 squad, but sixth-year coach Aaron Roan likes the nucleus he has back.

The Cougars’ 21 returning lettermen are the second fewest in District 2-5A Division II, topping only Lubbock High’s 15, but with six starters back on both sides of the ball, Roan and his team feel good about their chances of extending CHS’ playoff streak to a 17th consecutive season.

The Coogs will be leaning on that consistency and program tradition while they work to build depth with call-ups from a 5-5 junior varsity squad. In the meantime, they’ll depend on the experience they do return to carry a heavy load.

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by Daniel Youngblood

COUNTDOWN TO TWO-A-DAYS: The Cooper Cougars … two days to two-a days

Football is just around the corner, and we at BigCountryPreps.com are committed to bringing you the information you need to prepare for your favorite team’s season.

We’ll be releasing our Big Country Preps Preseason Football Preview, the most comprehensive look at the upcoming Big Country football season anywhere, on Wednesday, Aug. 16. But you won’t have to wait until then to sate your gridiron appetite.

Leading up to the first day of fall football practice on July 31, we’ll be spotlighting each 11-man team in the area and posing some of the key questions they’ll face in 2023 as part of our annual “Countdown to Two-a-Days” series.

We continue in Class 5A Division II with the Cooper Cougars. On Sunday we will wrap up our Countdown to Two-a-Days series with the Abilene High Eagles.

Continue reading “COUNTDOWN TO TWO-A-DAYS: The Cooper Cougars … two days to two-a days” →

by Brandon McAuliffe

FEATURE: Garfield’s first year as AISD athletic director sees significant growth

If you were to take a look at Abilene ISD Athletic Director Jim Garfield’s account on Twitter, two acronyms will jump off the page at you with regularity: FAAB and OTOF.

Family Ain’t Always Blood. One Town, One Family.

Garfield, who has been a head football coach at Corpus Christi Flour Bluff, Wichita Falls Rider and Elgin, uses those two slogans with regularity in his job leading numerous coaches and hundreds of student-athletes.

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by Daniel Youngblood

REGION I-5A TRACK RECAP: Wylie thrower Blake earns state trip with silver medal in discus

LUBBOCK — Wylie senior Ryan Blake earned himself a trip to Austin with a silver medal performance in the discus over the weekend at the Region I-5A track meet at Lowrey Field. 

The standout thrower highlighted a local effort that saw nine local entries score for their respective schools in the team standings.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Clark fuels Wylie baseball to 9-4 win over Cooper, Bulldogs keep pace in 4-5A race

Brady Clark turned in a solid start on the mound and delivered a three-run home run in the third inning to help the Wylie baseball team pull away for an important 9-4 win over Cooper on Tuesday at Bulldog Field.

The victory, which came despite four errors on a windy night at the ballpark, improved the Bulldogs (15-9 overall) to 9-5 in District 4-5A, keeping coach Grant Martin’s squad within a half-game of the lead in a wild playoff race. 

The Bulldogs are now tied with Lubbock Coronado (18-10, 9-5) for second place — a half-game behind leader Lubbock Cooper (17-15, 10-5) and a half-game ahead of Abilene High (12-15, 9-6) and Lubbock Monterey (13-16, 9-6). Lubbock Cooper downed Lubbock High 15-2 and Monterey topped AHS 12-0 in Tuesday’s other league games, keeping five teams in the title race as the district season hits the stretch run.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Abilene High rallies from early 4-0 deficit to down Cooper 13-5

Abilene High junior Brady Bennett didn’t take his best stuff to the mound Friday against crosstown rival Cooper, but that didn’t stop the Eagles ace from pitching his team to yet another key win in its pursuit of the District 4-5A championship.

After struggling with his control during a four-run first inning, Bennett gutted his way through four more productive frames, and the AHS lineup found its stride in the middle innings to pull away for a 13-5 win at Cougar Field. 

