Talk about a way to get your first postseason victory in five years.
Cooper dominated in all three phases on Friday night in their Class 5A playoff opener with Collins (6-5), winning 42-8.
The Jaguars (9-2) final score was what they were able to accomplish in 21 minutes of football, getting the game to a running clock with three minutes left in the first half.
“It was important to get a win for our seniors. It was important to our underclassmen to get these seniors a win,” Jaguars coach Randy Borchers said.
Cam O’Hara threw four touchdowns, Isaiah Johnson catching two of them, Austin Alexander and Jaidan Combs the others.
Johnson’s first scoring grab came on a fourth and 10 at the Collins 36, burning through the Titans back line of defense for the score. The second one was of the one-hand variety to make it 14-0.
The touchdown receptions were Johnson’s 19th and 20th of the season, already clearing the 1,000-yard milestone for the season. He finished with five catches for 70 yards on the night.
“Everyone of our receivers, we can all make plays all the way down to our last guy. I just come and and try as hard as I can and the results are showing up,” Johnson said.
O’Hara had 173 yards, hitting on 13-of-18 passes in a half of action.
Alexander’s score wasn’t too shabby either, stiff-arming a defender on his way to paydirt from 17 yards out.
“I just throw it up and they make me look good,” O’Hara said. “I’ve got Isaiah on one side, Austin on the other side. It’s just pick and choose.”
Speaking of milestones, it was Borchers 100th win of his career.
“Honestly, this is not coaches talk, the playoff win tonight means more,” Borchers said. “It’s been five years since we had a playoff win and you kind of feel that pressure and have that monkey on your back. We feel this is a good team and to get a playoff win and the way we won it is the most important to me.”
Malachi Ewell and Keagan Maher also got in on the touchdown party with a Ewell six-yard run, Maher finishing off the scoring with a 33-yard run to make it 42-0 with 3:12 left in the first half. Maher would finish with 106 rushing yards on 10 carries.
As far as the defense? Dominant in holding duel threat freshman quarterback Kade Goodin in check. Goodin came in with 1,938 yards passing, 1,051 yards rushing, but was held to 133 and 49 on the night.
“Our focus all week was to shut him down and we felt if we shut him down we could shut their offense down. We did a really good job taking away their run,” Borchers said.
Cooper entered the playoffs a dangerous team and will have the chance to prove it next week when they head to Scott County, a matchup that features the No. 4 (Scott Co.) and No. 5 (Cooper) team in the state in 5A.
With the Jaguars ability to spread the ball around to their array of weapons while the defense has found their groove by allowing just 43 points in the last five games, they’ll make any opponent weary.
Not to mention how effective they were on special teams, continuously pinning the Titans inside the 20 on kickoff coverage and starting with possession on the positive side of the field due to lengthy punt returns. Kicker Carson Taylor knocked down all six of his extra point attempts.
“That’s going to be huge next week. Scott County is one of the best in the state on special teams. Every game they have one or big two plays on special teams. We have to be sound special teams-wise,” Borchers said. “Carson Taylor has kicked for us a couple years and he’s a great weapon to have on kickoffs and know we can count on him for extra points.”
All three of those phases will be needed if the Jaguars are to pull off the mild upset in Georgetown next week.
“We got to have a great week of practice. It’s very difficult to simulate what they do. They hide the ball well and run their system. We’ll have to get some stops, have to put some points on the board and take some chances,” Borchers said.
Scott County knocked off Conner, 63-13 on Friday night in their first round playoff matchup.
JAGUARS 42, TITANS 8
COLLINS — 0-0-0-8 — 8
COOPER — 14-28-0-0 — 42
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(Cooper) O’Hara 36-yard pass to Johnson (7:15) Taylor kick
(Cooper) O’Hara 11-yard pass to Johnson (3:42) Taylor kick
2nd Quarter
(Cooper) O’Hara 17-yard pass to Alexander (9:35) Taylor kick
(Cooper) Ewell 6-yard rush (6:09) Taylor kick
(Cooper) O’Hara 7-yard pass to Combs (5:07) Taylor kick
(Cooper) Maher 33-yard run (3:12) Taylor kick
4th Quarter
(Collins) Goodin 12-yard pass to Wooten (2:24) Goodin run
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Collins 133 (Goodin 12/28), Cooper 173 (O’Hara 13/18, Hartman 0/1)
Rushing Yards: Collins 41 (Goodin 12-49, Lainhart 1-(-)1, Delaney 1-(-)2, Martin 1-(-)5) Cooper 157 (Maher 10-106, Ritchie 7-38, Combs 1-7, Ewell 1-6)
Receiving: Collins Martin (4-28, Huelsman 3-53, Lainhart 2-29, Schramm 2-11, Team 1-12), Cooper (Johnson 5-70, Maher 3-48, Alexander 2-37, Ewell 2-11)
Turnovers: Collins 1, Cooper 0
Penalties: Collins 4-46, Cooper 3-20
Records: Collins 6-5, Cooper 9-2