Dragons fall in shortened Homecoming

THE WOODLANDS, Texas - John Cooper celebrated its first varsity homecoming on Friday night, however the Dragons fell 15-0 to St. Stephen’s Spartans of Austin on a shortened game called due to weather with 9:51 left in the third quarter.

“St. Stephen’s traveling was part of the decision, but the main thing was the lightning was not going anywhere,” said Dragon Head Coach Brent Landrum.

Before a standing only crowd at Pugh Field, Cooper (5-3) made the first impact play of the game on special teams when Senior Hunter Cogdell recovered a blocked field goal attempt by the Spartans. Late in the first quarter the Dragon defense recovered a Spartan fumble at the St. Stephen’s 38-yard line, however could not sustain the drive and turned the ball over on downs.

St. Stephen’s (4-2) struck first as Junior quarterback Taylor Brown connected with Junior wide receiver Grant Owens on a 19-yard touchdown pass. The point after was blocked, and the Spartans led 6-0 with 10:32 left in the second quarter.

The turnover bug bit the Dragons as Sophomore quarterback Michael Gerber threw two interceptions on the Dragons next two possessions of the second quarter. The Dragons also lost a fumble during the second quarter. The Dragon defense held the Spartans to no points off of two of their three second quarter turnovers.

“We wasted some opportunities for sure, we just didn’t sustain drives and had some unfortunate interceptions and a fumble,” said Landrum.

St. Stephen’s scored a touchdown and a field goal in the last minute of the second quarter when Spartan Junior running back Austin Harris scored a 28-yard touchdown run off the left side to give the Spartans a 12-0 led with 59 seconds left. The Dragons went three and out on their next offensive possession and Senior Carl Austin III returned the Cooper punt 47 yards to the Dragon 28-yard line. The punt return set up Nicolas Griscom’s 35-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter giving the Spartans a 15-0 lead at halftime.

“The last two weeks we haven’t played well offensively, we aren’t sharp, and we’ll figure it out,” said Landrum.

John Cooper will travel to St. Mary’s Hall in San Antonio next Friday, October 25, at 7:00pm.