Football Preview: Cooper Bulldogs vs. Bells Panthers
Cooper has been away from home for two games now, but on Friday they'll finally make their return. They will welcome the Bells Panthers at 7:00 p.m. Bells took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on Cooper, who comes in off a win.
Cooper will roll into the contest after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up two points last Friday, then bounced right back against Chisum on Friday. Cooper blew past Chisum 58-6 on the road. With the Bulldogs ahead 50-0 at the half, the game was all but over already.
Meanwhile, Bells came up short against Plainview on Friday and fell 34-22. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' football rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 418th in Texas, while the Indians are ranked 37th in Oklahoma).
Despite the defeat, Bells got top-tier performance from Bryson Thompson, who rushed for 96 yards and two touchdowns. Thompson is on a roll when it comes to rushing touchdowns, as he's now punched in two or more in the last three games he's played dating back to last season.
Even though they lost, Bells was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 234 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 187 rushing yards in 14 consecutive matches dating back to last season.
Cooper's first victory this season bumped their record up to 1-2. As for Bells, they now also have a losing record at 1-2.
Cooper lost to Bells at home by a decisive 56-42 margin when the teams last played back in November of 2019. Thankfully for Cooper, Bo Baker (who rushed for 93 yards and two touchdowns on only 12 carries) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
