Lubbock-Cooper football dominates second half with run game in win at Abilene Wylie

Lubbock-Cooper dodged a bullet - two, actually - in the first half, then gunned the running game in the second half against Abilene Wylie.

Tied at 14 but getting the ball after halftime, the Pirates marched 76 yards on nine plays and 93 on 11 in the third quarter, then stopped the Bulldogs' second drive at the L-C 24 en route to a tightly played 33-28 non-district win Friday at Sandifer Stadium.

It was Wylie's first loss after two wins, while the Pirates bounced back from a loss to Frenship.

Wylie dominated the first half with 332 total yards. But an interception and fumble in the red zone stopped two chances to score more points and take a halftime lead.

"We kind of shot ourselves in the foot," Wylie coach Clay Martin said. "I felt like in the first half we had some chances that we kind of let slip away. They have a great team, and against a great team it's going to be hard to win when you do that."

Taking the second-half kickoff, Lubbock-Cooper had a chance to turn the game in its favor. And they did.

Jackson Austin, who did not have a carry in the first half, rushed 14 times for 139 yards, while quarterback Tyler Spruiell kept it himself 11 times for 101 yards as the Pirates' big offensive line provided running lanes or chances for Austin to dash past the edge.

"It's a blessing to have this offensive line to run behind," Austin said. "Big shout-out to them. I'm just doing my thing and hitting the holes."

Only three plays of 32 rushing plays went for negative yards. One of those was a high snap that Spruiell corralled for a loss. Another was a knee to end the game.

The Pirates had 276 rushing yards in the second half and did not attempt a pass, not needing to.

"We thought at halftime that our offensive line was playing well and thought was let's run the ball until we can't run it. I thought our O-line really took over in the second half, Pirates coach Chris Darden said. "It was working so we stuck with it. I was proud of our guys for executing."

Yet, Wylie's two turnovers and allowing an 85-yard kickoff return after scoring first set the stage for Lubbock-Cooper to literally run away with the second half.

"I thought missed opportunities was the name of this game," Martin said. "I'm proud of the way we played but there are no consolation prizes in this deal. There's a big difference in being five behind and five ahead."

Darden agreed.

"I thought the key was us getting two turnovers ... when Wylie was moving in the first half. Those two turnovers were huge in the game," he said. "And that kick return. They came out and scored in 30 seconds and had us shell-shocked a little bit, and then we returned that kick. Those things were huge momentum plays."

Still, Wylie had hope in the second half when Cub Patton's extra point kick was blocked at 27-21 after Kaden Chamber's 1-yard run to return the lead to the Pirates. But Wylie could not answer as it had twice already in the game and the Pirates added another touchdown to make it a two-score game at 33-21 when the two-point run failed.

K.J. Long's 15-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Evans with 1:13 to play made it Wylie's game to win if the Bulldogs could score again. But Lubbock-Cooper pounced on the onside kick and ran out the clock.

"I'm proud of the way our guys fought," Martin said of the Bulldogs. He singled out Long, who was evasive in the pocket "kept some things alive. We were able to run the football."

Wylie totaled 224 yards on the ground and had 554 yards in the game.

Running back Landry Carlton, who had three touchdowns against Lubbock Monterey the previous game, did not score but had his third-straight 100-yard game with 104 yards on 22 carries. He found yards squeezing through the blocking, sometime carrying tacklers forward.

Long was 21 of 29 passing for 292 yards. Hunter Hood had a breakout game with six catches for 119 yards.

The Pirates recorded 18 first downs while controlling the ball in the second half.

For the game, Lubbock-Cooper had 353 rushing yards, with the quarterback leading the way with 142. Spruiell also had 74 yards passing.

Wylie led once at 7-0, when Braden Regala scored on a 25-yard reverse after Long connected for 56 yards down the home sideline to Harrison Heighten on the first play of the game.

Regala rushed only once more in the game, but that was a 13-yard carry for a touchdown in the second half.

After Wylie opened the scoring, the Pirates' Kalen Ritz ran back the kickoff 85 yards to tie the game.

Lubbock-Cooper took the lead only to see Wylie tie it on a 2-yard run by Malachi Daniels with 5:25 left before halftime.

There could've been more.

The Bulldogs were driving and got a completion only to lose the football on a fumble at the Lubbock-Cooper 19.

