Crosstown Rival

Welcome to a modern day,West Texas showdown!
Last Friday night was the 48th time that Abilene Cooper and Abilene High have lined up against each other. Out of 48 games Cooper has won 30, AHS 16, with 1 tie. Needless to say, in a town of approx. 100,000, this game has been a longtime rivalry. However the 2008 season brings major changes, for the 1st time, the two teams are no longer district opponents. Earlier this year Cooper was dropped to class 4-AAAA due to a lower enrollment, leaving Abilene High in 5-AAAAA classification. The short of it is, for the next two years when we play each other it will not be for championships, just city braggin' rights! Which any coach, athlete, fan will tell you is a REALLY BIG DEAL!!!

Currently AHS has the winning trend. The last 4 years the Eagles have defeated the Cougars but the '08 team hoped to change that trend and start a new style!

The 'line is drawn' early in the week and friendly, but feisty bantering begins! On and on it goes til game night and that's when things get REAL crazy! The parking lot's fill up fast. You'll find lots of people tailgating and visiting and a few brave boys doing this! ...and lot's of silly girls doing this!

As the sun goes down,

the stands fill up! Big crowd to the left....Big crowd to the right. Stand up, sit down, what a sight! Across the field, the AHS side was packed as well, but with ugly black and gold colors! As game time arrives, tension builds...the crowd roars.....The team gathers steam....storms the field....a force to be reckoned with! I LOVE THOSE COOGS! If I could only explain the They acknowledge their Maker. The warriors chant.....and the battle begins...First they've got the ball,Then we've got the ball....Then they've got the ball.......and we get the ball back!Then, we've got the ball...and....they go back forth ..... until it's half-time. The game is tied up! 13- 13.

The band plays, the drill team dances, and the coaches wives relax with friends. Then it's time to get back to business...cheering, that is! The fans cheered with all their hearts, and it helped, At the end of the 3rd quarter the game was still tied 13- 13! It was a great game. Very evenly matched The Cooper fans were confident that this just might be the year we'd break AHS's winning streak. But in the 4th quarter the eagles scored, 20-13. However, the cougars were not afraid and came back with a vengeance! And with 28 sec. left in the game the CC's had the ball on the 2 yard line and an opportunity to win. IT WAS VERY EXCITING!!! However, it was not to be and the eagles (dadgumit) won again. How disappointing! It was a bitter pill to swallow so we over to Cassi's to get something to drink and eat. ..but no amount of chili & cornbread, chocolate cake, lemon bars or sopapilla cake, could get rid of that bad taste. In fact, the more we talked about it, the madder we got! All I can say is this: It's been along week, and the Cooper Cougars are hungry for a win, and their so hungry their furious! So get ready, Garland Owls, we're coming to get you and we're seeing nothing but RED!