AppId is over the quota
For Brandon Williams, the setting for this week is somewhatfamiliar.
As Midland High prepares to play Abilene Cooper at 7:30 p.m.today at Shotwell Stadium in Abilene, Williams knows the Bulldogsare once again in a high-pressure situation. But facing Cooper withsomething significant on the line is a familiar sight to MidlandHigh’s senior starting cornerback.
“They’re similar (situations),” Williams said about thecomparison between this season’s matchup with Cooper and lastyear’s. “But now we’re playing for more. We have to win. We want itand we want it real bad.”
The Bulldogs are in a dire situation as they enter the regularseason finale today, and unfortunately, do not completely holdtheir fate in their hands. to absolutely ensure the Bulldogs canmake the postseason they not only need to beat Cooper, but theyalso need crosstown rival Lee to get its first District 3-5Avictory of the season against Odessa High.
Even if the Bulldogs lose, they still can make it into thepostseason, but only if Lee defeats Odessa High by at least fivepoints. It’s a mathematical equation Midland High coach CraigYenzer would like to avoid even diving into.
“We’re not going to sit there and worry to much about what’sgoing on anywhere else,” Yenzer said. “We have business to takecare of. We have a job to do. We need to only worry about and takecare of what we can control and that’s coming out of Abilene with awin.”
The Bulldogs began the process of resurrecting their playoffhopes after pulling off a come-from-behind victory against Lee lastweek. They overcame a 12-point deficit in the final 5 minutes, 25seconds to win 45-35, greatly improving Midland High’s playoffchances.
“We’ve been talking about hope and (the win against Lee) justgave us that hope that we’re going to be playing for a while,”Williams said. “We’re going to succeed as long as we believe inwhat we’re trying to do.”
Last season against Abilene Cooper, the Bulldogs were playingfor a share of a District 3-5A title. They held on for a 42-35victory that gave them the first district title in school historysince the fabled 1988 season.
Williams made his first varsity start in that game, stepping infor starter Erick Callier, who had gotten sick the night before thegame and had a high fever. Williams stepped in admirably in apressure situation, playing a key part in the Bulldogs’victory.
He’s betting on the same result tonight.
“This year I’m just more confident. last year they just threw meon the spot and I had to just do what I could do,” Williams said.”This year I’m more confident in what I have to do and moreconfident in my team. I just know that we’re going to get itdone.”
There isn’t a district title waiting for the Bulldogs if theyget it done, though. This time around, their hoping their reward issimply a playoff spot.
Jonathan Hull can be reached at jhull@mrt.com.
MIDLAND HIGH AT ABILENE COOPER
When/where: 7:30 p.m., Shotwell Stadium, Abilene
On the air: KCRS 550 AM
Live updates: mywesttexas.com/football
Records: Midland High 6-3, 1-3 in District 3-5A; Cooper 6-3,3-1.
Last game: Midland High 45, Lee 35; Abilene High 62, Cooper6
Last meeting/series: Midland High 42, Cooper 35 (2010); Cooperleads all-time series 30-17-1.
Key injuries: Midland High, Kodie Ochoa (concussion –doubtful), LB Carson Carter (shoulder — out); Cooper, nonereported.
Weather forecast: Clear with a game-time temperature of 57degrees, dropping into the upper 50s into the night. no chance ofprecipitation.
Coach: Todd Moebes (6-3 in first year at Abilene Cooper and ashead coach)
Players to watch: QB Clayton Nicholas (6-3, 205, Sr.), DEGarrison Railsback (6-2, 225, Sr.), S Josh Bowman (6-1, 180, Sr.),OL Darrell Brown (6-5, 255, Sr.), RB Matt Watson (5-9, 170, Sr.),TE John Patrick (6-0, 185, Sr.); WR Lorenzo Joe (6-1, 170, So.)
What to expect on offense: Spread. The Cougars are the mostspread-heavy team Midland High has faced in district play. They’llbe in the spread on nearly every play. of the teams Midland Highhas faced this season, only San Angelo Central is comparable toCooper in the use of the spread offense.
The Cougars are also the most pass-heavy team in the district,and with good reason, since they do boast Texas Tech commit ClaytonNicholas at QB.
