ABILENE, TX – The Cooper Cougars and the Abilene High Eagles coming into this week’s Crosstown Showdown looking for their first wins of the season.
Cooper head coach Aaron Roan’s team started fast with the first fourteen points against Odessa Permian, but the Panthers scored the next 34 points, including a pair of pick-sixes and a fumble return for a touchdown.
It was a rough opener, but Coach Roan said good can be found.
Roan said, “There were a lot of things that we pulled out from last week that were good. The way we started the game is something that I thought we want to build on. We started fast, which is what we preach. The turnovers are what we want to limit and they started to snowball a little bit. The challenge that we had at halftime to respond and to show some resiliency in the second half was something that we can build on. I think we saw a lot of good in what we are capable of doing. We’ve got to execute at a higher level, and we’ve learned that.”
Cooper’s Noah Garcia ran for 162 yards in the loss. He is now just 103 yards from becoming Cooper’s all-time leading rusher.
