This one may have been a little closer than most, and it may have been dominated by a bit more defense than the usual Cooper-Abilene High game, but the 6-0 decision for the Cougars was typical stuff.

Cooper has now won this matchup of local schoolboy football teams 10 straight times and the Eagles have not beaten their cross-town tormentors since 1964.

The Southside school was so totally dominant Friday night at Shotwell Stadium, the Eagles really having only one serious threat to score — and it ended in utter frustration.

With junior tackles Greg Caldwell and David McCay roaming the middle like a pair of escaped gorillas, Cooper’s defense was stifling. Back their penetration with support from noseguard Chuck Reed and linebackers Paul Morrison and Mark Griffith and it made for a long night for the Eagle offense.

It would have been longer had the Cooper offense not been so selfish and hogged the ball so much.

It did not help Abilene High a bit, of course, when starting quarterback Joe Jones was forced to exit in the last plays of the first quarter with a dislocated finger on his right hand — his throwing hand.

The final figures showed the Eagles on the short end of a 188-106 outcome in the total yardage. Take out the lone drive and some desperation yardage when the Cougars were in a deep-conscious alignment and the Eagles had nothing.

While 12,000 filtered out of the stadium and the stadium lights were extinguished, a red "6" still burned bright on the scoreboard. Cooper tailback Mark Allen was most responsible for that. He did all the game’s scoring on a six-yard run in the second quarter

Displaying his usual balance and lust for freedom, Allen plied the stunting, gambling Eagle defense for 114 yards on 22 carries.

Donnel Baldwin was AHS’ top ground-gainer with 16 yards.

The Eagles played some stout defense of their own, tackle Greg O’Neill and linebacker Randal Edwards enjoying a particularly active night.

But their best efforts were matched late in the third quarter after the blue-clad Cooper defenders grudgingly yielded yardage down to their three. Then as if cuffed in the chops with a leather glove, the Cougars indignantly rose in unison to throw back the threat.

It was Ricky Lewis who officially ended the drive, stepping in front of a Glen Stirman pass at the goal line. Ricky Felts, who has an excellent pair of machines dangling from his wrists, was trying to work his way free in the corner of the end zone but Lewis times Stirman’s pass perfectly to kill what became the Eagles’ last chance.

Lewis returned the ball, with the help of a late hit penalty on a frustrated Eagle, to the 30.

That took the Cougars out of immediate danger, then the punting of Rusty Hamric helped keep them safe. In the final five minutes of the game, Hamric left-footed punts out of bounds at the Eagle 1 and 11-yard lines.

The Eagles wasted one other opportunity when Hamric fumbled the second half kickoff and AHS recovered at the Cooper 28. Four plays netted exactly four downs and the Cougars were well on to inflicting the Eagles with their first shutout of the year.

Cooper had only one other threat besides the touchdown threat, but a holding penalty and a Joe Castro sack on Cougar quarterback Kelly Gill pushed Cooper back from the Eagle 30 across midfield.

The Eagles fell to 5-5 for the year, 3-4 in District 5-AAAAA. Cooper kept its part of the bargain which could have given the Cougars a share of the league title, but Odessa Permian beat Odessa to put the Panthers in the playoffs.

Cooper will stay home with its 7-3 season and 5-2 league marks, good for second place in the final standings. To make the playoffs, the Cougars needed a Permian loss, a Midland win over Lee and a lucky call of a coin toss. They didn’t get the first tow so the third requirement was out of the question.

Thanks to an uncooperative defense and some dependable blocking, the Cougars earned a 6-0 halftime lead.

Cooper reduced Abilene High’s Twin-Veer attack to one giant non-factor, holding the Eagles to 17 total yards in the first 24 minutes.

Meanwhile, the Cougars generated their first movement, driving 66 yards on 10 plays. Allen accepted the scoring honors, negotiating the final six yards through the arms of out-weighted Glen Shedd.

Lewis shanked the extra point try, but Cooper led for good 6-0.

Abilene High’s ability to move the ball was not enhanced when Jones was forced to leave, but the Cougars had already shown a solid defense.

The Cougars were at their quick-penetrating best in the second quarter when linebacker Paul Morrison yanked Stirman down like a cork just an instant before he threw an interception to onrushing teammate David McCay.

McCay slipped between Stirman and tailback Herman Reece, who was loitering behind a group of white-shirted blockers in a would-be screen pattern. McCay caught the ball and stumbled down to the AHS 30, fumbling the ball out of bounds in the process, but the Eagles denied the threat.

The Cougars, however, responded with their scoring drive the next time they had the ball.

Cooper came in hoping to control the ball (which it did) with Allen doing most of the work (which he did). The 185-pound senior was back in form after losing his league rushing lead two weeks ago. He had 74 yards on 13 carries at the half.

Cooper 0 6 0 0—5

Abilene High 0 0 0 0—0

Second Quarter

Cooper — Mark Allen 6 run (kick fails)

Cooper Abilene High

First Downs 11 7

Rushing yards 178 14

Passing-yards 10 92

Comp-Att-Int 1-10-0 9-23-3

Punts 7-27.1 7-35.9

Fumbles-lost 2-3 0-0

Penalties-yards 5-55 4-50

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Cooper: Mark Allen 22-114, 1 TD; Kelly Gill 13-44; Mark Griffith 6-17; Randy Jones 2-3. AHS: Donnel Baldwin 11-16; Joe Jones 3-2; Herman Reece 4-(-1); Glen Stirman 12-(-3).

PASSING — Cooper: Gill 1-10-0, 10 yards. AHS: Stirman 8-21-3, 86 yards; Jones 1-2-0, 6 yards.

RECEIVING — Cooper: Rusty Hamric 1-10. AHS: Reece 3-36; Rodney Smith 2-22; Ricky Felts 2-20; Baldwin 1-9; Jimmy James 1-5.

PUNTING — Cooper: Hamric 7-27.1. AHS: Glen Shedd 7-35.9.