Preview: Ryle at Cooper

The battle for Union, Kentucky bragging right has become an annual stop on our US Marines Battle of the Gridiron Tour. This affair promises to be one of the better ones in the series and that’s a good thing after last season’s painful 12-3 Cooper victory over visiting Ryle. Now both schools are in the same District and this is their opener and all the more reason to make this rivalry nastier.

Back for a shot at redemption this Raiders team looks nothing like the one that one that took the field in last season opener. Ryle has a rejuvenated offense that sees lots of player get involved. That’s a ton of fun when you are averaging 44.5 per contest like the Raiders are.

Cooper continues to play a top-notch schedule. The Jaguars won’t be in awe of undefeated Ryle. No one will be backing down in this dogfight. It promises to be one entertaining night of football in southern Boone County.

RYLE RAIDERS (6-0) at COOPER JAGUARS (5-2)

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.
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PLAYERS TO WATCH: Ryle has been lighting up the score having scored 52, 48, 52 and 49 points in its last four wins. The Raiders spread the wealth with six different players having scored via a run and seven having caught a touchdown pass. College recruit Tanner Morgan has thrown for 1,324 yards and 10 touchdowns. Eight players are averaging one or more catches per game. Bryce Ashley has team highs with 19 receptions for 326 yards and four touchdowns. Colin England (408), Mitchell Bateman (302) and Jake Chisolm (383) have combined for 993 yards and 17 scores on the ground.

Linebackers Jon Meiman, Colin Demetrakis and Jackson High pace a Ryle defense that is allowing just 12 points per game over the last four weeks.

Cooper running back Torey Cordell-Armstrong is healthy and that means good things for the Cooper offense. Quarterback Nathan Brown and receiver Dante Hendrix are in sync. The duo has hooked up 16 times for more than 400 yards and six touchdowns the past two weeks. The Jaguars are handful to deal with on offense behind a veteran offensive line.

Hendrix leads an opportunistic Cooper defense with four interceptions. Linemen Marcus Watson, Clay Centers, Sander Rocksvag, Erik Pavek and Elliott Smith are a very solid unit in the trenches.

TEAM TRENDS: This will be the first time in the last five years that the teams haven’t squared off in the season opener. Ryle holds a 5-2 overall advantage in the series. Two of the last three Raiders wins over the Jaguars have been by seven points.
Ryle has been beating up on the “little sisters of the pour-ous” defenses. Five of Ryle’s victims have given up 198 points or more. The combined record of the teams that the Raiders have beaten is 5-31 (13.8%) with three of those schools being winless at 0-6.

Cooper has shown killer instinct with all five of its wins by 24 points or more. None of those Jaguars victimes scored more than 13 points. Dating back to last season the last nine wins by Cooper have been by 21 points or more. On the flip side of that Jags last four losses in that same span has seen them score just seven, six, zero and seven points and getting no closer than 19 points to their opponents in any of those affairs. Those four losses were to teams that were/are a combined 36-6.

RYLE’S KEYS TO VICTORY: Cooper can hurt you with big plays running, passing and on returns. Ryle needs to make the Jaguars one dimensional and negate two of those aspects of Cooper’s game. Taking the Jaguars out of the game mentally will not be easy so the Raiders are going to have to dig deeper to find toughness within themselves. Composure is a must for the full 48 minutes.

COOPER’S KEYS TO VICTORY: Getting out to a two score would play right into the Jaguars favor. Cooper knows how to stick a dagger in teams once they get them down. The Jaguars have the backs to establish the run. That is something that none of Ryle’s opponents have been able to do. Establishing the run will free up Brown and his speedy receivers to spread the field vertically.

Prediction: COOPER 30, RYLE 28

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