Cooper High School knew the only way to beat Abilene High on Friday was to keep Taylor Potts, Lyle Leong Jr. and the rest of the Eagles’ high-powered offense off the field.

The plan worked — for a quarter.

After that it was all Eagles, and Abilene High shut out the Cougars to the tune of 40-0 in front of a packed Shotwell Stadium, keeping itself undefeated on the season and Cooper winless in District 3-5A play.

Coupled with a Midland Lee loss, the win also clinched at least a share of the district title for the Eagles, who will travel to face the Rebels in their regular season finale on Friday.

The blanking was the first in the series since Cooper took a 7-0 decision in 1991 and the first time the Cougars have been held scoreless against their crosstown foe since a 23-0 loss back in 1984.

"You can’t just blame one thing or one person," said Cooper cornerback Bret Thompson. "It all comes down to execution, and obviously we weren’t in the mindset to come out and play tonight. Against their passing offense and a good defense, you can’t be like that. You’ve gotta step up when the stage is big."

The ones doing all the stepping up on Friday were the Eagles.

Potts finished the night throwing for 298 yards and three touchdowns, and Leong hauled in four of those balls for 166 yards and a score. The Eagle defense, meanwhile, held Cooper to just 147 total yards of offense.

"You can’t describe this. Before the game I was telling the seniors that we had to go out there and play, because we’ll remember this for the rest of our lives," said Potts, pausing to take one last look at the scoreboard. "And 40-0 is definitely one to remember."

And one to forget.

"Like a pitcher, you’ve just gotta have a short memory," said Thompson, whose Cougars close out their disappointing season on Friday at home against Odessa Permian. "Now it’s all about being a man. If you’re not going to come out next week and play like a man, you might as well stay home. But, with the character of this team, I know we’re going to give it our all."

Cooper opened the game by going three-and-out, giving Taylor Potts and the Eagles the ball one yard deep into Abilene High territory. The Eagles were pushed to third down three times on the drive, but finally got on the board with a 6-yard strike from Potts to Jason Boone with 4:59 to play in the first quarter.

The Cougars responded with a 16-play drive that, while it lasted, was equally impressive. Both Chris Hall and Jerry Harper were one tackle away from breaking away for huge gains early in the series, but after converting twice on fourth down, the Cougars were ultimately forced into a quick kick that pinned Abilene High at the 16.

That field position mattered little, though, when on the fourth play of the series, Eagles defensive lineman Garrison Hardin — lined up on offense — made what will certainly be the most talked-about play of the game.

Looking at second-and-2 on their own 38, Abilene High lined up in the wishbone, out of which Potts faked an inside handoff. The Eagles sold the play well, as the real recipient of the handoff was Hardin, whose back was to the line of scrimmage, shielding the ball from the Cougars. After letting the play develop for several seconds, Hardin finally turned and streaked down the Abilene High sideline virtually untouched to a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

"We’ve been working on that all this week," said Hardin, who had never before run an offensive play in a game situation. "I was so nervous that I thought I was gonna throw up.

"But when I turned around, there was nobody there but my two lead blockers, and it was basically just a race."

The Eagles didn’t let the Cooper offense get back on track the rest of the half and put up a 22-yard Cory Rodriguez field goal and another short touchdown strike from Potts to Boone, staking AHS to a 24-0 advantage at the break.

Things didn’t get any better for Cooper in the second half as two of its first three possessions ended after three plays and a punt. Cooper started its last drive of the game on its own 12-yard line and moved the ball to the Abilene High 27, but two straight incompletions turned the ball over on downs with 50 seconds left, sealing the shutout.

"It’s the last time we will get to play them, so it’s good to go out like this," Leong said. "We just did what we worked on all week. The coaches had a great game plan, and tonight the team had great execution."

Abilene High 7 17 13 3—40

Cooper High 0 0 0 0—0

First quarter

AHS – Jason Boone 6 pass from Taylor Potts (Cory Rodriguez kick), 4:59

Second quarter

AHS – Garrison Hardin 68 run (Rodriquez kick), 7:59

AHS – Rodriquez 22 field goal, 2:33

AHS – Boone 7 pass from Potts (Rodriquez kick), :51

Third quarter

AHS – Lyle Leong Jr. 55 pass from Potts (run failed), 10:58

AHS – Casey Bell 5 run (Rodriquez kick), 6:07

Fourth quarter

AHS – Rodriquez 24 field goal, 10:52

AHS CHS

First Downs 18 10

Rushes-yards 29-187 37-83

Passing-yards 298 64

Comp-Att-Int 13-19-0 7-18-0

Punts 1-41 8-32

Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-yards 5-40 3-40

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – AHS: Garrison Hardin 1-62, Casey Bell 13-51, Jayson Brooks 8-38, Taylor Potts 4-18, Chris Hale 1-9, Xavier Beaver 2-9. CHS: Jerry Harper 24-51, Chris Hall 7-33, Zach Stewart 5-0, Austin Driggers 1-(minus) 1.

PASSING – AHS: Potts 13-19-0-298. CHS: Hall 3-9-0-27, Stewart 4-9-0-37.

RECEIVING – AHS: Lyle Leong Jr. 4-166, Jason Boone 4-55, Luke Kittley 3-35, Kortney McDow 1-30, Hale 1-12. CHS: Sean Holamon 3-45, Matt Donahue 1-11, Bryan Forester 1-5, Harper 2-3.

Contact sports writer Troy Shockley at shockleyt@reporternews.com or 676-6773.