John Cooper Sports: Dragon Fall Teams Finish Season Strong As They Look To Championship Play

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- Results from the week of October 18, 2021

VARSITY VOLLEYBALL

10/18 vs Concordia Lutheran • 3-1 L
Coach Jennifer Peyton: In the non-conference game vs. Concordia, the team was led by the platforms of Julianne Hon with a 2.2 passing average and 19 digs, and Laura Weatherford with a 2.5 passing average and 18 digs.
Lauren Wolford also had a double-double with 23 assists and 11 digs

10/23 vs St. Andrews Episcopal* • 3-0 W
Coach Jennifer Peyton: In the final conference regular season match this weekend vs. St. Andrew’s Austin, the Dragons’ 3-0 win secured them fourth seed headed into the SPC playoffs. Today was a team win with 13 aces, 32 kills and 63 digs. Lauren Wolford with another double-double (27 assists and 10 digs), as well as Tatum Threadgill with 19 kills, and 13 digs.

Next up for Dragon Volleyball:
November 2 vs. Concordia Lutheran, 5:30 p.m.
November 4-6 at SPC Championsip Tournament at Episcopal School of Dallas, 1 p.m.

VARSITY FOOTBALL

10/22 vs Fort Worth Country Day* • 48-7 W
The axe forgets but the tree remembers. The Dragons will wait to see who they face in the SPC championship game after last night’s running clock victory over the Falcons of Country Day School, 48-7. The Dragons got their licks in early, often dominating the game from start to finish on a lovely evening at Pugh Field. It was Senior Night for the Dragons, and the seniors made sure to leave it all on the field in their final home game wearing Cooper green. Junior QB Vaughn McKeever had his highest completion rate of the season, throwing for 376 yards, four touchdowns and even catching a touchdown pass from senior DE Gamble Reed. Senior RB Jaxson Pierce had another large evening, with two touchdowns, 186 yards, and one game-breaking, 72-yard burst that seemed to cage the Falcons hopes of any success defensively. The Dragon defense allowed only 152 yards of offense; the Dragons flew around the field making swarming team tackles constantly deflating any hopes of for the Falcon offense. Senior DE Gamble Reed had another iron man evening, not only collecting nine tackles, seven of those for a loss, but also lent his talents to the offense where - he both caught and threw for a touchdown. Senior LB Blake Pitts was his normal excellent self, providing big hits on six solo tackles, three of those also going for a loss. This week, the Dragons are off, as they prepare for the championship showdown at Postell Stadium, November 6 at 7 pm. – by Coach Lewis

MVP: The Senior Class!
Jean-Paul Labbe
Jaxson Pierce
James Masciola
Gamble Reed
Blake Pitts
Ryan Cockrill
William Young
Connor Dove
Patrick Wilkins
William Bisso
Jaxen Sisson
Owen Woodside
Evan Harrison
Ronald Woodall
Levi Gowen
Jordan Dada

Next up for Dragon Football:
November 6 at SPC CHAMPIONSHIPS, Dallas Jesuit School - Postell Stadium, 7 p.m.

VARSITY CROSS COUNTRY

10/23 at SPC South Zone*, St. Andrews, Austin
Boys 5th place • Girls 4th place
The Cooper Cross Country teams competed in the SPC South Zone meet in Austin this weekend. The 11 a.m. start time brought on tough warm conditions for the entire field of teams battling a tough hilly course. “I am really proud of how our kids competed today. We had a few of our lead runners have a tough day and the others really stepped up,” Coach George Dohner said.

The boys team finished in fifth place. Only 12 points separated the third through fifth place. “Sophomore Grey Mendenhall ran a really good race finishing seventh , followed by Aditya Pakal in 17th and Drew Wilkerson in 18th, all three earning All-South Zone honors.”

The Cooper girls team ran well finishing in fourth place as a team. Led once again by Megan Day who finished in 7th place. Senior Amber Navarra finished in 9th place running her best race of the year and a new personal best of 20:28. Junior Chloe Smith also ran well finishing in 17th place. All three earned All-South Zone honors.

Cooper will run in the SPC Championships on November 6th in Dallas.

Boys – 5th Place

Grey Mendenhall – 7th (17:17)
Aditya Pakal – 17th (17:50)
Drew Wilkerson – 18th (17:51)
Vishnu Swaminathan – 28th (18:24)
Elias Boles – 32nd (18:33)

Girls – 4th Place
Megan Day – 7th (20:21
Amber Navarra – 9th (20:28 PR)
Chloe Smith – 17th (21:43)
Milla Signorelli – 24th (22:21)
Abby Mendenhall – 27 (22:36)

Next up for Dragon Cross Country
November 6 at SPC Championships*, Norbuck Park, Dallas
*conference matchup

Photos