Cowboys Look To Stay Undefeated Against St. Thomas

Photo Credit: DAVID ROSENFIELD

BY JACKIE WEISER

For Cooper City High School’s undefeated varsity football team, November 4th marks more than a game. It’s the night of the highly anticipated match up against St. Thomas Aquinas.

In 2009 the Cowboys ended their season with an overall score of 1-9 and ranked 405 in the state. Fast forward two years later and you’ll find a defending district championship team with a record of 8-0 and ranked 19th in the state of Florida.

“Not only have the coaches started picking it up but we have also picked it up as a team,” player Eleazar Rausseo said. “We’ve worked harder and we’ve worked together.”

This year, the game against the Raiders is crucial because it can make or break the Cowboys undefeated season. But the question is, have they come far enough to exceed their underdog reputation and beat one of the most prestigious teams in the nation?

“I mean anything’s possible,” athletic director Paul Megna said.” I’m just expecting our boys to go out there and play as hard as they have all year long.”

The secret behind the team’s successful season is teamwork. When one player is slacking off another teammate will carry their weight.  This year the boys have been working more as a unit and are communicating more along with devoting more time to practice and working on mistakes.

“We’ve kept a lot of the same techniques we used last year but also added some new touches,” coach Earl Little said. “We’ve added more blitzes and moves to the playbook.”

The Cowboys have not prepared any differently for the St. Thomas game. Due to a few key players being injured, the last two games haven’t shown the Cowboys full potential. On October 20^th when they faced the South Broward Bulldogs the score was 34-21. Then on October 28^th when the boys faced the McArthur Mustangs the score was a close 26-21.

Despite the injuries and set backs coach Art Taylor remains pleased with his team and is looking to win against the Raiders.

“As long as the kids come out and play hard they can beat anybody on any given night,” Taylor said. “We just need to focus on not making any mistakes.”

Come out to the St. Thomas Aquinas football field Friday, November 4^th to watch the Cowboys attempt to keep the undefeated streak alive.