“Their offense starts with Nicholas. I saw all of him last yearthat I wanted to see,” Midland High coach Craig Yenzer said. “He’sa tremendous player. He’s had a great year and always seems to getthe ball to the right people. We can’t let him stand back there,he’ll pick you apart. We need to drop sometimes and then sometimescome after him.”
Nicholas is the all-time leading passer at Abilene Cooper with5,099 yards in his career to go with 49 TDs.
What to expect on defense: 3-4. Cooper lines up with three downlinemen and four linebackers on most plays. Yenzer said safety JoshBowman and defensive end Garrison Railsback are standouts on theCooper defense.
But Yenzer also notes a lack of size for the Cougars. In fact,Railsback is their biggest defender at 6-2, 225 pounds.
“It’s kind of a funny year for them because they’re not real bigon defense,” Yenzer said. “They aren’t going to be putting280-pound defensive tackles in front of you. But they’ve certainlygot a lot of quickness to make up for that.”
n As with just about every other coach heading into a gameagainst Midland High, Cooper coach Todd Moebes was impressed by thesize the Bulldogs boast all over the field.
“They’re huge and physical,” Moebes commented. “They’re going totry to dominate the line of scrimmage and have been able to do soin just about every game they’ve played. This is a good footballteam. They’re probably a couple plays here or there from flippingtheir record. They’re tough to defend and they’re tough to move theball against.”
n Echoing Thursday’s feature story on Midland High fullbacksDonavon Anders and Erik Pena, Moebes also had great praise for thatduo, noting how much they contribute to Midland High’s strongground game.
“They don’t formation you to death, but they don’t have to,”Moebes said. “They try to push the line of scrimmage. Not only dothey have a huge offensive line, but they have two kids at fullbackthat play great. (Jacoby) Webster is a strong running back anddoesn’t go down easily when he gets the ball.”
n The Cougars are coming off a rough 62-6 shelling by in-townrival Abilene High. In that game, the Cougars committed eightturnovers, including four interceptions thrown by ClaytonNicholas.
But regardless of that showing, Yenzer said he believes he’s notgoing to see Cooper play like that two weeks in a row.
“We’re going to see a much better Abilene Cooper team,” Yenzersaid. “We know they’re not going to play like that again. We’ll gettheir best shot.”
n Moebes is in his first year as the head coach of the Cougarsafter having spent the previous five years on staff as defensivecoordinator under his predecessor Mike Spradlin. But despite thecoaching change, Yenzer sees a very similar Cooper team.
“I’m sure there’s some things that Moebes does that Spradlindidn’t do, but that’s typical,” Yenzer said. “They look like thesame type of team to me. They run pretty much the same offense andthe defense is the same since he was the coordinator.”
n Should Midland High qualify for the postseason this weekend,the Bulldogs will play Arlington Martin in the bi-district round.While their opponent is figured out, the schematics of that playoffmatchup are still up in the air.
It all depends on who Abilene High will be playing. The Eagleswill face either Arlington High or Arlington Lamar in thebi-district round. if Abilene High plays Arlington Lamar, thenMidland High will meet Arlington Martin at 7:30 p.m. next Friday atShotwell Stadium in Abilene.
However, if the Eagles draw Arlington High instead, that gamewill be played at Shotwell Stadium on Friday, and the Bulldogs willface Martin at either 6 p.m. or 9 p.m. at Cowboys Stadium inArlington.
n Midland High has had plenty of recent success against AbileneCooper. The Bulldogs have won four of their last five games againstthe Cougars. The lone loss in that span came in 2006, 31-24.
The average score in that span is 33-23, but that differentialis somewhat skewed because of a 56-8 Midland High victory in 2005.Take out that game and the margin reduces to 28-27, showing howcompetitive these matchups have been in the last five meetingsbetween MHS and Cooper.
Next: Midland High vs. Arlington Martin, Class 5A Division Ibi-district playoff, Friday, Nov. 11, TBA; Abilene Cooper vs.Arlington High or Arlington Lamar, Class 5A Division II bi-districtplayoff, TBA.
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