The winning streak is over.
For the first time since 2022, the Coppell football team has lost a district game.
Denton Guyer defeated Coppell, 35-21, at Buddy Echols Field on Friday, snapping the 20-game district win streak the Cowboys had built.
Guyer (3-2 overall, 2-0 District 5-6A) never trailed Coppell (3-1 overall, 1-1 District 5-6A) with its largest lead being 22 points in the third quarter.
The Wildcats struck first. Senior running back Kaedyn Cobbs started the game rushing 50-yards before being dragged down by senior safety Kenneth Gibbs. However, the very next play, Cobbs was able to take the ball two more yards across the goal line to make the game 7-0 with 9:06 in the first quarter.
The Cowboys answered in the beginning. Senior cornerback Tyree Roberson brought the crowd to its feet when he intercepted a Guyer pass and returned it 22 yards leading to Coppell’s first touchdown.
“We forced some punts and made some big stops,” Roberson said. “But in the end we needed to be more physical in the box.”
Now set up for the first touchdown, Coppell junior quarterback Ishan Mair threw the ball from the 13-yard line to sophomore quarterback Carter Zingelmann who was inside the end zone during a trick play. He managed to stick his hands up while being covered by defense in the last second to snatch the ball from the air for the touchdown with 2:37 left in the first quarter. The two-point conversion was unsuccessful, however, leaving the score 7-6 as the first quarter came to a close.
“We let them push us around up front,” Coppell coach Antonio Wiley said. “We lost the game on the line of scrimmage tonight.”
Still, Guyer’s offense kept rolling. Sophomore quarterback Carter Morgan broke free for a 20-yard run early in the second quarter, setting up another Cobbs touchdown from three yards out with 11:57 left in the first half. Morgan connected with junior tight end Zane Rowe for a 17-yard pass to push the lead to 21-6 with 0:31 left before halftime.
“We thought we could win until the very end,” senior wide receiver Crew Davis said. “We went three-and-out and didn’t run the ball enough, but we kept trying till the end.”
Coppell found life in the third quarter. Zingelmann threaded a pass to the wide open junior tight end Evan Macken in the end zone, cutting the deficit to 28-13 with 4:06 left in the third quarter.
Throughout the game, Zingelmann completed 15 out of 21 passes for 204 yards, scored two touchdowns and hauled in a touchdown reception.
“We never stopped believing,” Davis said. “Even when they went up by two or three scores, we kept thinking about how to come back.”
However, Cobbs answered once again. He muscled his way through Coppell’s defensive line for his third and fourth touchdowns of the night in the second half, giving the Wildcats a commanding 35-13 lead with just over five minutes left of play.
Cobbs rushed for four touchdowns and finished Friday night with 171 yards and 32 carries.
With 7:43 left in the fourth quarter in a crucial moment of the game, the Cowboys fumbled the ball on the kickoff return, giving the Wildcats possession of the ball for a fresh set of downs after their touchdown allowing them to run the clock as the game continued.
“You hate that it happens because we had the momentum,” Wiley said. “But you can’t make those kinds of mistakes in district games.”
With 3:57 left in the fourth quarter, the Cowboys gave their final push. Zingelmann spotted sophomore wide receiver Jacob Anene for an 11-yard pass, who then ran that catch 47 yards, staying upright through the Wildcats’ multiple attempts to take him down, scoring Coppell’s third touchdown of the night.
Despite the setback, Wiley stressed that the Cowboys’ season is far from over.
“It wasn’t a systemic failure,” Wiley said. “It was guys missing assignments and guys not being physical enough. We’ll go back, clean it up and keep moving.”
Coppell looks to bounce back next week against Little Elm (0-5 overall, 0-2 District 5-6A) as district play continues.
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