Cooper High School

Cooper and Abilene High begin district football competition this Friday. The Cougars are coming off their first win of the season, and Abilene High is trying to end its two-game losing streak.

The Cougars (1-3) will be in Wichita Falls to take on Wichita Falls Memorial at 7 p.m. in a District 2-5A Division II game at Memorial Stadium. Memorial is one of two first-year high schools in Wichita Falls (Legacy High School is the other). The two new campuses opened this fall after voters passed a $276 million bond package in November 2020 to close all three high school campuses (Wichita Falls High, Rider, and Hirschi) and combine them into two new high schools.

Cooper fans planning to attend the game can purchase tickets here. Cooper fans who cannot attend the game in Wichita Falls can listen to the Cougars’ audio feed here, with Jimmy Pogue and Rick Cason calling the action. Wichita Falls ISD TV will provide the video stream available here.

The Mavericks finished non-district play with a 3-1 record after knocking off Andrews, 50-27, last Friday.

Cooper, meanwhile, picked up its first victory of the season last Friday afternoon in Lubbock with a 53-7 demolition of Lubbock Coronado. Cooper ran for 386 yards and five touchdowns on 45 combined carries in the game, dominating the Mustangs up front. J.Q. Scroggins (14 carries for 171 yards and one touchdown) and Peyton Ewing (nine carries for 102 yards and one TD) led the way on the ground for the Cougars.

After a scoreless first quarter, Cooper outscored the Mustangs 40-0 in the second and third quarters before turning the fourth quarter over to the backups. Starting quarterback Austin Cummins threw for 124 yards and two touchdowns, one to Zavian Alexander and another to Zaylon Johnson.

Cooper’s defense played its best game of the season, limiting the Mustangs to a meager 148 yards of total offense (61 rushing and 87 yards through the air). The Cougars sacked Coronado quarterback Isaiah Vazquez three times and intercepted him once.

The Eagles are 2-2 after last week’s 62-42 loss to Midland Legacy at Shotwell Stadium. Abilene High opens District 2-5A Division I play Amarillo Caprock (1-3) at 7 p.m. Friday at Shotwell Stadium in the annual Homecoming contest. The Eagles are 2-0 all-time against Caprock, and the Longhorns haven’t scored a point in those two games (a 45-0 AHS win in 2022 and a 55-0 win last season).

AHS junior quarterback Brayden Henry threw for 217 yards and four touchdowns last week, with two of those TD passes going to senior wide receiver Camp Churchill. The Eagles piled up 454 yards and 42 points, but it wasn’t enough to offset the 560 yards of offense and 62 points the Rebels posted.

Abilene High fans planning to attend the game can purchase tickets here. As a reminder, AISD has implemented a clear bag policy at Shotwell Stadium and the Shotwell Annex. Only clear bags will be allowed in with spectators to ensure the safety of all events at Shotwell and the Shotwell Annex.

Fans can find the live audio broadcast from AHS announcers Chuck Statler and Cody Coil here. The AISD Live video stream is available here.

Volleyball
The short sprint to the District 4-5A volleyball championship starts Friday, with Abilene High and Cooper both in action in Abilene. With only five teams in the district and just eight league games to decide the four teams representing the district in the state playoffs, every match takes on greater significance.

Cooper is 11-16 on the season after a tough 3-2 loss to Odessa Permian at home Tuesday night. The Lady Cougars will be at Wylie at 5 p.m. Friday in the first district match for both teams. 

Abilene High is 11-19 on the season and will return to action Friday at home against Wichita Falls Memorial at 5 p.m. at Eagle Gym. 

Cooper and Abilene High will meet up at Cooper Tuesday at 6 p.m. for the Crosstown Showdown.

Team Tennis
The fifth-ranked Wylie Bulldogs clinched the District 4-5A championship on Tuesday with a 15-4 win over No. 24 Abilene High. 

The Eagles are now 23-2 on the season and 1-1 in the district with two matches left in the regular season. Abilene High will take on Wichita Falls Memorial (6-7 and 0-2) at 9 a.m. Saturday and will close the regular season on Tuesday against Cooper at the AHS Tennis Courts. Abilene High can clinch a berth in the state playoffs with a win in either of their last two matches and the No. 2 spot in the district with wins over Memorial and Cooper.

The Cougars (23-2 and 1-1) dropped a 12-7 decision to San Angelo Central in a non-district match Tuesday in San Angelo. The Cougars are back in action Saturday at 9 a.m. at Wichita Falls Legacy and close the regular season Tuesday (Oct. 1) at 5:15 p.m. against Abilene High at the AHS Tennis Courts. The Cougars can clinch a playoff spot with a win in either of their last two matches and the No. 2 spot in the district with wins over Legacy and Abilene High.

Cross Country
The Abilene High boys’ and girls’ cross country teams competed last Saturday at the prestigious Hoka One-McNeil Meet at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock. Each team had one of its athletes finish in the top 20 in their races.

At Cooper, the boys and girls teams competed at the Castleberry Invitational in Fort Worth, with the girls’ team finishing second overall.

In Round Rock, the AHS girls competed in two divisions: their top five runners in the Gold Division and their second five in the Class 5A Division. The Lady Eagles finished 15th in the Gold Division final standings, while the second division team finished 14th in the Class 5A results.

Mason Murray finished 15th in the Gold Division, covering the 5-kilometer course in 18 minutes, 49.20 seconds. Zoe Vann was 51st in 19:46.10 on the same course hosting the UIL state championship meet on Nov. 1.

In the Class 5A Division, Kinsley Robinson was 38th in 23:25.60, while senior Caroline Bessent was 40th in 23:27.40.

On the boys’ side, John Alcantar ran in the Gold Division race, finishing 16th in 15:49.60. In the Class 5A Division, Abilene High finished 11th in the team standings, led by junior Aldo Sanchez, who finished 13th in 17:39.60.

In Fort Worth, the Cooper girls finished second in the team race with 60 points, finishing just behind Burleson, which won the team championship with 53 points. Lila Murillo finished fourth in the individual standings, covering the 5-kilometer race in 21:49.07. Dannie Muco finished seventh overall in 21:58.49.

On the boys’ side, Cooper finished 10th overall, led by senior Gabriel Reyna in 18:31.96 and Marcos Elizondo in 48th in 19:34.94.

All four teams competed Thursday in Wichita Falls in the Pappas Pacer.