Lubbock-Cooper trips up Rider in fourth quarter
WOODROW – For the third consecutive week, Rider overcame a double-digit deficit to take the lead in the second half.
But this time, the Raiders couldn’t hang on to that lead.
Tyler Spruiell connected with Cooper Morris on a 24-yard touchdown pass with 10:19 left in the fourth quarter, providing the game-winning points in a 17-14 loss for Rider on Friday at Pirate Stadium. It’s the first setback for the Raiders (3-1) with Cooper moving to 3-1.
Cooper maintains its perfect regular-season record over the Raiders, moving to 7-0. Both of Rider’s wins in the noteworthy rivalry of the past five seasons came in the state quarterfinals.
The Raiders threatened on their final drive of the game, moving to the Cooper 31. They ended up with a fourth-and-16 at the 37 where Jack Pitts pass over the middle was picked off by the Pirates’ Callan Ritz with 58 seconds left, sealing the win.
It was the fourth time Cooper picked off Pitts, who completed just 8 of 19 passes for 99 yards. Three of those interceptions came in the first half, but Rider’s defense prevented Cooper from running up the score, holding the Pirates to a 10-0 halftime lead.
The Rider offense came out of the locker room crisper, and Tyrone Morgan got the Raiders on the board with a 36-yard TD run at the 8:47 mark of the third quarter.
Pitts put the Raiders on top, 14-10, with a 25-yard TD pass to Kaden Jones with 1:42 left in the quarter.
“We really struggled offensively in the first half, but we got it going in the third quarter,” Rider coach Marc Bindel said. “We just didn’t finish it. We keep getting off to these slow starts offensively, and we’ve got to figure out what the problem is there. It finally caught up to us this time.”
Cooper responded with a 63-yard scoring drive, capping it with Spruiell’s TD pass to Morris on fourth-and-10 from the Rider 24. Morris split a pair of Rider defensive backs, who had a miscommunication in coverage, and Spruiell easily floated the ball into his receiver’s hands in the end zone.
Rider held a 311-226 advantage in total yards, but the four turnovers were more than it could overcome. The Raiders played without senior leaders Anquan Willis and Luke Gambs, athletes who hold Division I college offers.
“It was a great game. Every game we’ve played at Cooper has been wild and intense,” Bindel said. “That’s why we like playing Cooper. It’s like a playoff game atmosphere even in the regular season.”
The Raiders will experience another playoff atmosphere next week when they travel to play Stephenville at 7 p.m. Friday.
Lubbock-Cooper 17, Rider 14
Rider 0 0 14 0 -14
Cooper 0 10 0 7 -17
SECOND QUARTER
LC – Tyler Spruiell 6 run (Cub Patton kick), 11:22
LC – FG, Patton 21, 2:28
THIRD QUARTER
R – Tyrone Morgan 36 run (Kenji Johnson kick), 8:47
R – Kaden Jones 25 pass from Jack Pitts (Johnson kick), 1:42
FOURTH QUARTER
LC – Cooper Morris 24 pass from Spruiell (Patton kick), 10:19
TEAM STATS
First downs: (R) 17; (LC) 14
Rushing: (R) 38-212; (LC) 42-153
Passing: (R) 8-19-4—99; (LC) 5-15-1—73
Punts: (R) 4-27.8; (LC) 3-38.7
Fumbles: (R) 0-0; (LC) 0-0
Penalties: (R) 10-100; (LC) 9-80
INDIVIDUAL STATS
RUSHING: (R) Jordon Gibbs 24-124, Tyrone Morgan 8-82, Kenji Johnson 1-4, Jack Pitts 4-3, Tobias Oliver 1-(-1); (LC) Tyler Spruiell 16-48, Jackson Austin 10-45, Ethan Elkins 8-37, Cayden Stanzione 6-23.
PASSING: (R) Pitts 8-19-4—99; (LC) Spruiell 5-14-1—73, Bryce LeBlanc 0-1-0—0.
RECEIVING: (R) Kaden Jones 3-55, Oliver 1-14, Xavier Banks 1-13, Morgan 1-9, Gibbs 1-7, Johnson 1-1; (LC) Noah Williams 2-39, Cooper Morris 1-24, Braydon Lewis 1-11, Austin 1-(-1).
RECORDS: Rider 3-1; Lubbock-Cooper 3-1.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Rider Raiders at Lubbock-Cooper Pirates 2022 football score
