You make an excellent point. Borchers looks as if he has improved a lot in the motivation alone and how he handles the kids. He still gets on them etc. but the boys are starting to believe in him. It's still an uphill battle for him though and hopefully it will continue to improve. For instance, he has shown a lot more interest in the JV games this year than in the past, at least it looks that way. In the past it felt as if he thought JV more of a bother than something that the players could learn from. It's showed the last 2 years for instance when the players from the freshman teams decide not to play varsity the next year. I think that was a telling tale of what they thought about the entire football program. For instance last years Freshman team only had 9 players come out to play varsity this year.

 

I think the interest that the boys see from the coach throught the entire football program speaks volumes and I think the turnout from this years freshman football team will be a lot more when practice starts for next year's varsity team.

 

Seeing as though I am new to the site would you say kids being interested in the program has to do with the Coach caring about all aspects of the program or kids these days just don't want to spend a season knowing they won't play. Be easy on me, I'm new here.

You make an excellent point. Borchers looks as if he has improved a lot in the motivation alone and how he handles the kids. He still gets on them etc. but the boys are starting to believe in him. It's still an uphill battle for him though and hopefully it will continue to improve. For instance, he has shown a lot more interest in the JV games this year than in the past, at least it looks that way. In the past it felt as if he thought JV more of a bother than something that the players could learn from. It's showed the last 2 years for instance when the players from the freshman teams decide not to play varsity the next year. I think that was a telling tale of what they thought about the entire football program. For instance last years Freshman team only had 9 players come out to play varsity this year.

 

think the interest that the boys see from the coach throught the entire football program speaks volumes and I think the turnout from this years freshman football team will be a lot more when practice starts for next year's varsity team.

 

 

 

Coach Borchers has a lot on his plate serving not only as Head Coach but also as AD. I have been very impressed with the maturity that he has shown and his ability to deal with all sorts of people (young and old) and issues in his years at Cooper. I wish him continued success.

This game seems like it is a contest between two fairly evenly matched teams. Yet, there has been no discussion at all in regards to special teams. On the North side of the river, at least, field position plays a huge factor when two evenly matched teams face off.

 

What do the special teams look like for each squad? How are the place kickers and punters? Return teams? Any insight to "third leg" of a successful game plan?

 

-CardinalsFan

Seeing as though I am new to the site would you say kids being interested in the program has to do with the Coach caring about all aspects of the program or kids these days just don't want to spend a season knowing they won't play. Be easy on me, I'm new here.

I don't think it had anything to do with playing time or not. I think a lot of the kids were very turned off of the program during their freshman year. I will not go into details of what occurred the last 2 years prior to this season on the Freshman level, but I will tell you changes have been made this year and changes for the better with new coaching staff etc. on the Freshman level which is why i believe next year you will see more and more freshman players coming out for varsity. Also the addition of the Union Jags (6th, 7th, and 8th grade teams) which started last year will also improve the participation in future years when it comes to Varsity Football at Cooper.

 

Something a lot of people need to understand, and if I came across bashing the program in any way then I was misunderstood because I have nothing but praise for the program and what Coach Borchers has done with it. But as I was saying, what a lot of people on the outside of the program need to understand is Coach Borchers has had his hands full since the school first opened in 2008. He is also the AD which means he has to deal with everything athletically at the school and also the Head Football Coach. Now some may think maybe the AD shouldn't also be the coach, but Borchers has gone way out of his way to make sure the football program gets no special treatment compared to the other sports and has juggled the responsibilities admirably.

 

With all of that stuff on his plate, where he has brought this program in just a short 5 years is actually amazing. The first 2 years he had to fill the varsity team with freshman because all Juniors and Seniors who were in the Cooper school district could opt out of going to Cooper and stay where they were until they graduated. That meant he had no bodies to fill the roster with that were any older than 15 years old. That and the fact that they had to start in the largest class in the state, 6A. What he has done in a short time is incredible and if he doesn't win COY then something is wrong, no matter if they get knocked out in round 1 of the playoffs or go to the finals, doesn't matter to me, what he's done is incredible. In only the 4th year in existence his team went undefeated in district last year and in his 5th year he has his team ranked in the top 10 state wide in many polls. Now he may have handled some things the wrong way in the past, he may of said things to the players in the past to make them wonder why they were playing in the first place, but I put a lot of that on the stress he had trying to build the schools athletic programs. I believe this may be the first year he has been able to concentrate a lot more on his football team than in years past. Unfortunately in the past that may have come at the cost of some kids who helped build the program, but we all learn from mistakes and I'm sure Coach Borchers has done the same.

