The Cooper Cougars will square off against the Del Valle Conquistadores at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Cooper sitting on three straight wins and Del Valle on nine.
Last Friday, Cooper didn't have too much trouble with Palo Duro as they won 44-27.
Austin Cummins had a dynamite game for Cooper, throwing for 115 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for 58 yards and a touchdown. Cummins has been hot recently, having posted three or more passing touchdowns the last three times he's played. Zavian Alexander was Cummins' top target, picking up 34 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Cooper was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 254 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 201 rushing yards in three consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Del Valle was fully in charge last Friday, breezing past Burges 70-17. The result was nothing new for the Conquistadores, who have now won seven games by 22 points or more so far this season.
Jake Fette was his usual excellent self, throwing for 213 yards and three touchdowns on only 18 passes, while also rushing for 37 yards and a touchdown. Shelton Fuller was another key player, rushing for 60 yards and three touchdowns on only eight carries.
Del Valle didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Abraham Garcia, Josiah Nunez, and Isiah Herrera picked up one apiece. Isaac Maltos was another major factor on D, picking up a sack and making 15 total tackles.
Del Valle's victory was their tenth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-0. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 30.7 points. As for Cooper, their win bumped their record up to 4-6.
The upcoming matchup will be a clash of competing strengths. Cooper has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 167.5 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Del Valle has preferred to attack from the air: they average 269.4 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Thursday? There's only one way to find out.
Cooper took their victory against Del Valle in their previous matchup back in November of 2019 by a conclusive 42-21. The rematch might be a little tougher for Cooper since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
