It seems like the word ‘cold’ doesn’t exist in Cooper’s vocabulary.
Through the frigid conditions, the Jaguars stayed on fire, dismantling Southwestern 56-15 in the Class 5A state quarterfinals on Friday in Union.
It certainly didn’t faze one of their many stars, Austin Alexander. Over an hour before kickoff, he embraced the weather, stepping onto the empty field, shirtless, strolling from one end to the other before heading back inside.
“It doesn’t bother me,” Alexander said. “It’s actually something that I love. I just wanted to come out here, get acclimated and get ready to go.”
It’s safe to say the evidence backs it up—Alexander delivered with two receiving touchdowns and a fumble-recovery touchdown.
Alexander wasn’t the only one with a touchdown trifecta. Keagan Maher matched his feat with three of his own.
The junior running back made his mark early, scoring twice in the first quarter and adding another touchdown in the second. He paced the team with 88 rushing yards.
“I’ve got to give props to the guys up front,” Maher said. “They gave me some big lanes early. When you’re able to run the ball on a team, it kills them. When you can’t stop it against a passing offense like ours, you don’t know what to do.”
Southwestern landed an early haymaker with a two-yard Braxton Walters rushing touchdown to make it 7-7, but they soon fell victim to the turnover bug.
They ended the game plagued by five turnovers—two interceptions and three lost fumbles. One of those interceptions was turned into a 45-yard pick-six by Ryker Campbell, his second straight week with an interception return for a touchdown.
“We had three fumbles within a span of a quarter,” Southwestern coach Jason Foley said. “When you play a team of that caliber and you give them extra possessions, they’re going to make you pay.”
The Warriors’ costly fumbles in the second quarter proved to be the pivotal moment that shifted momentum in favor of the Jaguars.
After a strong start and a 14-7 lead in the first quarter, Cooper exploded for 27 points in the final 3:25 of the second quarter, surging to a commanding 41-7 advantage by halftime.
While Southwestern controlled the time of possession by roughly 14 minutes overall, the Jaguars made the most of their opportunities in the quarter.
“I think we had the ball three and a half minutes in the first quarter,” Cooper coach Randy Borchers said. “They put together a heck of a drive in the first quarter and took a lot of time off. Once we got the ball , we got in the groove.”
Jaguars quarterback Cam O’Hara tossed three touchdowns in the second quarter alone. He finished the game with 179 passing yards and four total touchdowns.
Alexander’s defensive touchdown pushed the lead to 48-7 by the end of the third quarter, and O’Hara put the icing on the cake with a three-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Johnson, then connecting with Johnson again for the two-point conversion.
Southwestern added another six points before the final whistle, with Zach Benedict punching in a one-yard rush and then finding Kaleb Lunsford for the two-point conversion.
Benedict totaled 49 passing yards and 72 rushing yards, while Braxton Walters led the ground game with 124 yards.
For the second straight season, the Jaguars captured the region championship from Southwestern, this time in Union and by an even larger margin than last year’s 24-14 victory.
Cooper’s hot streak continues as they prepare to host a rematch with Highlands next week for a ticket to the state championship. The Jaguars edged the Bluebirds 24-21 in wet conditions on September 28, and this game will also be a rematch from last season’s semifinals, where Cooper narrowly triumphed 17-15.
“They’ve been circling a name for a long time now,” Alexander said. “It’s just another game for us though. We’re going to go out there, do what we do and see what happens.”
JAGUARS 56, WARRIORS 15
COOOPER — 14-27-7-8— 56
SOUTHWESTERN — 7-0-0-8— 15
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(C) Maher 7-yard run (9:06) Tibbs kick
(S) Walters 2-yard run (1:27) Gager kick
(C) Maher 32-yard run (0:38) Tibbs kick
2nd Quarter
(C) O’Hara 14-yard pass to Maher (3:25) Tibbs kick
(C) O’Hara 20-yard pass to Alexander (2:28) Johnson kick
(C) O’Hara 15-yard pass to Alexander (1:52) Tibbs kick
(C) Campbell 45-yard interception return (1:22) Tibbs kick failed
3rd Quarter
(C) Alexander 21-yard fumble recovery (11:00) Tibbs kick
4th Quarter
(S) Benedict 1-yard run (9:01) Benedict pass to Lunsford
(C) O’Hara 3-yard pass to Johnson (6:57) O’Hara pass to Johnson
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Cooper 179 (O’Hara 11/17), Southwestern 49 (Benedict 4/9)
Rushing Yards: Cooper 112 (Maher 10-88, O’Hara 4-24, Ritchie 2-3, Meyer 1-(minus)3), Southwestern 212 (Walters 14-124, Benedict 18-72, Haynes 7-11, Whitson 1-5, Dumphord 1-zero, Ray 1-zero)
Receiving: Cooper (Combs 4-99, Alexander 3-44, Johnson 3-22, Maher 1-14), Southwestern (Lewis 1-30, Burton 1-13, Eichmann 1-3, Walters 1-3)
Turnovers: Cooper 0, Southwestern 5
Penalties: Cooper 1-5, Southwestern 3-20
Records: Cooper 13-0, Southwestern 7-6