John Cooper Sports: Dragon Football and Cross Country Teams Open Fall Competition

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- Results from the week of August 21

Dragon Football and Cross Country Teams Open Fall Competition

VARSITY VOLLEYBALL

8/22 vs. Second Baptist • 3-0 W
Coach Courtney Hunnicutt:The Dragons completed a solid sweep against a talented Eagles team! Isabella Melin led the way with eight kills and a .267 hitting percentage, along with Julianne Hon and Katie Oed contributing seven kills apiece! Ana Del Angel Aguilar conducted a steady offense with 25 assists. Finley Wheeler led the defense with 15 digs, while Ava Cockrill contributed four aces across the three-set match. It was a great home showing by the Dragons!

8/25-26 at Houston Open Tournament • 3-2 overall record

Coach Courtney Hunnicutt: The Dragons had a strong showing at the Houston Open Tournament amongst many other Houston-area private schools. Cooper fell in two sets to St. John's, then bounced back and beat both The Village School and Awty in two sets. On Saturday, the Dragons had a hard time getting things to click and fell to Second Baptist, but turned things around in the final match to beat a talented Houston Christian in a three-set thriller! Many Dragon athletes contributed over the weekend and it was a total team effort.

Go Dragons!

Next up for Dragon Volleyball:

August 29 at Cypress Christian, 6 p.m.

August 31 vs Legacy SSS, 5:30 p.m.

September 5 at St. Pius X, 5:30 p.m.

September 12 vs. St. Thomas Episcopal, 5:30 p.m.

VARSITY FOOTBALL

8/25 vs. Woodlands Christian • 46-26 L • first home game

They say, there is no education like adversity, and if that is the case, then the Dragons went to school on Friday night as The John Cooper School fell to the Woodlands Christian Academy 46-26.

With the heat bearing down and the game time moved back Pugh Field saw a packed house anxiously awaiting a battle between cross-forest rivals. Woodlands Christian came ready to play, gameplan in hand, as they looked to be the first hurdle for the back-to-back 3A SPC champs, a hurdle Cooper had trouble clearing all night.

The Dragons showed flashes of greatness with standout performances by senior WR Gus Feinberg who pulled in 10 catches for over 100 yards. Junior RB Dean Calhoun carried the load with over 20 carries for over 100 yards rushing and one touchdown. The Dragon defense found itself on its heels early and often but settled down in the second half only giving up one score. Senior LB Cole Sheppard led the way for the Dragon defense and even found himself running one in on offense for a Cooper score.

The Dragons take their show on the road next week as they head to Cypress Christian for a Friday night showdown with the Warriors for the second week in a row; “it doesn’t get easier; you just get stronger.”–Coach Daniel Lewis

Next up for Dragon Football:

September 1 at Cypress Christian, 7:30 p.m.

September 8 at St. Mark’s School of Texas, 7 p.m.

September 14 vs. Greenhill School, 7 p.m.

September 22 at Oakridge School, 7 p.m.

September 29 vs. Cistercian Prep, 7 p.m. • homecoming

VARSITY CROSS COUNTRY

8/25 at Friday Night Lights at Bear Branch Sports Park

Boys 9th place Division A • Girls 2nd place Division B

Coach George Dohner: The Cooper cross country teams competed against some of the top programs in the state at the Friday Night Lights meet in The Woodlands. Grey Mendenhall led the Dragons for the boys. Grey finished 25th overall with a 4k time of 13:35. He was followed by Walter Day in 35th with a minute and 30 second improvement from last year. Finishing off the scoring was Jacob Bailey (37), Nathan Montes (62) and Ryan Taylor (71). The boys team finished 9th overall in the team standings.

The girls competed in division B and took home 2nd place honors. Cooper was led by Alexis Seymour’s 11th place finish. She was followed by Tahira King and Emma Locht in 12th and 13th place. Milla Signorelli (17th) and Ava Perugini (26th) rounded out the scoring.

I am very proud of the effort given by both our boys and girls teams.

Next Saturday, the Dragons host the Dragon Invitational at Burroughs Park.

Next up for Dragon Cross Country

September 2 hosting Dragon Invitational at Burroughs Park, 8 a.m.

September 9 at Run The Dog Pound Invitational at Magnolia High School, 4 p.m.

September 23 at Woodlands Christian Meet

September 30 at the Chili Pepper Festival at the University of Arkansas

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