John Cooper Sports: Dragon Football Wins Big At Home, Cross Country and Volleyball Teams Make Their Marks On The Road

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- Dragon Football Wins Big At Home, Cross Country and Volleyball Teams Make Their Marks On The Road. Results from the week of September 5, 2022

VARSITY FOOTBALL

9/9 vs. St. Marks • 50-14 W

“Everyone is ready to win, few are prepared to.” The Dragons took another step towards being themselves this week as they handled the Lions of St. Marks, 50-14. The Dragons took the first play of the game 50 yards to the Lions 15, scored three plays later and didn’t look back. QB Vaughn McKeever had his way all night accounting for almost 400 yards of total offense on a night where the Dragons totaled over 600 yards on offense. McKeever went 22 for 31 with over 300 yards passing and one touchdown; his feet came to the party as well as he rushed for almost 100 yards with four touchdowns on the ground. WR Kielar Sullivan was dynamic as usual with 11 touches for over 150 yards and two touchdowns. RB Dean Calhoun carried the load in the backfield with 20 carries for 120 yards and one touchdown. The Dragon defense kept its bend-don’t-break style shutting down the fast-paced Lion offense, allowing just one score each half on nine total possessions for the Lions. OLB Hayden Hammit was the standout star on defense as he was all over the field, making touchdown-saving tackles and wreaking havoc on the Lion run game. It was LB Alex Rovirosa who once again led the way with 11 tackles on the evening and the Dragon “Turnover Chain” even made an appearance when C Sam McDonough brought down an interception to help end another Lion possession. The Dragons are now headed into conference play in hopes of defending their SPC 3A crown; their title defense begins with a road game in Dallas this Friday as they square off with the Greenhill School Hornets. ­–Coach Daniel Lewis

Team MVP: Vaughn McKeever

Offensive Player of the Game: Kielar Sullivan

Defensive Player of the Game: Hayden Hammit

Special Teams MVP: Sam McDonough

Scout Team Player of the Week: Jett Flinn

Next up for Dragon Football:

September 16 at Greenhill School*, 7 p.m.

September 23 vs. Oakridge School*, 7 p.m. homecoming

September 30 at Cistercian Prep*, 7 p.m.

VARSITY CROSS COUNTRY

9/10 at Run The Dog Pound Invitational

Girls 4th place • Boys 3rd place

Coach George Dohner: The Cooper cross country teams ran in the annual “Run the Dog Pound” Invitational in Magnolia. Cooper was the only private school team competing in a talented 5A and 6A public school meet. The boys would finish in third place while this girls team finished in fourth. “This was a great meet for us to compete in!” Coach Dohner said. “Both our boys’ and girls’ teams had some kids really step up and run well.” Grey Mendenhall and Megan Day both continue to lead the team in meets. In their first 5k of the season, Mendenhall finished third for the boys’ varsity, while Day finished sixth for the girls. “It was great to see Chloe Smith and Ava Perugini running with confidence today, and both had their best race of the season,” Dohner said.

Cooper Cross takes a break from competition for the next two weeks to focus on training for the Chili Pepper Classic at the University of Arkansas on Oct. 1.

Sub-Varsity Shout Out: Congrats to the JV Boys who finished in second place led by sophomore Nathan Montes. And congratulations to Jacob Baily on winning the Freshman Boys Race.

Boys Varsity – 3rd Place

Grey Mendenhall – 3rd – 16:40

Aditya Pakal – 11th – 17:12

Ryan Taylor – 17th – 17:40

Nathan Seamans – 19th – 17:51

Walter Day – 24th – 18:00

Girls Varsity – 4th Place

Megan Day – 6th – 20:33

Milla Signorelli – 12th – 21:15

Chloe Smith – 20th – 22:20

Ava Perugini – 21st – 22:21

Tahira King – 22nd – 22:41

Next up for Dragon Cross Country

October 1 at Chili Pepper Festival, 7 a.m. at University of Arkansas

October 1 at Woodlands Christian XC Series #3, 8 a.m.

October 8 at The 41st St. John Maverick Ramble, Spring Creek Park, 8 a.m.

VARSITY VOLLEYBALL

9/6 at The Village School • 3-0 W

Coach Courtney Eckenrode: The Dragons traveled to The Village School to secure a dominating sweep of The Village School at their gym on Tuesday night. Freshman Summer Galinsky had an impressive six kills hitting .278. Julianne Hon tallied seven kills hitting .148. The Dragons had 14 service aces on the night and played a steady three-set match earning a victory!

9/8 and 9/10. At FAST Tournament

Coach Courtney Eckenrode: The Dragons traveled to the FAST Complex to compete in a highly competitive private school tournament on Friday and Saturday. We went 3-2 on the weekend finishing T-5th place in a gym full of talented teams! The highlight of the weekend was starting out the tournament with a three-set win over Frassati Catholic who the Dragons fell to earlier in the season. The team is showing a tremendous amount of growth and that win proves that! The Dragons earned wins over Frassati Catholic, Legacy School of Sports Science, and Cypress Christian.

Next up for Dragon Volleyball:

September 13 vs. Cypress Christian, 6 p.m. SPIRIT NIGHT

September 15 at Kinkaid, 5:15 p.m.

September 20 at Duchesne, 6 p.m.

Photos