The victory, which came on the heels of a 10-4 home loss to Wylie on Tuesday, improved the Eagles (12-14 overall) to 9-5 in league play, keeping coach Brad Harman’s squad in a tie with Lubbock Cooper and Lubbock Coronado atop the standings in a wild District 4-5A race.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

UPDATED: Cooper assistant Bacon tabbed to succeed Conover as Coogs new basketball coach

Abilene ISD didn’t have to look far to find Bryan Conover’s replacement as the Cooper boys basketball coach.

Tuesday morning, first-year AISD Athletic Director Jim Garfield introduced Michael Bacon as the Cougars new coach, tabbing one of Conover’s assistants for the position.

The popularity of the hire was evident at his introductory press conference in AISD’s administration building as former players of Bacon’s from previous head coaching jobs were in attendance, one driving in from Lubbock, as were ACU coach Brette Tanner and McMurry coach Zach Pickelman.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Freshman pitcher Reyes bears down, AHS hitters come through in 9-5 win over Cooper

Already trailing crosstown rival Cooper 2-0 and staring at a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the top of second inning, Abilene High pitcher Avah Reyes found herself in quite a jam Tuesday evening at the AHS softball field.

Entering the night tied with idle Wylie for second place in the District 4-5A standings, the Lady Eagles needed the freshman to dig deep and keep them in the game until their bats could come around. 

With her back against the wall, Reyes did exactly that, following her third of 10 strikeouts with back-to-back comeback grounders to escape the inning unscathed, allowing her lineup to score eight unanswered runs in a 9-5 win. The victory — the fifth in a row for the 22-4 Lady Eagles — improved AHS to 6-2 in league play heading into big matchup with first-place Lubbock Monterey on Thursday.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Patient offense, Henderson’s pitching lead Cooper past Wylie

Cooper baseball coach Brandon Stover celebrated his 43rd birthday on Thursday.

Friday night, Stover’s team gave him the best birthday gift he could’ve wanted — a 7-1 win over Wylie in the Southtown Showdown at Cougar Field.

Cooper’s offense managed just four hits in the win, but the Cougars drew seven walks and had four additional batters hit by pitches in the District 4-5A matchup.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Bennett pitches Abilene High past Cooper, back into win column

The Abilene High baseball team bounced back from a tough loss to Wylie on Friday with a victory over archrival Cooper on Tuesday, riding a big first inning and a strong outing from starter Brady Bennett to a 6-0 win at Blackburn Field.

The Eagles staked Bennett to a 3-0 after an inning, and the junior right-hander took care of the rest, limiting the Cougars to just five hits over seven shutout innings to help AHS (8-12 overall) improve to 5-3 in District 4-5A play.

The Abilene High victory provided a nice rebound from Friday’s 10-4 loss to Wylie, which saw the Eagles allow seven runs with two outs in the bottom of the sixth.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Bangs southpaw takes this week’s accolade

Bangs southpaw Abby Wolf has thrown so many no-hitters this year, that the subject barely raises an eyebrow. But in consecutive district wins over Coleman and Christoval last week, the sophomore managed to create a stir. 

Missing a perfect game by one hit batsman in a 7-0 win over Coleman, she followed that with three perfect innings in a 15-0 route of Christoval. 

In other words, Wolf tossed nine complete hitless innings last week, along the way walking none and fanning 13. 

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by Brandon McAuliffe

BREAKING: Conover stepping down as Cooper boys basketball coach

Citing a desire to get to be a parent and enjoy watching his son, Cooper boys basketball coach Bryan Conover announced on Wednesday that he’s stepping down from his post.

It was a move he said he knew he was going to make going into the season, which culminated with a playoff berth as the Cougars went 18-13 and finished as the District 4-5A runner-up.

While tough, the decision wasn’t one that Conover struggled to make.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

LOCAL ROUNDUP: AHS teams pick up wins; Wylie baseball knocks off Lubbock High

Despite it being the end of spring break, the local baseball and softball teams were busy on the diamonds on Saturday, both in town and in Lubbock.

The six teams from Abilene High, Cooper and Wylie combined to go 3-3 in action.

You can read Daniel Youngblood’s story on Lubbock Monterey’s 6-2 win over Cooper in District 4-5A baseball here.

