This wasn’t your typical No. 1 vs. No. 4 seed mismatch that often defines the opening round of the KHSAA football playoffs.
There was no running clock, no wave of backups playing the second half — just a fog-filled field and a much tougher battle than the bracket line implied.
Cooper knew it, too.
South Oldham arrived as a No. 4 seed in name only, forged in the depth and difficulty of the Class 5A, 6th District, where at one point all four teams were ranked in the top 10 in 5A.
But if the Dragons were anything but an easy out, Cooper proved once again why it is the district champion chasing a third straight trip to Kroger Field. The Jaguars leaned on the balanced offense that has defined their late-season rise and a defense that tightened dramatically after an early stumble, pulling out a 28–14 win to move three victories away from their goal of getting back to Kroger Field.
“That’s a good football team,” Jaguars coach Randy Borchers said. “We felt like this is probably the best sister district from top to bottom. We played them last year in the first round and they gave us a really good game in that first half.”
Quarterback Cam O’Hara orchestrated the attack with poise, throwing for 133 yards and a touchdown while adding a 19-yard rushing score on a slippery, stop-and-start scramble. He spread the ball to six different receivers, with Max Wethington hauling in the touchdown strike that capped Cooper’s opening possession.
“We’ve definitely grown as an offense,” O’Hara said. “Our identity has been different all year. We’ve been able to run, now we’ve been able to throw the ball. Now we can do both. It makes it easy for me, makes it easy for Keagan because the defense can’t key in on one thing. We’ve grown throughout the season and got better and better each week.”
PHOTOS: Slideshow provided by Charles Bolton
Keagan Maher once again set the tone on the ground. The senior powered his way to 104 yards and two touchdowns, hitting the 4,000-yard career rushing milestone early in the fourth quarter.
“It’s really cool, for sure,” Maher said. “I’ve been working really hard for a long time, so it just shows that’s paying off. But at the end of the day the most important thing to me is being able to win and get to round two. So the personal accolades are cool and all, but as a team I’m really happy to get the dub.”
It marked his ninth 100-yard performance of the season, another reminder of how reliably he chews through tough yards between the tackles — and how seamlessly Cooper can toggle between its passing and running identities. Maher’s first and second touchdowns of the night gave the Jaguars a 21-7 edge, O’Hara’s scamper making it 28-7 on the first play of the fourth.
South Oldham didn’t flinch after Cooper’s first score. The Dragons responded with a statement drive of their own: 14 plays, 65 yards, the veer attack eating more than seven minutes off the clock, and a touchdown that evened the game and hinted that this matchup would be nothing like a typical 1-4 pairing.
But from there, Cooper’s defense flipped the script. The Jaguars clamped down for the next two-and-a-half quarters, forcing four three-and-outs and surrendering only two first downs until South Oldham finally broke through again with 8:49 remaining to cut the margin to 28–14.
“That’s an offense you don’t see very often,” Borchers said. “No matter how you prep for it, it’s still different from what our kids are used to seeing. You have to train your eyes, and you have to play responsibility football. We didn’t do a great job of that the first drive. Then I think we settled down a little bit and then started playing much better.”
Even then, the Dragons stayed within striking distance, driving deep into Cooper territory in the closing minutes — but Xavier Barbour’s interception with 1:41 left ended the threat and punched the Jaguars’ ticket to round two.
Awaiting them is a familiar postseason nemesis: Scott County, another battle-tested member of the 6th District and a program Cooper has met in each of the last four postseasons.
“We kind of know what to expect, it’ll be a physical game,” Maher said. “And I think that’s something we’ve started to get better at is getting more physical. We’re looking forward to it.”
The Jaguars have won the last two November meetings, each one ending with the Cooper fight song echoing across the field. This next chapter figures to be among the premier second-round matchups anywhere in Kentucky, regardless of class.
“We know we’re gonna have to put some points on the board,” Borchers said. “It’s not a team you’re gonna keep out of the end zone. A lot of times you have to outscore them. So we’ve got to do better offensively. I think defensively, we played pretty well tonight, but we got to get back on the drawing board and do a better job.”
Cooper handled a dangerous No. 4 seed to stay on course. Now comes another heavyweight — and another chance to edge closer to Lexington.
“We’ve just got to set the tone,” O’Hara said.
JAGUARS 28, DRAGONS 14
SOUTH OLDHAM — 7-0-0-7 — 14
COOPER — 7-7-7-7 — 28
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(C) O-Hara 22-yard pass to Wethington (11:04) Tibbs kick
(SO) Miles 1-yard run (3:37) Funes kick
2nd Quarter
(C) Maher 12-yard run (11:55) Tibbs kick
3rd Quarter
(C) Maher 1-yard run (4:20) Tibbs kick
4th Quarter
(C) O’Hara 19-yard run (11:49) Tibbs kick
(SO) Miles 9-yard pass to Dixon (8:49) Funes kick
Game Stats
Passing Yards: South Oldham 120 (Miles 7/17 TD, Dixon 0/1), Cooper 133 (O’Hara 9/15, TD)
Rushing Yards: South Oldham 118 (Dixon 12-64, Hickerson 5-25, Greenwell 10-22, Miles 6-4, Davila 2-3), Cooper 136 (Maher 20-104, Campbell 2-19, Wethington 1-7, O’Hara 4-6)
Receiving: South Oldham (Temple 3-69, Dada 1-37, Dixon 2-11, Hickerson 1-3), Cooper (Hartman 2-40, Campbell 2-29, Wethington 1-22, Graham 1-17, Freihofer 1-17, Maher 2-8)
Turnovers: South Oldham 1, Cooper 0
Penalties: South Oldham 7-62, Cooper 4-25
Records: South Oldham 5-6, Cooper 8-3