Sunday, November 22, 2009

CLASS 4 A PLAYOFFS: COOPER RALLIES FROM 24 DOWN

Class 4A playoffs: Cooper rallies from 24 down
JOEY D. RICHARDs richardsj@reporternews.com / 325-670-5213
Posted November 21, 2009 at 11:11 p.m.

MIDLAND — Down 24-0 early in the second quarter Saturday, Cooper quarterback Ryan Heslep was determined this wasn’t how his senior year was going to end. Heslep came back to throw four touchdown passes, including two to senior Reese Williams, and Alford Cooper ran for two touchdowns as the Cooper Cougars pulled out a wild 51-41 victory over the Del Valle Conquistadores in a Class 4A Division I area-round playoff game at Grande Communications Stadium.">
photos by Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News
Cooper running back Davon Riddisck (37) shakes off an El Paso Del Valle defender during the second quarter of the Region I-4A area round playoff game Saturday at Grande Communications Stadium in Midland.

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News Cooper defensive lineman Quincy Moore (40) sacks El Paso Del Valle quarterback Jordan Baeza (10) during the second quarter of the Region I-4A area round playoff game Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009, at Grande Communications Stadium in Midland.

Below: Cooper tight end Reese Williams (11) sprints past El Paso Del Valle defenders for a 32-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter.

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News Cooper quarterback Ryan Heslep (14) dives for extra yardage between El Paso Del Valle defenders during the second quarter of the Region I-4A area round playoff game Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009, at Grande Communications Stadium in Midland.
MIDLAND — Down 24-0 early in the second quarter Saturday, Cooper quarterback Ryan Heslep was determined this wasn’t how his senior year was going to end.
Heslep came back to throw four touchdown passes, including two to senior Reese Williams, and Alford Cooper ran for two touchdowns as the Cooper Cougars pulled out a wild 51-41 victory over the Del Valle Conquistadores in a Class 4A Division I area-round playoff game at Grande Communications Stadium.
“This is my senior season, and we made a pact last night at the team meetings that we weren’t going to go out without a ring on our fingers,” said Heslep, who threw for 279 yards and one interception. “We just regrouped and kept our composure, and we just went out there and did our thing. We came out with a win. It wasn’t pretty, but it was win.”
Cooper scored 24 unanswered points in the second quarter for a 24-24 tie at the half. But the Coogs still had to outscore Del Valle 20-7 in the final 15:08 of the game to pull out the victory.
“I’m just proud of our character and poise for coming back and winning,” Cooper coach Mike Spradlin said.
Cooper (9-3) advances to play Denton Guyer (11-1) in the Region I semifinals at 2 p.m. Saturday at Shotwell Stadium. Guyer beat Mansfield Legacy, 42-21, on Friday.
Early on, it seemed liked everything that could go wrong for Cooper did go wrong.
Jordan Baeza threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for another as Del Valle (9-3) rolled to a 24-0 lead early in the second quarter — all but three of the points were set up by short field position after two fumbles and an interception.
Spradlin, though, said his team didn’t panic — not after being down 31-7 at the half against Class 5A Lewisville Hebron earlier this year and actually coming back to lead that game before giving up a late touchdown.
“We’ve been here before,” Spradlin said. “That’s one of those things where I think we were able to draw back on that.”
Cooper didn’t have to wait until the second half to comeback — scoring 24 unanswered points in the final 7:16 of the half.
Alford Cooper caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Heslep to get the rally started, capping a seven-play, 75-yard drive.
Khole Jackson returned a punt 23 yards down to the Del Valle 32. On the next play, Williams caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from Heslep, cutting the deficit in half with 5:58 left in the half.
Two plays after the ensuing kickoff, Cooper recovered a Del Valle fumble at the Conquistadores’ 22. That set up an 11-yard touchdown run by Riddick.
Then as time expired in the half, Ryan Lucas booted a 28-yard field goal to tie things up at 24.
“I thought the drive before the half to tie it up was huge,” Spradlin said. “Now, you’ve got a zero-zero thing again, and here you go.”
The shootout continued in the second half. Baeza threw a 43-yard pass to Rudy Tueckmantel, down to the Cooper 1, and then Baeza ran for the touchdown.
Cooper answered with a quick touchdown. Tommy Bowman, who fumbled a punt earlier in the game, returned the ensuing kickoff 62 yards to the Del Valle 37. Two plays later, Williams caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from Heslep, tying it at 31 with 7:22 remaining in the third quarter.
Edgar Salcido put Del Valle back up 34-31 with a 50-yard field goal — his second field goal of the night — a little more than two minutes later, but Cooper took its first lead of the game on Alford Cooper’s 6-yard touchdown run with eight seconds left in the third quarter.
In a bit of déjà vu, just on the other side of the ball, Del Valle went for it on fourth-and-1 at the Cooper 35. Baeza, though fumbled the ball, and a Del Valle player recovered, but by game rules, couldn’t advance the ball. Cooper took over on downs.
The same play happened to the Coogs in the first half on a fourth-and-1 play at the Cooper 40.
Three plays after the Del Valle fumble, Heslep threw his fourth touchdown pass of the night, an 18-yarder to Jackson with 9:52 remaining in the game.
Cooper recovered a bad snap on a Del Valle punt attempt at the Conquistadores’ 32, and Alford Cooper later ran 9 yards for his third touchdown of the night.
Baeza threw a late touchdown to Jon Jon Hernandez for Del Valle’s final score.
“I’m just real, real proud of our kids,” Spradlin said. “This is a great second-round win for us.”
Cooper 0 24 14 13—51
Del Valle 17 7 10 7—41

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