Waco La Vega Ends Leps’ Season
-
La Grange sophomore Dwodney Thompson is swarmed by Waco La Vega players as he tries to advance the ball Friday. Photo by Darrell D. Gest -
La Grange head football coach Kyle Cooper, shares a moment at the end of the game with his son, Clayton, the Leps quarterback, who was playing in his final game. Photo by Darrell D. Gest -
The La Grange captains walk to midfield for the coin toss at the start of Friday’s game, left to right: Javier Cuevas, Devonte McKenzie, Max Dixon and Clayton Cooper. Photo by Darrell D. Gest
La Grange’s football season came to an end Friday in a 56-2 loss to Waco La Vega in the first round of the 4A playoffs.
The No. 10-ranked Pirates took control of this game early, scoring 56 answered points in the first half to improve to 8-3 this season. La Vega advances to face West Orange-Stark in the second round.
The Leps end their season with a 6-5 record.
“La Vega did a really good job on the run and pass. They had a really quick D-line and front seven that got after us,” La Grange head coach Kyle Cooper said. “Nobody’s happy with tonight’s performance, but as far as the season, I’m proud of these guys, the way they fought, the way they battled.”
La Vega senior running back Bryson Roland took the game’s first play from scrimmage 67 yards for a touchdown. That was part of a three-touchdown, 152-yard rushing night for Roland, who only needed five carries to amass those totals.
The Pirates passing game was equally as impressive. Three different La Vega quarterbacks combined to throw for 211 yards on 7 of 11 passing. Starter Kourtney Parr was 3 of 3 for 108 yards with two touchdowns. Jabarie Thornton caught five passes for 190 yards and three touchdowns.
The Leps. meanwhile, struggled to move the football all night against the Pirates. The Leps had just 126 total yards.
Leps junior running back Da’von Giscome rushed for a team-high 61 yards and senior quarterback Clayton Cooper ran for 24 yards. In his final game in a Leps uniform Cooper was 10 of 20 passing for 41 yards.
“This game is the love of my life. I’ve never been happier doing something,” Clayton Cooper said. “This year didn’t end how we wanted it but these are memories I’m going to remember for the rest of my life. I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”
Junior Mason Kleiber caught three of those passes for 21 yards.
Another bright spot for the Leps was the punting of varsity sophomore newcomer Colt Jobb, who was booming kicks all night.
La Grange had three turnovers Friday. With their 6-5 record La Grange improved over last year’s 3-8 campaign, but failed to win a playoff game for the third consecutive year.
“I’d summarize this season as a success,” said senior captain Javier Cuevas, the team’s center. “We won three more games than we did last year. Team chemistry was better than it was last year. The fans showed more support.”
Cuevas was one of eighteen La Grange seniors who were playing in their final high school game.
“I wish we could have done it for these seniors,” said Coach Cooper, who was coaching his son, the starting quarterback, for the final time Friday. “We’ve just got to figure out how to get back in that top tier. The losses we took were all to Top 20 teams. How do we get in that tier? We took a step in Year 2, but we have to find a way to become a top 20 team.”