Cooper is super in MJC football season-ending win
Trey Cooper, 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, is listed as a quarterback.
Don’t bother him with such meaningless facts. He brings a linebacker’s mentality to football’s glamour position, and Modesto Junior College’s season changed the moment he walked onto the field.
San Joaquin Delta is inclined to agree after the season-ending 73-28 beat-down applied by the Pirates on Saturday afternoon. Cooper accounted for seven touchdowns – five rushing and two passing – and would have kept scoring had the clock not ticked to zero.
“If it means running through people, I’ll do it,” Cooper said. “I feel like I add aggression.”
Cooper, who tied Aaron Fields’ 2012 school record with his five rushing TDs, carried 22 times for 203 yards. It’s his physicality, however, that inspires his teammates. When he stepped through the tackle of 350-pound Daniel Lyle, thus setting up Modesto’s second touchdown on the next play, Cooper put his signature on MJC’s third win over Delta in the last four seasons.
The Pirates (4-6, 3-2), at times scrambling for any traction at quarterback this season, didn’t discover Cooper until midway through the season. He wasn’t even included on the season-opening roster. The Enochs High graduate didn’t take a snap as the backup to TeeJay Gordon in 2013, and he didn’t rejoin the team until August.
“He didn’t show any of that running or passing last year. We honestly didn’t know what we had,” head coach Sam Young marveled. “He’s getting better and better, and he remains unruffled. He has that cowboy demeanor.”
Delta (1-9, 1-4) was left with a difficult choice: Focus on Cooper, or concentrate on tailback Anthony Cota, MJC’s all-time leading rusher. Neither was a good option. Cota, no lightweight at 230 pounds, totaled 127 yards and three touchdowns on 25 attempts.
Before it ended, Modesto gashed Delta for 780 net yards, reason enough why the sophomores smiled after their last game. About 2,000 at MJC Stadium watched a team finishing a difficult season on an unmistakable high.
“I wanted to pose a dual threat,” Cooper said. “If they key on Cota, I can help my team.”
Delta erased an early 14-0 Modesto lead before Cooper found Zach Moreno alone downfield for the 37-yard go-ahead touchdown. Six plays after Kendel Johnson’s interception – the game’s only turnover – Cooper bolted straight down the field 37 yards for the score that signaled the rout.
Once during the second half, Cooper circled away from pressure and tossed a 42-yard strike to T.J Williams. The play reflected the growing confidence of a guy who’s started only three games.
Modesto finished 3-2 in the Valley Conference for the second consecutive season, which wasn’t bad given the Pirates’ 1-4 start. Their tough back-to-back losses to Laney and Chabot, however, loom large.
“Eight points away from being in the tournament,” Young mused. “It’s such a thin line.”
At least the Pirates have identified their quarterback for 2015.
This story was originally published November 15, 2014 at 7:42 PM with the headline "Cooper is super in MJC football season-ending win."