Another drive ended when at the Pirates 8, Long was intercepted by Kohen Peepkorn, who took the ball all the way to the Wylie 43. The Pirates scored on Spruiell's 9-yard run to take their first lead of the game.

"If we could've executed and taken the early lead, that would've totally changed the game," Martin said. "They were able to come out in the second half and go to their bread and butter. They were very successful, and you have to give all the credit to them in the way they handled the start of the second half. "

More:Wylie builds lead, holds off Brownwood in opener

More:Wylie overwhelms Lubbock Monterey

Breaking it down

∎ Turning point: There were two. First was Lubbock-Cooper's kickoff return after Wylie had taken three plays to score on the first drive of the game, using just 37 seconds of clock. The 85-yard return took momentum from the Bulldogs, who moved the ball again but fumbled at the Pirates 17. The next was Lubbock-Cooper turning to the running game on its opening drive and sticking with it the second half, wearing down the Wylie defense and forcing the Bulldogs to play catchup the rest of the way.

∎ Players of the game: Lubbock-Cooper's offensive line – No offense to those who carried the ball Friday for the Pirates but the holes were there or the blocks made to get the edge. The Pirates ran 32 rushing plays in the second half because the run game was so effective. Guards Hunter Johnson and Braden Fenter, tackles Holton Hendrix and Kaden Carr and center Colter Lynch, who total 1,150 pounds, eventually wore down a Bulldogs defense that had played well in the first half.

∎ Key stats: 18 and zero. Lubbock-Cooper piled up 18 first downs in the second half. As for zero, the Pirates threw no passes in the second half as the run game proved effective.

∎ Coach Martin said: “We're going to be better because of this game. No doubt. We're going to learn from it. That's going to make us a better football team. There's going to come a time this season when these games count. Right now you're trying to play people that are great opponents and do things the right way."

∎ Coach Darden said: "Wylie's really good. I thought it was a huge win for us. Coming off that loss we had last week, it was good to be in another fight and I was proud of how our kids fought. To me, that was the deal. They battled. There were things we didn't do well at times but I thought they battled all night."

∎ Impact: Wylie missed a chance to finally beat Lubbock-Cooper and go 3-0 first the first time since 2012.

∎ Up next: Wylie stays home but gets no letup, with Class 4A Division I No. 1 Stephenville coming to Sandifer Stadium. The Yellow Jackets outscored Decatur 52-34 on Friday. Lubbock-Cooper has a tough one, too, playing 3-0 Wichita Falls Rider at home. Rider downed Lubbock Coronado 28-24.

NONDISTRICT

Lubbock-Cooper 33, Wylie 28

FIRST QUARTER

WHS − Braden Regala 25 run (Liam Cisneros kick), 11:23

COO − Kalen Ritz 85 kickoff return (Cub Patton kick), 11:10

SECOND QUARTER

COO − Tyler Spruiell 9 run (Patton Kick), 11:21

COO − Malachi Daniels 2 run (Cisneros kick), 5:25

THIRD QUARTER

COO − Jackson Austin 1 run (Patton kick), 7:47

WHS − Regala 13 run (Cisneros kick), 4:41

COO − Kaden Chambers 1 run (kick blocked), 0:00

FOURTH QUARTER

COO − Spruiell 27 run (run failed), 3:26

WHS − Derrick Evans 15 pass from K.J. Long (Cisneros kick), 1:13

TEAM STATISTICS

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Cooper, Tyler Spruiell 15-142, Austin Jackson 14-139, Kaden Chambers 8-61 Cayden Stanzione 2-16. Team 1-minus 5. Wylie, Landry Carlton 22-104, K.J. Long 11-55, Braden Regala, 2-38, Malachi Daniels 10-27, Julius Lane 1-2,

PASSING: Cooper, Spruiell 7-12-1-74. Wylie, Long 22-29-1-292

RECEIVING: Cooper, Cooper Morris 2-32, Brayden Lewis 1 -17, Jayden Kennard 1-9, Tanner Spruiell 1-8, Archer LeFabre 1-3, Chamber 1-0. Wylie, Hunter Hood 6-119, Carlton 3-24, Harrison Heighton 2-62, Derrick Evans 2-24, Regala 5-34, Kenny Scott 1-21, Laine 1-10, Kendrick Vanderbilt 1-minus 2.

RECORDS: Cooper 2-1, Wylie 2-1.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Lubbock-Cooper dominates second half with run game in win at Wylie