 

He seems so much more relaxed this year, he is very approachable this year compared to years past during the season and I think he is finally seeing the fruits of all his hard work pay off.

 

Now this is actually a huge change for me this year. I have heard too many bad things in the past about Coach Borchers that had me worried about mainly how my own boy would fair in the program, but after seeing him in action the last 2 years up close and personal I wouldn't want anyone else running that program right now. This coming from a guy that several years ago was hoping he would take another job elsewhere....now I don't want him to leave.

 

As far as coaching goes, I don't know of a better defensive mind in the area. What he's been able to do the last 2 seasons on defense with a much undersized squad is amazing to watch. He knows he doesn't have the pool of players to choose from like Ryle, Boone, Cov Cath, or Highlands has but he is still able to make these kids believe in his techniques and defensive philosophy that right now he arguably has the best defensive squad in the area. This team has only given up 43 points in 6 games. and 21 of those points were with the 2nd string playing, 14 coming in the final minutes of the game with his 2nd and 3rd stringers in. That is pretty impressive no matter who you play. His starting defense is averaging a whopping 3 points a game, his 2nd and 3rd stringers are averaging 3.5 points a game, his entire team has only averaged giving up a combined 7 pts a game. That is pretty impressive.

 

His team doesn't have the biggest players (all their games except maybe 1 their O-Line and D-line have faced much bigger players on the opposing sides) Their skill players don't get the hype that other local players get, we don't have a blake Bir or Drew Barker or Fogle playing on this team, what they do have is a bunch of no names who simply go out and do their job and strive to be their best just to please their coach and that says a lot about Borchers.

 

I will end this rambling with 1 little story that my son told me that about sums up how much these kids respect Coach Borchers. My son was only a sophomore last year, he was one of the few sophomores that started for varsity last year (he started the season starting both offense and defense) My boy played QB his entire pee wee career from 1st grade on. His last season in pee wee, the senior division, he led all the boone county pee wee QB's with 15 TD passes and only 3 Int's. He also played in the first Kenton/Campbell vs Boone all star game and helped lead the team behind Casey Boston to that win. He loved playing QB and was very good at it as I still wonder sometimes if he played that in High School would he be getting the hype that some others are getting now. When he got to Cooper, because of his height and speed Coach Borchers wanted him to play WR. A position he has never played before, I wasn't real fond of it because I was so used to him playing QB his whole life and knew when it came to game time he was one of the best at his age at that position in the county etc. My son simply went out and changed his position to WR. Last year as a sophomore he ended up leading the team with yards per reception and made some unbelievable catches. He resigned the notion of ever playing QB again and put everything he had into being the best WR he could be. Coming into this season he knew he was playing WR and fell in love with the position. Although he started, he wasn't getting any throws thrown to him through the first 3 games, and it was getting a bit frustrating to him and his dad, yet he never complained. The QB at the time was throwing to one receiver the majority of the time and that was it. After the 3rd game, the next day on Sat morning as the team went to practice and after practice was finished they all went out to watch the rest of the JV game going on. Coach Borcerhs pulled him aside and talked to him, not a long talk, but a short talk...Coach told him "I know it can get frustrating but don't worry things will come your way" and my boys reply to him was "Coach, I'm not frustrated, when you put me in the game I go in and do the best job I can do, I don't think about anything else but doing my job to the best of my ability"

 

Well when my boy told me about the conversation and what his reply to the coach was, well that was the exact moment that I knew we had the right coach for the job. My son if he didn't respect the coach in any way or manner would of just shook his head and not said a word, but when he told me what he told the coach I knew at that instant that he wanted to do nothing more than do his job the best to his ability and please the coach. He wasn't in it for the glory, he's in it for the love of the game and the love he has for that team. Needless to say after that talk starting the next week he started getting passes thrown his way and not just out there blocking for the run game. He now after 3 games since that talk has the 2nd most receptions of all the receivers and has upped his yards per catch up from the team leading 21.6 yards a catch last year to including both seasons 24.3 yards per catch. He just finished with his best game of his Varsity career this last game with an avg of 38.9 yds per reception in that game and 2 TD's receiving and a 3rd on a 89 yard fumble recovery for a TD.

 

Coach Borchers has gotten through to these kids and you can see the hard work paying off now in only the 5th year of the program.

