More often than not, the team that loses the turnover battle loses the game.
But Friday’s high stakes contest between Cooper and Dixie Heights proved to be an exception to that rule. Despite four second half turnovers, Cooper pulled off a 21-14 victory over the Colonels, earning a home playoff game in doing so.
“We knew it would be a tough game against a good, physical team,” said Randy Borchers, Cooper head coach. “Our defense came up big after our offense put us in bad field position.”
The contest came down to one drive in the fourth quarter. Cooper started at its own 35 with 9:43 remaining and drove down the field. On third down at the Dixie Heights 8-yard line, quarterback Cam O’Hara threw a fade route to the right corner and wide receiver Isaiah Johnson and Dixie Heights senior corner back Kabanza Mwamba battled for the ball. Johsnon won the tussle for the ball between the two, his second touchdown catch of the day.
“I first made my move and I just trusted Cam O’Hara to put it up for me,” Johnson said. “I realized it was up for grabs so I just went up and got it. It was really amazing how we came back from all those turnovers and put it in the end zone. We’re really a special team when it comes to adversity.”
The Cooper defense held up on the next two Dixie Heights possessions. Isaac Brown intercepted Dixie Heights quarterback Armani Gregg in Jaguar territory and Cooper stopped Dixie Heights wide receiver Tyson Beach one yard shy of a first on 4th-and-12.
Dixie Heights (4-5) was just unable to capitalize when it needed to.
“At the end of the day, we have to execute better and that’s what it comes down to,” said Pat Burke, Dixie Heights head coach. “We’ve got to be able to keep our emotions in check. Our defense played a heck of a game. We got great field position numerous times. It came down to who made the play last and that’s what happened.”
Cooper (8-2) displayed better balance outgaining Dixie Heights, 370-209. Mwamba picked off one pass and recovered a fumble and Beach added a fumble recovery for the Colonels.
“We’ve normally been pretty good at hanging on to the ball. You have to tuck it and secure it,” Borchers said. “You can bet we’ll be doing some ball security drills in the next couple of weeks.”
O’Hara completed 14-of-22 passes for 212 yards with Johnson leading the way with six catches for 71 yards. Running back Keagan Maher led the Jaguars with 160 yards rushing, including an 86-yard scamper in the first quarter to set up Johnson’s first touchdown of four yards with 1:09 left in the first quarter. Dixie Heights held Cooper standout tight end Austin Alexander to just two catches for 48 yards, Alexander adding a two-point conversion from O’Hara to give them the 21-14 lead.
Alexander’s presence on defense was felt, putting constant pressure on Gregg.
Dixie Heights did have some success with throwing to Beach in one-on-one matchups in the first half. He caught a 58-yard touchdown pass just 11 seconds into the second quarter. Beach finished with four catches for 89 yards with Gregg passing for 146 yards and running for 53.
“Early on, I saw Beach score and we knew we had to shut him down,” Brown said. “He’s a great playmaker. I switched over there and we knew what we had to do to win. It was a lot about taking on the challenge.”
After Maher scored from two yards out with 8:53 left in the second quarter, Dixie Heights took a 14-13 halftime lead with 31 seconds left. Gregg found Grant Johnson in the left flat for the six-yard score and Kohls booted the point-after touchdown.
The Colonels rushed for just 63 yards. The Jaguars held Dixie’s leading rusher David Anderson to just 15 yards on 12 carries after he came into the game averaging just below 87 yards rushing per game.
“Our defense is definitely very strong,” said Lucas Hughes, Cooper linebacker. “(Anderson and Gregg) are very physical players. Gregg is a big guy. We were able to stop them. We watched a lot of film and knew they were their best players.”
Dixie Heights plays host to Ryle (5-4) in the final game of the regular season Friday at 7 p.m. Cooper gets a bye week before they’ll host Collins in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs on Nov. 3. The Colonels consolation is a trip to Woodford County on Nov. 3.
JAGUARS 21, COLONELS 14
DIXIE HEIGHTS — 0-14-0-0 — 14
COOPER — 6-7-0-8 — 21
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(C) Isaiah Johnson, 4-yard pass from Cam O’Hara (1:31) Carson Taylor kick
2nd Quarter
(D) Tyson Beach, 58-yard pass from Armani Gregg (11:49) Andrew Kohls kick
(C) Keegan Maher 2-yard run (8:53) kick blocked
(D) Grant Johnson 6-yard pass from Gregg (1:31) Kohls kick
4th Quarter
(C) Johnson, 8-yard pass from O’Hara (6:22) Austin Alexander pass from O’Hara
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Dixie Heights 146 (Gregg 13/26), Cooper 212 (O’Hara 14/22)
Rushing Yards: Dixie Heights 63 (Gregg 18-48, Anderson 12-15), Cooper 158 (Maher 17-160, O’Hara 8-2, Combs, 2-(-4)
Receiving: Dixie Heights 146 (Beach 4-89, Anderson 4-28, Blank 1-8, Goetz 1-6, Linville 1-6, Johnson 1-6, Kriger 1-3), Cooper 212 (Johnson 6-71, Alexander 2-48, Maher 3-47, Ewell 3-46)
Turnovers: Dixie Heights 2, Cooper 4
Penalties: Dixie Heights 5-32, Cooper 3-17
Records: Dixie Heights 4-5, Cooper 8-2