Cooper's rushing grinds Demons

LUBBOCK - Somebody take down the number of that truck that ran over the Dumas Demons on Saturday afternoon.

The Abilene Cooper Cougars used what seemed like every weapon in their offensive arsenal in a Class 4A Division I bidistrict game at Lowrey Field. Six Cougars ran for touchdowns in a 396-yard rushing effort that ended Dumas' season, 52-14.

The Cougars (8-3) scored on their first six possessions before the Demons (4-7) got on the board. While Dumas coach Mike Burt wouldn't concede his defense was caught in a mismatch, he had a good idea of Cooper's talent.

"With those athletes, they should be scoring like that," Burt said of the Cougars. "On the field, they looked like they could compete with Abilene Christian University."

Burt may be exaggerating, but considering the kinds of numbers the Cougars put up, it's easy to understand why. Cooper averaged almost 9 yards a carry, and the only reason the Cougars finished with less than 400 yards rushing was backup quarterback Clayton Nicholas took a knee and lost 5 yards on the final play.

After Kendrick Powdrill scored on a 5-yard run to make it 38-0, Dumas sophomore quarterback Clayton Baker, who replaced Aaron Thomas midway through the second quarter, threw a pair of scoring passes of 31 and 354 yards to fellow sophomore Andres Baskin to cut it to 38-14.

Between those scores, Dumas forced Cooper's only punt, and after the second score, Dumas kicker Armando Lopez recovered his onside kick. But the Demons turned the ball over on downs, ending their final opportunity to make it a game.

"I thought we had (the Cougars) sweating in the third quarter," Burt said. "We got that tap kick, and it's too bad we couldn't take advantage of it."

Having to throw on almost every play in an attempt to rally, Baker completed 15-of-34 for 214 yards.

"Clayton's a better throwing quarterback, and we liked our options better with Aaron at wide receiver," Burt said. "This is going to do nothing but help (Baker). We knew going into this game if we didn't match (Cooper) score for score, why not use a 6-2 sophomore and get him ready for the future."

Devon Riddick led Cooper with 132 yards rushing and scored Cooper's first two touchdowns. Alford Cooper ran for 120 yards and a TD.

Abilene Cooper 52, Dumas 14

Dumas 0 0 14 0 - 14

Cooper 7 24 7 14 - 52

AC - Davon Riddick 39 run (Ryan Lucas kick)

AC - Riddick 11 run (Lucas kick)

AC - Lucas FG 25

AC - Alford Cooper 4 run (Lucas kick)

AC - Ryan Heslep 5 run (Lucas kick)

AC - Kendrick Powdrill 5 run (Lucas kick)

Dumas - Andres Baskin 31 pass from Clayton Baker (Armando Lopez kick)

Dumas - Baskin 35 pass from Baker (Lopez kick)

AC - Sammy Beall 9 run (Lucas kick)

AC - Derrick Footer 7 run (Lucas kick)

Dumas Cooper

First Downs 17 31

Rushing 43 396

Passing 271 188

Total yards 314 584

C-A-I 18-41-0 16-25-0

Punts 4-31.8 1-28.0

Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties 2-20 4-28

Individual Statistics

Rushing - Dumas: Dillon Johnson 9-36, Aaron Thomas 9-16, Baskin 1-(-9). Cooper: Riddick 10-132, Cooper 13-120, Powdrill 10-84, Gabriel Diaz 4-20, Beall 2-15, Matt Watson 2-14, Footer 1-7, Heslep 1-5, Khole Jackson 1-4, Clayton Nicholas 1-(-5).

Passing - Dumas: Clayton Baker 15-34-0-214, Thomas 3-7-0-57. Cooper: Heslep 16-24-0-188, Reese Williams 0-1-0-0.

Receiving - Dumas: Baskin 3-77, Johnson 4-70, Thomas 4-61, Daniel Angeles 3-29, Cody Brazell 2-18, Aaron Heyd 1-9, Aaron Mendoza 1-7. Cooper: Khole Jackson 5-66, Williams 5-65, Tommy Bowman 1-19, Jamail Lowry 1-13, Beal 2-13, Riddick 2-12.