 

Sorry for the rambling

This game seems like it is a contest between two fairly evenly matched teams. Yet, there has been no discussion at all in regards to special teams. On the North side of the river, at least, field position plays a huge factor when two evenly matched teams face off.

 

What do the special teams look like for each squad? How are the place kickers and punters? Return teams? Any insight to "third leg" of a successful game plan?

 

-CardinalsFan

 

I haven't seen Cooper play, so I can't speak for them. However I have seen conner play several times, and I can say their return team is dynamic, as we saw Friday night when Fogle took a kick off back for a touchdown of 85 yards completely untouched. The other return man they have, Andrew Way, although not as explosive as Fogle, is more than capable of doing the exact same thing.

 

Fogle is also Conner's punter and he is capable of 50+ yard punts.

 

Conner has a place kicker with a huge leg and is also very accurate. I have seen him kick 40+ yarders with ease during warm ups.

 

Special teams could play a big role this Friday. Excellent point Cardinals Fan.

 

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I haven't seen Cooper play, so I can't speak for them. However I have seen conner play several times, and I can say their return team is dynamic, as we saw Friday night when Fogle took a kick off back for a touchdown of 85 yards completely untouched. The other return man they have, Andrew Way, although not as explosive as Fogle, is more than capable of doing the exact same thing.

 

Fogle is also Conner's punter and he is capable of 50+ yard punts.

 

Conner has a place kicker with a huge leg and is also very accurate. I have seen him kick 40+ yarders with ease during warm ups.

 

Special teams could play a big role this Friday. Excellent point Cardinals Fan.

 

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Epic using Forum Runner

 

Conner's kickers are much better than Cooper's. Both schools have explosive return men. Aaron Morgan just like Fogle has explosive speed and has already returned a couple as Fogle has for scores. He opened the season against Ryle with an opening kick off return for a TD, Cooper just like Conner has another return man that can do the same, Tyler Morris can score also on kick returns, as he did this past Fri Nite with another kick return for a TD. Cooper's punting and kickoffs aren't anything special but both teams can cover kicks pretty well. So I'd give the actual kicking edge to Conner and as far as return men, both schools can return a kick for a score at anytime.

Sounds like a kicker who could put kickoffs in the end zone would be a good weapon against these two programs!

Sounds like a kicker who could put kickoffs in the end zone would be a good weapon against these two programs!

 

Or one who can follow the instructions " Don't kick it to him"

 

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Cooper is crushing Conner in the poll. Who would have thought that prior to the season?

Cooper is crushing Conner in the poll. Who would have thought that prior to the season?

 

A lot of Cooper people would that don't buy into the hype from a discussion board. Cooper won last year and has more kids back from what I understand than Conner does. Cooper may not win but it's not an upset if they do. That was the thought before the season and now, I'm sure.

Hellbird, nice story, let us know when the second book comes out.

Not a chance!

 

You sure aren't talking now like you did pre-season. You will avoid this thread like the plague and IF Conner happens to win you will have 50 posts on that game. True colors coming out. Are you worried now that you are 3-2 and almost certain not to win the district AGAIN after saying you were State bound and Conner would roll through the district. For the second year in a row you were wrong. It may not be Cooper this year but it won't be Conner. Pre-season scrimmages and practices mean nothing!!

 

You sure aren't talking now like you did pre-season. You will avoid this thread like the plague and IF Conner happens to win you will have 50 posts on that game. True colors coming out. Are you worried now that you are 3-2 and almost certain not to win the district AGAIN after saying you were State bound and Conner would roll through the district. For the second year in a row you were wrong. It may not be Cooper this year but it won't be Conner. Pre-season scrimmages and practices mean nothing!!

 

Copper laid the egg last year, not Conner pal. You have such a short memory, or should I say selective memory. Your comments are laughable. Oh yeah, way to cover both sides if your team loses. Zero conviction and change like the wind. Keep lurking in your dark little pitiful existence.

At last, some controversy that does not involve uk#1fan!!!!!

 

 

:jump:

This will be a game of Cooper's D v Conner's O.

 

 

Cooper definetly has the better defense but Conner has the better offense, led by Barker.

 

If Cooper can control the clock with their run game, led by Collins and Morris, they win. Plain and simple.

True , but the problem for Conner is;

Cooper has a great defense which they will have trouble with.

Conner has a very bad defense that will make Cooper's above average offense look very good.

Conner will have trouble keeping this within 2 scores.

Looking forward to the outcome of this one.