SAND ROCK – Spring Garden senior Cooper Austin proved once again Friday night at Sand Rock why he is one of Cherokee County’s most gifted athletes.
Not only did he catch eight passes for 87 yards and two touchdowns, but he also ran in a 2-point conversion on a reverse in the third quarter to give Spring Garden the lead.
But it was his leaping interception on defense with 53.7 seconds remaining that sealed the Panthers’ 29-28 victory that secured the Class 2A, Region 6 championship.
“We were in prevent defense, and Coach (Barrett) Ragsdale always talks about when the ball’s in the air, go get it, go make a play on it,” Austin said. “I saw the wheel route. I watched the quarterback looking at the receiver. He just put it in the air and gave me enough time to make a play on it. I made a play and came down with the ball.”
Sand Rock coach Alan Heath credited Austin for making the play, but he also took the blame for getting greedy on the Wildcats’ final drive of the game.
“If we were patient there, taking small bites instead of trying to eat the whole thing, then the outcome might’ve been different than it was,” Heath said. “That’s 100 percent on me.
“Knowing they had everybody back deep, that was a dumb call on my part. We had 50 seconds on the clock, and I should’ve been smart enough to throw some underneath stuff. I can learn from my mistakes. It will make me a better football coach so we’ll win more ball games in the future.”
Not only was Austin a big playmaker for the Panthers (8-0, 6-0), but he also helped calm down sophomore quarterback Chapel Pope, who was making just his third start of the season.
Pope began the game misfiring on his first five pass attempts, including an interception that led to Sand Rock’s second touchdown of the game. The Panthers trailed 14-0 after a quarter, but Austin helped pull his young quarterback through.
“Coach Kevin Ward has been giving us messages before our games, and every message for the past four or five weeks has been build your teammate up,” Austin said. “Something bad is going to happen, but you’ve got to build your teammate up. That’s really what we’ve focused on the last three or four weeks. In times like that (being down 14-0), it’s tough, but us encouraging each other is what got us through a hard time.
“I told him (Pope) before the game, ‘Hey man, I know you’re nervous. It’s a big game, and you have to step up and be a leader. Just go show them who Chapel Pope is. Be you.’ He came out a little nervous, but I told him ‘Remember what I told you in the locker room? Settle down and be you. You’re good.’ I just kept telling him he was good and he found a way.”
Pope finished the game connecting on 9-of-16 pass attempts for 110 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 103 yards on 23 carries and a score.
“He (Austin) did a good job to calm me down,” Pope said. “All the coaches helped me, and (older brother) Chaz (Pope) did too. They just told me to take deep breaths and just slow down when I’m dropping back to pass.
“We started off slow, but by the second half we picked it up. Cooper made a big catch in the second half to start things off, and Andrew Floyd had a good run to get it in (the end zone). That helped us out.”
Spring Garden coach Jason Howard said he’d been preparing the Panthers all week that Sand Rock was going to “bring an unbelievable energy” to start the game, and the Wildcats (6-2, 4-2) did just that. They scored on just the second play from scrimmage on Ace Ashley’s 61-yard touchdown toss to Logan Crider. Bryan East’s extra point made it 7-0 Sand Rock just 57 seconds into the game.
Near the end of the first quarter, Pope was picked off by Sand Rock’s Olin Pruitt, who returned the ball inside Panther territory at the 44-yard line. Two plays later, Ashley aired it out to Heath Driver for a 43-yard score to put the Wildcats up 14-0 after one.
But Austin, Pope and the rest of the Panthers proved resilient.
“Hat’s off to Sand Rock. They had two big plays and it was 14-0, but our kids didn’t hang their heads,” Howard said. “They believe in what we do. They stayed the course and tied it up by halftime.”
Pope and Austin cut Sand Rock’s lead in half at 14-7 on a 13-yard touchdown connection with 10:33 to go in the first half. Following a Sand Rock punt, Pope led a 16-play, 71-yard drive in which Pope called his own number from five yards out.
But then disaster struck the Panthers again. This time, Pope hit Austin on a high pass for a short gain, but Austin fumbled the ball, which the Wildcats’ Jacob Cornejo pounced on and returned 57 yards for the score, giving Sand Rock a 21-14 advantage.
Just like they did in the first half, Spring Garden battled its way back to tie the game once again as Pope connected with Austin on a 3-yard score. Larry Rogers added the extra point to tie the game at 21.
But Sand Rock quickly regained the lead again on a 10-yard Ashley-to-Driver score. With 6:15 to go in the third, the Wildcats were back out in front 28-21.
On that Sand Rock possession, Rogers – who also plays defensive back – was injured. That proved to be a factor on the Panthers’ ensuing drive.
Pope passed for his third touchdown of the game. This one went to Floyd from 23 yards. Instead of kicking the extra point, Howard decided to go for two and the lead with Rogers injured.
On the 2-point play, Floyd took a handoff, then gave the ball to Austin on a reverse. Austin crossed the goal line to give the Panthers a 29-28 edge.
“We’ve worked on that every day this week,” Austin said. “Me and Drew had yet to get a good toss to each other. It’s been too early or I’m way too far or something, but we ran it perfect tonight and it paid off for us.”
Howard had no doubts about going for two in that situation.
“If I can’t score on you from three yards, then I don’t deserve to win,” he said.
Spring Garden appeared as if it might extend its lead early in the fourth by marching deep into Sand Rock territory, but a Pope fumble was recovered by Crider to end the scoring threat. However, the Panther defense came up big on Sand Rock’s ensuing drive. Floyd’s sack of Ashley on a third-down play went for an 11-yard loss. On fourth-and-20 from the Panther 25, Ashley’s pass fell incomplete.
The Panthers picked up a couple of first downs on their next drive, but it eventually stalled at the Wildcat 43. Landon Gowens punted the ball into the end zone with 2:22 remaining, giving Sand Rock’s offense one last chance.
But Austin saved the day – and a region championship – for the Panthers.
“All we talk about is we’re on top and we’ve got a bullseye on our back. We’ve got to come out and play to our standard every night,” Austin said. “I think we still could’ve played a little better tonight, but Sand Rock’s a good team and that’s what good teams cause you to do. They brought it and they played really good. They’re a good football team.”
Ashley completed 10-of-18 pass attempts for 148 yards and three touchdowns. Crider caught six passes for 93 yards and a touchdown. Driver had three catches for 60 yards and two scores.
Cornejo led the Wildcat ground game with 74 yards on 13 carries.
“It would’ve been really good if we could’ve won this one tonight,” Heath said. “It’s no surprise to me we’re right where we are. I’ve been with these kids and see how hard they work and see how they’ve bought in. We are proving we’re becoming a better football team and a better program. We’re going to keep plugging at it.”
Sand Rock hosts Cleveland on Friday, while Spring Garden returns home to host Southeastern.
