Published: August 29, 2006 11:55 am            

Cooper looking for redemption in Millsap

With his passion for the game and his will to show the rest of the teams in District 10-2A that the 2006 Millsap Bulldogs are not the same team that went 0-10 in 2005, senior linebacker Michael Cooper has stepped up to be the leader on the Millsap defense.

“I try to instill in these guys leadership,” Cooper said. “I’m a Christian man. I tell these guys no cussing, stick together and that leadership is the biggest thing on this field.

“If they don’t have a leader then they’re not going to follow, they’re going to fall apart and look for who the leader is. They need a leader on this field and I plan to be that leader no matter what.”

Cooper said his leadership began in the off-season while his team was working out and training for the 2006 season. He said he has been able to see the benefits of the hard work and how it helped his team come together after just a couple weeks of practice.

“It has gone a lot better,” Cooper said about the off-season as compared to last year. “A lot of the guys have matured a lot. We are a lot bigger than we were. We know what we’re doing this year. We remember the plays and we are hitting a lot harder. We’re doing great. Everybody is giving 110 percent.

“This year, we spent a lot of time in the weight room this summer. We came in every day for about two hours, worked out and went over plays. The team has kind of been unifying together. We have been going out to dinner together and hanging out.

“We’re trying to unify ourselves,” Cooper said. “Last year, we would break down when one thing would go wrong. This year, we’re a lot better. It’s a lot more peaceful group. We’re a lot closer than we were before.”

Cooper said he expects his team to deal with adversity during the season better than in years past because they are a more tight-knit group.

“Say if we’re down by 10, we won’t break down,” Cooper said. “We’re going to come back and we’re going to hit them, we’re going to do smash mouth football, we’re going to knock the crud out of somebody. We’re going to get that extra 10 points and we’re going to win the game. We’re not going to get down on ourselves once they score one touchdown.”

Cooper said he and his teammates have set goals for the defensive unit that if accomplished, should result in a much better district record in 2006.

“We want two fumbles every game and we want at least, 10 defensive touchdowns this year,” Cooper said. “We expect interceptions, we have been working on fumbles, we expect a lot of fumbles and we’re going to knock the snot out of people.

“We expect to hit hard and make people pay for what happened.”

The heat, like every school in Parker County, has taken its toll on the Millsap players, but Cooper said he thinks the results have been positive and that, ultimately, they are better prepared for the season because of it.

“Last year, we broke down in the heat,” Cooper said. “This year, we’ve been doing a lot better. It’s hot out here, the guys are pushing 110 percent. They’re giving it their all because we have had guys mouth us and this heat, we’ll be playing in this heat. This ain’t nothing.

“We’ll be playing four quarters in the heat. These guys are ready. They’ve been practicing real hard. I’m really psyched about this year because these guys have been doing real good. I have never seen this kind of group doing this good.”

Cooper is eagerly awaiting the opening game of the season, and not just because he wants to get back on the field. He said he has a score to settle with some of the players on the Perrin-Whitt team and he plans to show them the Bulldogs have bite.

“I know Perrin’s a 1A school, but they’re mouthing and they think they’re a lot better than us,” Cooper said. “I want to show them ... that 66-0 on that board, that’s what it’s going to be right there.

“I expect to knock the snot out of people because there’s a lot of guys that I know there. I’m going to show them and I hope they’re ready because I am coming after all of them. I’ll take them all on, I don’t care. I’m ready to knock somebody out, especially on that team.”

Cooper and the rest of the Millsap defense will get their chance against Perrin-Whitt when the Pirates come to Millsap to open the season at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

        

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