Meanwhile, Abilene High’s baseball and softball teams, along with Wylie baseball, picked up key District 4-5A wins. Wylie softball dropped a heartbreaker at Lubbock Monterey and the Cooper softball squad dropped a nondistrict game against Wolfforth Frenship.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Cooper can’t get bats going in 6-2 loss to Lubbock Monterey

The Cooper baseball could never solve Lubbock Monterey starter Hector Villegas on Saturday, tallying just two hits off the right-hander in a 6-2 loss to the Plainsmen at Cougar Field.

Villegas kept the Cougars off balance all game, pitching around four walks and two hit batsmen by drawing weak contact more often that not.

The Monterey starter struck out only three, but he drew nine groundouts and four pop outs in helping the Plainsmen (8-11 overall) improve to 4-1 in District 4-5A play. Cooper, which managed single runs in the first and fourth innings, fell to 10-6 on the year and 2-3 in league action.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Wylie softball uses big fourth inning to down rival Cooper 7-4

The Wylie softball team stayed perfect in District 4-5A play Thursday, using a big fourth inning to break a 3-all tie and eventually beat crosstown rival Cooper 7-4 at Bulldog Field.

After scoring one run in each of the first three innings, the Lady Bulldogs erupted for four runs in the fourth — all with two outs — to build a lead they would protect the rest of the way.

The victory improved Wylie to 18-4 overall and 2-0 in league play, while Cooper fell to 1-2 in District 4-5A action with its second loss to a crosstown rival this week.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Abilene High starts fast, pitches well in 8-1 win over Cooper

The Abilene High softball team got a strong pitching performance from Avah Reyes and Diana Silva and took advantage of four Cooper errors Tuesday in an 8-1 win over the Lady Cougars at Cougar Diamond.

The Lady Eagles led 1-0 after an inning, before taking control of the game with a three-run top of the third. That was all the support needed by Reyes and Silva, who combined to limit their crosstown rivals to just one run on six hits in the victory.

The win improved AHS (17-3 overall) to 1-1 in District 4-5A play, while Cooper fell to the same record in league action. AHS had opened district with a 6-4 loss to Wylie last week, while the Lady Cougars opened 4-5A play with an 8-6 win over Lubbock Cooper.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Six-run sixth lifts Cooper past Abilene High

First-year Abilene High baseball coach Brad Harman admitted that he didn’t sleep much on Friday night with the excitement of his initiation into the Crosstown Showdown looming.

He may not get much sleep on Saturday night either.

Cooper used a six-run sixth inning to take the lead and held off the Eagles 12-8 on Saturday afternoon at Cougar Field in a District 4-5A matchup that also served as the conclusion of the Abilene ISD Invitational baseball tournament.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

ABILENE ISD INVITATIONAL: Wylie gets big win over Cooper; AHS splits a pair of games

Not only did Thursday mark the opening game of the 2023 Abilene ISD Invitational, it also featured a District 4-5A matchup with the Southside Showdown between Cooper at Wylie at Bulldog Field.

Abilene High split a pair of games with schools from Wichita Falls ISD, while the Bulldogs picked up a 10-0 win over the Cougars to close out the day in a game played mainly in a heavy mist.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Hawley’s O’Shields takes this week’s award

While Hawley’s Kason O’Shields is better known for his prowess on a football field, the HHS senior is actually a remarkable all-around athlete who is capable of having an impact in a variety of different sports. 

This week is a prime example of that, as O’Shields takes our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award for the week ending February 18. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

FEATURE: Cooper forward Rivera an imposing force on both ends for Coogs

At 6-foot-5, having scored 1,000-points-plus in a varsity career that began when he was a freshman,  Cooper’s Jaelyn Rivera is standing tall these days — both literally and figuratively. 

As the primary offensive force on a Cougar team that is 18-12 after finishing second in District 4-5A, Rivera will lead Cooper into its Region 1-5A bi-district game against Amarillo Palo Duro at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Lamesa.

While Cooper coach Bryan Conover can only speculate how his team’s deliberate-offense/stifling-defense style will match up against the Dons’ run/gun/launch-the-3-as-soon-as-it’s-open attack, he knows his team will be perched on Rivera’s sturdy shoulders when the game tips off.

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