High School Football: Abilene High turns away Cooper in annual Crosstown Showdown
Dylan Slack threw for a touchdown and ran for another, and DeMarco Upshaw returned a punt 49 yards for a touchdown as Abilene High beat Cooper 26-7 in the annual Crosstown Showdown football game Friday at Shotwell Stadium.
All but 10 points came in the first half as the Eagles (2-0) beat the Cougars (0-2) for the second straight year. Cooper still leads the series, which dates back to 1961, 36-26-1.
How it happened
Slack threw an 81-yard TD pass to Ryland Bradford, and Upshaw returned a punt 49 yards for another as the Eagles broke out to a 16-7 halftime lead.
Down 16-0, Cooper finally got its offense untracked and drove 76 yards on 11 plays to score a touchdown seconds before halftime.
Daniel Bray capped the drive with a 1-yard TD run nine seconds before halftime.
Austin Cummins sparked the drive with a 23-yard pass to Zavian Alexander, to the AHS 23, and a 19-yard run to the Eagles’ 1.
Naim Segura booted a 27-yard field goal for the game’s first score. It was set up by Jadrian Carrillo’s strip sack of Cummins and Demotric Sanchez recovered the ball at the Cooper 30 on the game’s opening drive.
Slack added a 1-yard TD run in the third quarter, and Segura kicked his second field goal, another 27-yarder, in the fourth quarter.
Highlights
Cooper had some momentum going into halftime, but AHS stole it back with an impressive 14-play, 70-yard scoring drive to open the second half.
Bam Rashaw had a 6-yard run on a fourth-and-3 play from the Cooper 26 to keep the drive alive. The Eagles also converted two third downs, including Slack’s 1-yard TD run with 5:08 remaining in the third.
The win sets up a big showdown between AHS and Midland Legacy next week at Shotwell. Legacy (2-0) beat Amarillo Tascosa 63-34 on Friday. Legacy, ranked No. 25 in Class 6A, have outscored their opponents 98-41 this season.
Friday's stars
Bradford, a junior receiver, was named the game’s MVP. He caught a game-high six passes for 113 yards.
Slack, a senior quarterback, completed 13-of-17 passes for 140 yards.
Rashaw, a senior running back, had a game-high 93 yards rushing on 12 carries.
AHS’ defense didn’t give Cummins, Cooper’s quarterback, much time to throw. He was sacked four times and under pressure all night.
Bray, Cooper’s junior running back, led the Coogs with 85 yards on 16 carries. The Coogs actually outgained AHS on the ground by a yard with 142 total, but the Eagles had nearly 100 yards more passing than Cooper.
They said it
AHS coach Mike Fullen: “We went into halftime and didn’t really change anything other that we just kind of said, ‘We need to play up to the standards we have for ourselves as a team.’ … We drove the ball (to start the second half) and scored, and it kind of got separation for us. It was good to see our kids respond that way.”
Cooper coach Aaron Roan: “We did some good stuff, but we’ve got to get better at what we do. Defensively, we made some stops, got the ball back. The drive to end the half was a good drive. We tried to keep that momentum in the second half, and they kind of killed that with a really long drive that ended up with points for them.”
Up next
Midland Legacy at Abilene High, 7 p.m. Friday, Shotwell Stadium; Cooper at San Angelo Central, 7 p.m. Friday, San Angelo ISD Stadium.
NON-DISTRICT
Abilene High 26, Cooper 7
Abilene … 10 … 6 … 7 … 3 – 26
Cooper … 0 … 7 … 0 … 0 – 7
FIRST QUARTER
AHS – Naim Segura 27 FG, 8:16
AHS – Ryland Bradford 81 pass from Dylan Slack (00:05)
SECOND QUARTER
AHS – DeMarco Upshaw 49 punt return (kick failed), 10:18
COO – Daniel Bray 1 run (Daniel Cavazos kick), 00:09
THIRD QUARTER
AHS – Slack 1 run (Segura kick), 5:00
FOURTH QUARTER
AHS – Segura 27 FG, 5:18
TEAM STATISTICS
……………… AHS … COO
First downs … 12 … 11
Rushes-Yards … 46-141 … 37-142
Passing … 147 … 54
Comp-Att-Int …… 15-22-0 … 7-20-1
Punts …… 3-34.0 … 4-32.0
Fumbles-Lost … 2-2 … 3-1
Penalties-Yards … 4-45 … 5-40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: AHS, Bam Rashaw 12-93, Brayden Henry 7-30, Dylan Slack 2-17, Bryson Perez 1-18, De’zon Magee 3-0, Team 2-(minus 10); Cooper, Daniel Bray 16-85, Austin Cummins 12-29, Troneal Robinson 5-14, Christian Rico 4-14.
PASSING: AHS, Slack 13-17-0—140, Henry 2-5-0—7; Cooper, Cummins 7-20-1—54.
RECEIVING: AHS, Ryland Bradford 6-113, Bryson Perez 5-16, Brelon Badon 1-11, Raiden Harris 2-10, Henry 1-(minus 3); Cooper, Zavian Alexander 2-35, Jaylen Parker 3-9, Bray 1-7, Jaden Carrillo 1-3.
INTERCEPTIONS: AHS, Bryce Neves; Cooper, none.
RECORDS: Abilene High 2-0; Cooper 0-2.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: High School Football: AHS fends off Cooper in Crosstown Showdown
