Cooper football coach Randy Borchers described last year’s run to the state championship as playing with house money. Now it’s all business when they’ll load the bus and head to Kroger Field in Lexington on Saturday in a Class 5A title game rematch with Bowling Green.
The Jaguars expected to be in this spot, running it back with the majority of their roster returning from last season’s run to a state runner-up finish. They’ve handled every obstacle in front of them this season, sitting at 14-0 with only Bowling Green in the way of a first state championship in program history.
Cooper features an explosive offense with the ability to score on any play. The defense has been opportunistic, forcing 34 turnovers in 14 games, also scoring five touchdowns and five special teams touchdowns.
The most impressive thing about this Jaguars team is their ability to win in a variety of ways. They’ve won shootouts, defensive battles and won games with their special teams. Whatever is thrown at them come Saturday at 8 p.m. in Lexington, they’ll be prepared for it.
“That’s a testament to our kids,” Borchers said. “They don’t panic. Any game we go into those kids believe they are going to win. Anything we have to do to be successful, they are going to do.”
When it all began
Borchers felt this group could be special when the current senior class was sophomores and the upside in Cam O’Hara coming in as a freshman at quarterback. The leadership along the way has helped.
“We knew we had the nucleus, had some big receivers, you get that at the high school level and it’s a big benefit for you,” Borchers said. “We knew the QB (O’Hara) coming in was something special. Had a couple of good running backs. Just a good group of kids that worked extremely hard and had great leadership.”
Borchers mentioned the leadership from seniors Austin Alexander, Isaac Brown and Mason Stanton.
“They came in everyday and just worked and it set up a recipe for success,” Borchers said.
It’s mostly all homegrown kids, too. The only ones that transferred in were Jaidan Combs from Campbell County and Mike Mulvihill from Blanchester, Ohio. The two have been critical to the Jaguars 2024 success.
“Even kids that haven’t played a whole lot have stayed the course and I think that says a lot about our culture,” Borchers said.
Defining moment of the season
Go back to Week 3 against Ryle. The Jaguars owned the first half and jumped out to a 14-0 lead, dominating the first 24 minutes. But Ryle flipped the switch and turned the tides in the second half, answering with 14 straight points and tying the game up. The Raiders were going to get the ball back with less than two minutes to play and a chance to go win the game with all the momentum, but they muffed a punt and Cooper recovered.
Just a couple plays later, O’Hara hit Isaiah Johnson for a touchdown and the Jaguars escaped the Battle of Union with a 21-14 victory. That result wasn’t the case in years prior, having lost the rivalry series nine straight times before prevailing this season. Four of those losses were decided by one score.
“That was a really good football team,” Borchers said. “That was a huge win for us. Up 14-0, they came back and had all the momentum. Looking at that rivalry and all those games like that, we haven’t been able to win those games and to be able to do it this year really helped us with the confidence to win those kind of games.”
Now the two, just five miles apart will be on center stage on Saturday, the Raiders playing for the 6A state title against Trinity at 4 p.m.
“I’ll be rooting for them,” Borchers said. “We want as many teams as possible to come back to NKY with a state title. Football up here is really good. There’s good coaches and a strong fraternity with that. You could almost put out your entire schedule playing up here and not have to play more than 25-30 miles away and face so many quality opponents.”
Unsung hero
Yes, O’Hara, Johnson and Alexander are the big names, but Borchers knows without Ryker Campbell the Jaguars aren’t where they are right now to this point.
Further showing his adaptability on the fly not only as the backbone of the defense at safety, Campbell answered the bell last week at running back when leading rusher Keagan Maher was unable to play due to an injury suffered in the quarterfinals against Southwestern.
Campbell ran for 106 yards on 10 carries with three touchdowns against Highlands in the semifinals, while also picking a pass off defensively and making five tackles, one of them for a loss. Prior to the semifinals, Campbell had just two carries for 41 yards on the season.
“I’ve told people from Day 1…Ryker Campbell is the most underrated kid in our program,” Borchers said. “He puts the team first and does what needs to be done to be successful. He’s not the biggest kid and does everything we want him to do. Goes up on the run, returns punts, kicks, and does it so quietly. People forget about him and we wouldn’t be where we are right now without him.”
Maher’s status is up in the air for Saturday as he’ll be a game-time decision. A blow to the offense as Maher has rushed for 1,433 yards and 22 touchdowns, also snagging 22 receptions for 237 yards and three touchdowns. But the team does have comfort in knowing Campbell is capable if needed to fill in.
Johnson rising up
Isaiah Johnson entered his sophomore year as the projected starting quarterback, but with what O’Hara’s potential and promise presented, it was too good to pass up. Johnson was still taking quarterback reps as a sophomore leading into the season, then the coaching staff decided it was time to give the 6-foot-3 Johnson some looks on the outside at receiver. Three years later and the decision was a no-brainer, Johnson going to go down as one of the best receivers ever in northern Kentucky.
“With what we saw in Cam, we then looked at it like we now had a very athletic kid at 6-3 to go out wide,” Borchers said. “It took some time to adjust in his sophomore year with so little reps, but he did everything asked of him and continued to get better. His sophomore year was a huge developmental year for him and then he came back as a junior and was lights out.”
Johnson is the all-time receiving touchdowns leader in northern Kentucky with 52 of them to go with 168 catches and 3,254 receiving yards. The KHSAA record books go up until the 2021 season, Johnson’s 52 touchdown receptions are tied for seventh all-time in KHSAA history. Two receiving touchdowns would put him alone for sixth all-time. The 168 catches are 23rd all-time and 3,254 receiving yards are 14th all-time.
Alexander’s swan song
Austin Alexander will don the maroon and gold one more time on Saturday night. When it’s all said and done, he’ll go down as one of the best Jaguars to ever put on the uniform.
The University of North Carolina commit enters Saturday’s game with a laundry list of impressive stats. Throughout his career, he has 275 tackles, 23 tackles for loss, 47.5 sacks, four fumble recoveries, two interceptions and two defensive touchdowns scores. Offensively, he’s racked up 155 receptions for 2,493 yards and 38 touchdowns.
The rematch
Cooper and Bowling Green are no stranger when it comes to championship matchups. It’s the third time they’ve gone head-to-head in the state title game…once in 2012 and now the past two seasons. The Purples hold a 2-0 edge on the Jaguars, winning 34-20 in 2012 and 28-14 last year. Take it a step further and the two have also met on the basketball court in the state championship, the Purples prevailing 67-56 in the 2017 state title game.