Despite a 15-hour postponement and a steady downpour due to the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Cooper and Highlands lived up to its billing on Saturday morning in Fort Thomas.
It was a matchup waiting in the wings for over 10 months, the two meeting in the Class 5A semifinals last season on the same field. In the end, it was the Jaguars prevailing on the Bluebirds turf again, 24-21.
The Jaguars pulled out the victory behind their playmakers with a little help from their special teams. Eyler Tibbs’ 22-yard field goal gave the Jaguars a 24-14 lead late, Jaidan Combs opening the game with an 89-yard kickoff return for a score.
The victory is another testament to a Jags team in search of their first state title in program history, improving to 6-0 and winning in a variety of ways so far.
“We’ve played some physical teams, we’ve played some athletic teams,” Jaguars coach Randy Borchers said. “So when you got a veteran team the best part about our our team is no one cares who gets the publicity. No one cares who’s getting the ball. No one cares who’s making a play. They just want to win. I think that comes down to our leadership and our veteran team.”
The Bluebirds had their chances. Trailing 24-21 with 2:17 to play, Highlands needed to go 80 yards to win the game or get in field goal range to extend it. A missed 27-yard field goal early in the fourth from Logan Nickelman loomed large.
“Special teams clearly were the difference today,” Bluebirds coach Bob Sphire said. “The opening kickoff, we miss a field goal, they make a field goal. That’s essentially a 13-point swing.”
On Highlands’ final drive, they were able to get all the way down to Cooper’s 32-yard line, but an ineligible lineman downfield nullified a passing play to the Jaguars 10. With just 10 seconds remaining and facing a fourth and long, Mario Litmer’s pass over the middle was knocked away by Austin Perriman and effectively ending the game.
“You know when you come over here, this is what football is all about,” Borchers said. “We beat a really good football team today, they were one play away from getting a win. If we see each other again, it’s going to be another dogfight.”
With the inability to move it consistently with their potent run game, the Bluebirds relied on Litmer a lot in the passing game and he delivered by completing 16-of-23 passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns. One of the touchdown passes will be remembered for quite some time, sophomore Tayden Lorenzen leaping over a Jags defender in the corner of the end zone and hanging on to the ball for a score. Litmer’s top two targets were Adam Surrey (5 catches, 101 yards, TD) and Jackson Arnold (4 catches, 78 yards) on the day.
Cooper’s Cam O’Hara was sharp in the passing game, connecting on 13-of-22 passes for 270 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown grab was another highlight-reel play in the highly anticipated contest, Austin Alexander leaping over a Bluebirds defender, coming down with the catch and racing to the end zone for a 71-yard touchdown. That gave Cooper a 14-0 lead in the second quarter.
O’Hara moved the chains often on third down and long situations, consistently completing passes to Isaiah Johnson and Combs. Combs’ opening kickoff return gave the Jags a jolt for the early morning kickoff.
“I just wanted to get us going,” Combs said. “It’s early in the morning, people were still sleeping and wanted to come out ready and get us going.”
Combs’ said he started his morning with a bowl of oatmeal, a lot of water and got up at 6:30 a.m. for the game.
A vital part of the Jaguars improving to 6-0 was their run defense. They limited the Bluebirds to just 3.7 yards per carry, well below their season average of 5.4 yards a rushing attempt.
“Last week we struggled a bit with the line of scrimmage and really made an emphasis on that this week,” Borchers said. “We knew we had to take away their run and our kids did a tremendous job of that.”
Cooper was eyeing a 28-14 lead going into the half, but a heads up play from Surrey in the closing seconds kept Highlands down a touchdown. Jaguars running back Keagan Maher was off to the races and looking at a 64-yard touchdown run, but Surrey punched the ball out from Maher’s arm at the one-yard line and the ball kicked out of the end zone for a touchback.
After a scoreless third, Tibbs’ 22-yarder was the first of the season for him. The Jaguars faced a fourth and goal at the five on the situation and trusted Tibbs to make it a two-score game.
“I was feeling pretty good. We do a lot of field goals in practice and I was ready for it,” Tibbs said. “Honestly didn’t know if I’d make it with the conditions outside. Haven’t really kicked in this.”
Gabe Williams helped get Highlands a quick answer with a long kickoff return to the Jaguars 36. Three plays later, Litmer hit Williams for an 11-yard touchdown, the running back catching a pass out in the flat and diving for the pylon for the score. That made it 24-21 with 3:45 to play and Highlands having two timeouts.
The Bluebirds were able to get a stop and the ball back, but the Jaguars defense was able to do enough to secure the victory.
While Cooper got the upper hand on Saturday, these two could very well meet again in a similar situation as last year in the postseason.
“We’ll see them again,” Sphire said. “Odds are we’ll see them again. I don’t have a crystal ball, can’t predict injuries, COVID or any of those things, but that was two teams that were clearly working to compete at a high level.”
With the two in the same district, they’d avoid each other pretty much all the way to the state semifinals, a potential for a second straight meeting for the right to go to Kroger Field and the state championship game.
The two will have to take care of their own business until then. Cooper returns to action on Thursday in a short week to host Conner. Highlands will host Dixie Heights on Friday.
Below are some more photos of Saturday’s contest, provided by Charles Bolton:
JAGUARS 24, BLUEBIRDS 21
COOPER — 7-14-0-3 — 24
HIGHLANDS — 0-14-0-7 — 21
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(C) Combs 89-yard kickoff return (11:47) Tibbs kick
2nd Quarter
(C) O’Hara 71-yard pass to Alexander (9:03) Tibbs kick
(H) Litmer 48-yard pass to Surrey (6:20) Nickelman kick
(C) Maher 1-yard run (2:46) Tibbs kick
(H) Litmer 8-yard pass to Lorenzen (:34) Nickelman kick
4th Quarter
(C) Tibbs 22-yard FG (4:49)
(H) Litmer 11-yard pass to Williams (3:45) Nickelman kick
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Cooper 270 (O’Hara 13/22, TD, INT), Highlands 238 (Litmer 16/23, 3 TD)
Rushing Yards: Cooper 124 (Maher 15-116, O’Hara 3-8), Highlands 160 (White 16-74, Litmer 14-47, James 3-18, Williams 6-15, Lorenzen 2-5, Surrey 2-1)
Receiving: Cooper (Johnson 6-129, Alexander 1-71, Combs 4-66, Maher 2-4), Highlands (Surrey 5-101, Arnold 4-78, Williams 3-30, Lorenzen 2-21, White 2-11)
Turnovers: Cooper 2, Highlands 1
Penalties: Cooper 2-20, Highlands 8-41
Records: Cooper (6-0, 1-0), Highlands (4-2, 0-1)
