Cooper left the plains off Longbranch Road and traversed south to the eastern edge of the Mississippian Plateau, also known as the Pennyroyal region and onto the Reservation of the Southwestern Warriors, in Somerset.
The Jaguars left with a 24-14 victory and a region championship trophy.
Cooper couldn’t quite land a knockout punch in a rainy first half when opportunity knocked. The Cooper defense has had quite the turnaround the last half of the season and tonight the Jags leaned on it when it needed it most and they delivered.
The Jag defense forced a fumble on the Warriors first possession and drew first blood with 7:07 in the first quarter when Keagan Maher, continuing his big second half of the season, scampered in from 22 yards out.
A Mike Mulvihill interception on a screen pass gave the Jags advantageous field position inside Southwestern’s 20-yard line but the Jags turned it over on downs in a harbinger of things to come over the next two quarters for the Jaguar offense as Southwestern started grinding away.
“We knew they were very physical up front,” Mulvihill said. “They average probably 260, so we just knew we had to stay low and our coaches said to use our speed to our advantage. That’s what we tried to do. On the first drive, I was getting my tail kicked. I was coming up high and driven off the field. We went over to the sideline and fixed that. Our guys then stayed low and we were able to defeat the line of scrimmage there.”
The Jags used a 25-yard field goal from Carson Taylor with 9:10 left before half to make it 10-0. That would remain the score going into the break.
Warriors’ Caden Cunnagin scored on a 16-yard pass from Zach Benedict and momentum was wearing blue and orange to make it 10-7 in the third. With 1:37 left in the third quarter, Christian Walden scored from a yard out to give the Warriors their first lead at 14-10.
After a Jag drive stalled near midfield and punted, the defense rose to the occasion, forcing a three-and-out and on the ensuing punt Jaidan Combs raced 45 yards to the 11-yard line. Cam O’Hara quickly found Austin Alexander for a 11-yard touchdown to make it 17-14 Cooper.
“That was big. They were pushing and we had to slow them down,” Combs said. “I just got that ball and knew I had to go. That gave us good field position for our offense to finish. We can face any challenge and overcome it.”
The defense again forced a three-and-out and the offense began to grind clock. With 3:01 remaining, Maher made like a dirt road lizard for a victory clinching 44-yard touchdown run.
The Warriors last possession culminated in a Ryker Campbell interception, which would be the fourth turnover created by the Jaguar defense. Victory formation followed.
O’Hara threw for 105 yards and a touchdown, completing 13-of-22 passes. Maher rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns. Isaiah Johnson added four catches for 49 yards, Alexander with 24 yards receiving on three catches, one of them for the go-ahead touchdown.
The Warriors finished with 154 yards rushing on 46 carries.
“We knew coming in (Southwestern) had the size advantage on us,” Jaguars coach Randy Borchers said. “They’ve run the ball well all year so that was a point of focus for us. We struggled on that early in the year. Then we got better as the year went on. They got some yards on us. But our kids made some plays when we needed to.”
After two longer road trips, Cooper gets a much closer road game next week at Highlands in Fort Thomas. The winner will head to Kroger Field for the Class 5A state championship against the Bowling Green-Owensboro winner.
Class 6A Region Championship
Bryan Station 49, Ryle 12
The Raiders fell behind 28-0 at halftime and could not recover.
Ryle scored two touchdowns in the third quarter to make it 35-12. Quarterback Logan Verax threw touchdown passes to Landon Lorms and Gavin Moses.
Head coach Mike Engler pointed out the Raiders only have 12 seniors and five saw action against the Defenders.
“Bryan Station was in this spot last year. They have four Division I players that start for them,” Engler said. “They were just physically good. They’re where we want to get to with our sophomores with the physical part of the game with weight lifting and all that stuff. Our young team grew up a lot though. We had an unbelievable season. Even at 2-4, our kids didn’t quit. Even tonight down, we scored the first couple times we had it in the second half. They were just too much for us.”
Ryle has lost in the third round of the playoffs twice in the last three years. The Raiders last made it to the state semifinals in 2010.
Class 1A Region Championship
Kentucky Country Day 29, Ludlow 16
The Panthers traveled to the east side of Louisville and battled the Bearcats.
Ludlow trailed 15-0 at halftime, but the Panthers (8-5) came out and Aiden Smith Baxley scored from three yards out to cut the lead to 15-8.
Turnovers eventually did in Ludlow.
The other Ludlow touchdown came when Jackson Mays hit Ethan Powell for a 10-yard touchdown.
“We had a team with mental toughness that never gave up,” said Woody McMillen, Ludlow head coach. “We just couldn’t get over the hump. They had a couple big plays. But our guys have a lot to be proud of. We had a great community that got behind them. It was a nice run for Ludlow these last few weeks.”
Ludlow graduates 15 seniors from the team. The Panthers won their first district championship since 1975 this year.
Campbellsville 28, Newport Central Catholic 23
The Thoroughbreds ventured south and built a 17-7 lead, but the Eagles scored then took advantage of a bad NewCath snap on a punt attempt recovering at the NewCath 5 and scored to take the lead.
Demetrick Welch rusned for more than 100 yards and had 37 yards receiving in his final game. The senior rushed for two touchdowns from 17 and 13 yards out and caught another touchdown pass from Louie Collopy for 47 yards. Kaleb Cole rushed for 70 yards and Owen Roeder kicked a 27-yard field goal.
Landon Kraft and Eddie Bivens had interceptions to give NewCath a chance.
“We just ran out of time,” said Stephen Lickert, NewCath head coach. “Kentucky Country Day lost to them, yet had a higher RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) than them. Our match-up should have been next week. But it is what it is. The state’s decided to use that system. We’re going to have to figure out how to win games against some bigger schools on our schedule so we get a better RPI, host some playoff games and not always have a difficult road, which is kind of what we’ve had for five years now.”
The Thoroughbreds (8-5) graduate 13 seniors from the district championship team.