High School Football: Wichita Falls Rider powers past Abilene Cooper in district opener

Elijah Jackson and Kenji Johnson each ran for three touchdowns to power Wichita Falls Rider past Abilene Cooper 42-21 in the District 2-5A Division II opener Thursday at Shotwell Stadium.

The game turned on a muffed punt just before halftime, allowing Rider to snap a 14-14 tie on Jackson’s 1-yard TD run nine seconds before the break. It was his second TD of the game and the first of three unanswered touchdowns by the Raiders.

Jackson’s TD came four plays after the Raiders recovered the muffed punt at Cooper’s 37.

It was all Rider from there.

The Raiders (5-2, 1-0) scored on the opening possession of the second half and added two more TDs after Cooper (1-5, 0-1) turned the ball over downs at the Coogs’ 39 and 46 on its first two possessions of the half.

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How it happened

Rider scored on its first two possessions to lead 14-0. Johnson ran 48 yards for a TD on the Raiders second play from scrimmage, after forcing Cooper to punt the ball on the game’s opening drive.

The Raiders drove 55 yards on 10 plays for their second score — a 10-yard run by Jackson on fourth-and-1 with 1:11 to play in the opening quarter.

Zavian Alexander came up with an interception to set up the Coogs’ first TD. Daniel Bray ran 9 yards for a TD to cap a seven-play, 57-yard drive.

Jaden Castillo ran 21 yards to the Rider 22 to spark the drive, and he also caught a 13-yard pass from Austin Cummins on fourth-and-10. Bray scored one play later with 6:51 remaining in the second quarter.

Cooper tied the game on its next possession. Cummins threw a 25-yard TD pass to Carrillo with 3:02 left in the first half.

The Coogs only had to go 39 yards on four plays on the drive, after Rider was forced to punt into a north wind from its own 7.

The half turned on a turnover. Rider recovered a muffed punt at the Coogs’ 37, and Tyrone Morgan ran 28 yards to the Coogs’ 9 on a reverse to set up Jackson’s 1-yard TD run three plays later for a 21-14 lead nine seconds before halftime.

Rider drove 59 yards on 15 plays to open the second half, getting a 1-yard TD run by Jackson for a 28-14 advantage with 5:29 remaining in the third quarter.

Cooper turned the ball over downs on its next two possessions — giving the Raiders the ball at the Coogs’ 39 and 46. Rider cashed both into TD runs of 2 and 7 yards by Johnson.

Cooper got a 1-yard TD run by Peyton Ewing with 17 seconds left in the game.

THURSDAY’S STARS

Kenji Johnson, Rider

Johnson ran for a game-high 143 yards and three TDs on 21 carries. The junior running back also went 6-for-6 on PAT kicks. The Raiders rolled up 269 yards and all six TDs on 44 carries — good for 6.1 yards per carry.

Ryan Jones, Rider

The senior defensive back had a team-high nine tackles, including eight solo, for a Rider defense that allowed 252 total yards — 110 on the ground.

Jaden Carrillo, Cooper

Carrillo caught a game-high eight passes for 75 yards. The sophomore receiver also ran once for 21 yards to spark the Coogs’ first TD.

Eric Tonche, Cooper

The senior linebacker had a game-high 10 tackles (5 solo), a sack and five hurries.

They said it

Rider coach Marc Bindel: “I really thought in the second half we dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, and we were able to pull away. I thought it was a complete victory for us against a good ballclub.”

Bindel on turnover, late TD before halftime: “That was essentially two touchdowns without Abilene Cooper having the football. …. We were fortunate to get the turnover obviously on the punt, and then being able to punch it in right before halftime was huge. Then obviously coming out in the second half and going down the field and getting a two-touchdown (lead) was big.”

Cooper coach Aaron Roan: “My hat’s off to Rider. They’re a really good football team. Coach Bindel and his staff do a great job. They’ve got a good program over there. We’ve got to keep getting better and continue to grow and mature and continue to work as hard as we can to put the execution with the effort. I think our effort has been good all year long.”

Roan on the turnover late in the first half to set up Rider’s go-ahead TD: “That was a big momentum swing. They took that muffed point and were able to get points out of it on a short field. That was a two-possession swing right there. They got those points and then that drive to open the third quarter.”

Up next

Wichita Falls Rider at Abilene Wylie, 7 p.m. Oct. 13; Abilene Cooper at Amarillo Palo Duro, 7 p.m. Oct. 13.

DISTRICT 2-5A DIVISION II

Wichita Falls Rider 42, Abilene Cooper 21

Rider … 14 … 7 … 14 … 7 – 42

Cooper … 0 … 14 … 0 … 7 – 21

FIRST QUARTER

RID – Kenji Johnson 48 run (Johnson kick), 9:03

RID – Elijah Jackson 10 run (Johnson kick), 1:11

SECOND QUARTER

COO – Daniel Bray 9 run (Daniel Cavazos), 6:51

COO – Jaden Carrillo 25 pass from Austin Cummins (Cavazos kick), 3:02

RID – Jackson 1 run (Johnson kick), 00:09

THIRD QUARTER

RID – Jackson 1 run (Johnson kick), 5:29

RID – Johnson 2 run (Johnson kick), 1:05

FOURTH QUARTER

RID – Johnson 7 run (Johnson kick), 5:45

COO – Peyton Ewing 1 run (Cavazos kick), 00:17

TEAM STATISTICS

……………… RID … COO

First downs … 20 … 18

Rushes-Yards … 44-269 … 31-110

Passing … 75 … 142

Comp-Att-Int …… 9-16-1 … 18-30-1

Punts …… 3-15.6 … 3-22

Fumbles-Lost … 1-0 … 1-1

Penalties-Yards … 6-46 … 3-15

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Rider, Kenji Johnson 21-143, Elijah Jackson 13-50, Tyrone Morgan 4-47, Braelon Carey 3-37, Joe Castles 2-(-4), Team 1-(-4); Cooper, Daniel Bray 9-49, Jaden Carrillo 1-21, Austin Cummins 8-17, Cayden Garcia 5-16, Peyton Ewing 2-6, Christian Rico 2-5, Troneal Robinson 3-2, Adam Gurule 1-(-6).

PASSING: Rider, Castles 9-16-1—75; Cooper, Cummins 14-21-0—91, Garcia 4-8-1—49, Eric Tonche 0-1-0—0.

RECEIVING: Rider, Kohen Maroney 4-35, Morgan 3-20, Drew Haston 1-16, Grey Johnson 1-4, ; Cooper, Jaden Carrillo 8-75, Zavian Alexander 5-33, Jaylen Parker 3-37, Rico 1-(1-), Bray 1-(2).

INTERCEPTIONS: Rider, Ben Carr; Cooper, Zavian Alexander.

RECORDS: Wichita Falls Rider 4-2, 1-0; Abilene Cooper 1-5, 0-1.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Wichita Falls Rider knocks off Abilene Cooper in high school football