By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Eleven years ago, Cooper’s football team won four playoff games on the road to reach the Class 5A championship final and lost to Bowling Green, 34-20, to bring home a state runner-up trophy.
The Jaguars followed the same path back to the Class 5A title game on Saturday and will face Bowling Green once again. This time, however, they want to end the season with a victory in the 8 p.m. rematch at the University of Kentucky’s Kroger Field.
“Back in 2012, they played all those games on the road to get to state and ended up losing,” said Cooper senior middle linebacker Jack Lonaker. “We’re hoping to change that narrative this year and finish the job.”
A lot of that depends on how well Lonaker and his defensive teammates do against one of the state’s leading passers. Bowling Green junior quarterback Duece Bailey has completed 224 of 323 passes for 3,316 yards and 40 touchdowns with only four interceptions.
In a semifinal game last week, Bailey passed for 263 of his team’s 404 total yards during a 38-6 win over Owensboro. He threw one touchdown pass and scored twice on rushing plays in that victory for the 11-3 Purples.
Cooper’s coaches had to devise a different defensive strategy for Bowling Green than they did for last week’s 17-15 win over Highlands. The Jaguars’ main focus in that game was containing the run and Lonaker did his part by making a game-high 18 tackles.
Lonaker said the key to any victory is playing together as a team. That’s something the Jaguars have done quite well on both sides of the ball over the last four weeks to push their record to 12-2.
“Everybody’s making plays and that’s what it takes to make state, and hopefully win state.” he said. “As long as we keep playing like that, we’ve got it.”
Lonaker has made a career-high 156 tackles (87 solo, 69 assisted) this season. This is is the third consecutive year he has led the Jaguars in that category. His career total of 446 tackles is already a team record with one game remaining.
Teammates lining up on both sides of Lonaker are linebackers Lucas Hughes and Mason Stanton and defensive end Austin Alexander. They have made a combined total of 210 tackles.
Alexander, a 6-foot-3, 245-pound two-way starter, is drawing attention from major college recruiters after making 75 stops, including a team-high 18 quarterback sacks, this season.
Cooper coach Randy Borchers said his team’s defensive unit has shown steady improvement since a 58-51 loss to Highlands in the sixth week of the regular season and showed it by holding the Bluebirds to 17 points in last week’s state semifinal rematch.
“We came out with new fire after they beat us on our home field,” Lonaker said. “You can’t let people score 58 points and call yourself a hard-nosed defense. So we had to come back and prove ourselves and prove that we’re a tough team to play against by playing good defense.”
Cooper’s offense that was limited to 221 yards in last week’s game needs to be more efficient against a Bowling Green defense that has allowed 547 total yards and 29 points in its first four playoff games.
The Jaguars have developed a balanced offensive attack led by a pair of sophomores. Cam O’Hara has passed for 3,141 yards and 45 touchdowns while Keagan Maher has rushed for 1,181 and 18 TDs.
Cooper also has a pair of outstanding receivers in juniors Isaiah Johnson and Alexander, who have combined totals of 2,349 yards and 38 touchdowns in receptions.
Last week, Alexander caught two short passes and broke through tackles on his way to the end zone both times.
Borchers enters the state championship game with an even 103-103 career record that includes a 96-89 mark in 16 seasons with the Cooper program that he started in 2008. Winning his first state title is another motivational factor for the players.
“He puts everything he has into coaching,” Lonaker said. “He does all he can for us on and off the field. I couldn’t imagine playing anywhere else because of him.”
State championship games at University of Kentucky
FRIDAY, DEC. 1
Class 1A — Pikeville (11-2) vs. Raceland (11-3), noon
Class 2A — Mayfield (12-1) vs. Owensboro Catholic (14-0), 4 p.m.
Class 4A — COVINGTON CATHOLIC (14-0) vs. Boyle County (14-0), 8 p.m.
SATURDAY, DEC. 2
Class 3A — Bell County (13-1) vs. Christian Academy-Louisville (13-1), noon
Class 6A — Louisville Trinity (11-3) vs. Lexington Bryan Station (11-3), 4 p.m.
Class 5A — COOPER (12-2) vs. Bowling Green (11-3), 8 p.m.