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Without RB, Cooper still nips Ryle

UNION, Ky. – Without one of its best players, Cooper defeated Ryle, 27-21 Friday night at Cooper Stadium.

After the third offensive play for Cooper, (6-2) senior running back Torrey Cordell-Armstrong needed help getting off the field and would not return for the rest of the night leaving junior Jaden Jackson to carry the ball 22 times.

“Losing Torrey hurt us a lot but Jaden is used to carrying the ball and Torrey teaches him really well,” said senior quarterback Nathan Brown.

Cooper's Torey Cordell-Armstrong.

Cooper’s Torey Cordell-Armstrong.

Brown took control of the Jaguars’ offense, passing for 220 yards and a touchdown while rushing for a game high 58 yards and another score.

It wasn’t until the second half that Cooper was able to get it’s offense going though as Ryle (6-1) held a 3-0 lead midway through the game.

“The biggest thing was just settling them down at halftime, when you play big games like this kids get a little too keyed up,” said head coach Randy Borchers.

On the opening drive of the second half Cooper took the lead on a 4-yard touchdown run by Jackson with the score being set up by a 43-yard pass from Brown to junior wide receiver Dante Hendrix.

Hendrix made several third down catches to move the chains in the second half and was Brown’s favorite receiver with eight catches for 153 yards and a score.

“We went in at halftime and decided we needed to make some changes in our routes and it helped out a lot, the coaches did really good,” said Brown.

The Jaguars’ defense was a major reason for the victory as well holding the Raiders to a season low 21 points, their previous low was 31 points, and prior to this game Ryle was averaging 44.5 points per game.

In an effort to slow down the Raiders’ passing game coach Borchers went with a three man front to his defense for most of the game and the adjustment paid off as Cooper held Ryle to 190 total yards of offense, 300 yards below the Raider’s normal output.

“We made a change tonight when we went with a three-man front instead of a four man because of their passing attack and we were nervous that they would run the ball on us, but our front three did a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage,” Borchers said.

The Raiders have been an offense of big plays so far this year but their longest play of the night was just 22 yards and only five of their 46 offensive plays went for more than ten yards.

“We were able to take the big play away from them and force them to put drives together and I think they got a little frustrated and they made some mistakes that helped us,” Borchers said.

Ryle was able to tie the game at 14 in the fourth quarter however the Jaguars answered immediately on the ensuing kickoff with an 80-yard touchdown return by sophomore Byron Brown.

Throughout the second half Cooper continually had an answer anytime the Raiders would seize momentum and were able to capture the Class 6A district 5 victory on senior night.

“Playing here, I love it, this means a lot because it’s my last regular season game here,” said Nathan Brown.

Ryle will look to rebound at home next Friday against Conner (6-1) while Cooper will go to Boone County (0-7) next Friday.

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