These are the decisions that make coaches heroes or scapegoats.
Cooper had a 4th-and-inches at the Highlands 17-yard-line and unsuccessfully tried to draw the Bluebirds offsides. After a timeout, the coaching staff sent Carson Taylor in to try to put the Jaguars ahead. He ended up making the kick to lift the Cooper Jaguars to a 17-15 win over the Highlands Bluebirds in the Class 5A state semifinals on Friday at David Cecil Memorial Stadium.
“I was scared. But I got it through,” Taylor said. “I’ve been working for a while to finish this out. It paid off in the end.”
Taylor had hit all four field goal tries on the season entering the game.
“You’re either going to be a genius or an idiot. Luckily, that call went well for us,” said Randy Borchers, Cooper head coach. “You want to lean on what you got. It was hard getting points, especially that second half so we thought if we got the points against a team that loves to run the ball, we were going to take our chances with that.”
Drama ensued over the next 250 seconds.
Highlands followed with a drive to the Cooper 25, but after three straight incompletions, Highlands tried to go ahead with a field goal. The kick missed short, but the Bluebirds drew a roughing the kicker penalty moving the ball to the Cooper 12. On the next play, Highlands senior running back Cam Giesler took the ball and gained seven yards, but while fighting for more yardage, Cooper stripped the ball from him and senior linebacker Lucas Hughes recovered it with 1:12 left.
Highlands drove Cooper backwards to the one, the Jaguars facing a 4th-and-16 with 25 seconds remaining. After the Bluebirds used all their timeouts, the Jaguars punted, the punt traveling just 23 yards setting Highlands up at the Cooper 24 with 21 seconds to play. The Bluebirds threw two incompletions. On third down and 11 seconds remaining, Cooper junior linebacker Mason Stanton intercepted a Brody Benke pass, sealing the win.
“We’ve been working on that roll out and comeback play all week,” Stanton said. “I read the play and made it happen.”
On Friday, the teams combined for just 460 yards as opposed to the 1,200 in the Sept. 22 meeting in Union that Highlands won 58-51.
“That was what you thought a state semifinal game should be. It was an all-out war for 48 minutes,” said Bob Sphire, Highlands head coach. “We had our chances. But they made some plays at the right times. It just swung their way. One play could have changed it the other direction.”
Highlands rushed for 172 yards and passed for 91 after coming in averaging 240 rushing and 235 passing. Giesler finished with 117 yards on 27 carries. Cooper held Benke to 48 yards on 15 carries, limiting his space all evening.
“Our defensive staff has done a heck of a job this year, especially the second half of the season getting our guys prepared to stop the run,” Borchers said. “We knew we were going to have to stop the run. They got some yards. But our guys did a heck of a job keeping them out of the end zone and getting stops when we needed them.”
On the other side, Cooper rushed for 93 yards and passed for 119 after coming in with averages of 113 rushing and 233 passing.
Cam O’Hara found Austin Alexander for two touchdowns to put the Jaguars up 14-0. The first one came from 15 yards out with 1:25 left in the first quarter and the second came with 8:46 left in the first half from 29 yards out. Alexander made defenders miss then found the end zone.
“I knew Cam was going to get me the ball when I needed it,” Alexander said. “I prayed all week I’d make the catch. The Lord allowed me to make the catch and make a play on it. It’s been a blessing to be with the guys. I’ve been praying with the guys all week just to get over any sort of mental or physical challenges. We knew with God we were going to make it happen.”
Highlands grabbed the momentum to end the first half. The Bluebirds punt coverage pinned the Jaguars at the one and a few plays later, Carson Shelton sacked O’Hara in the end zone with 5:53 left in the first half to put Highlands on the board down 14-2.
The Bluebirds then went on a long and sustained drive starting from the Cooper 44. Giesler ran it in from one yard out with 1:13 left and Logan Nickelman made the point after touchdown to trim the Cooper lead to 14-9 at halftime.
“Our guys showed great character falling down two touchdowns and crawling back to take the lead,” Sphire said. “Randy (Borchers) made a gutsy call to kick the ball into the wind on fourth-and-short. I give him a lot of credit. That’s kind of what one of those games comes down to sometimes. Our kids fought and their kids fought. It’s a shame someone has to go home and we’re going home.”
Highlands drove into Cooper territory on its first possession of the second half, but Benke was stopped short on a 4th-and-1 at the Cooper 38.
After a Carson Class interception, Highlands put together a drive to take its lone lead of the game. On a second-and-9 from the Cooper 15, Benke handed off to Adam Surrey on a jet sweep, Surrey then threw to Jackson Arnold on a trick play wide open in the end zone to put Highlands up 15-14. The Bluebirds did not handle the snap on the two-point conversion and it eventually cost them in the end.
Cooper advances to the state championship game Saturday, Dec. 2 at Kroger Field in Lexington at 8 p.m. against Bowling Green (11-3). The Jaguars also made the state championship game in 2012, but lost to the Purples, 34-20.
Highlands made its first state semifinal appearance since 2015. The Bluebirds graduate 25 seniors off this year’s team.
JAGUARS 17, BLUEBIRDS 15
COOPER — 7-7-0-3 — 17
HIGHLANDS — 0-9-0-6 — 15
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(C) Alexander 15-yard pass from O’Hara (1:25) Carson Taylor kick
2nd Quarter
(C) Alexander 29-yard pass from O’Hara (11:15) Taylor kick
(H) Safety (5:53)
(H) Benke 1-yard run (1:13) Nickelman kick
4th Quarter
(H) Arnold 15-yard pass from Surrey (run failed)
(C) Taylor 35-yard field goal
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Cooper 119 (O’Hara 10/20), Highlands 91 (Benke 7/16, Surrey 1/1)
Rushing Yards: Cooper 93 (Maher 17-57, O’Hara 8-36), Highlands 172 (Giesler 27-117, Benke 15-48, Surrey 2-7)
Receiving: Cooper 119 (Alexander 3-50, Johnson 2-23, Campbell 2-13, Maher 1-27, Stanton 1-4, Ewell 1-2), Highlands 91 (Arnold 3-33, Surrey 3-16, Class 1-14, Giesler 1-11)
Turnovers: Cooper 1, Highlands 2
Penalties: Cooper 6-42, Highlands 4-40
Records:Â Cooper 12-2, Highlands 12-2