By Alex Nicoll
Sports Writer
The temperature said it was 52 degrees. It lied.
In Coppell’s 31-0 shutout of Marcus, nature proved to be the true opponent for the Cowboys.
Both teams struggled with keeping ahold of the ball as they combined for a ridiculous nine fumbles. The Cowboys lost all three of their fumbles and the Marauders only lost three out of their total six.
“The cold made it [football] slippery, but that is still no excuse. You got to handle the ball,” coach Joe McBride said.
The cold made the ball seem like a bar of soap.
Marcus struggled all throughout the game with keeping possession of the ball, but Coppell’s woes mainly came after their dominating first half. After enjoying a 24-0 lead after halftime the Cowboys fumbled in the third quarter on consecutive drives.
The Marauders did not capitalize on any of Coppell’s turnovers due to their outstanding defensive play, but McBride was still furious about the fumbles.
“Lack of focus, not taking care of the ball,” McBride said. “We came out of the second half fat and happy from a good first half, and came out here just doing dumb stuff. We cannot be a great football team and do dumb stuff like that.”
The cold did not only affect the run game.
Each quarterback for either team had to compensate for the wind and fight through it.
“I had to focus on mechanics, and just aim small, miss small is what I have been told,” senior quarterback Colby Mahon said.
Mahon seemed unaffected by the weather as he kept delivering pass after pass and only throwing two incompletions in the game.
Coppell’s running back core is a different story. Responsible for two-thirds of the Cowboys turnovers (Mahon was answerable for the other due to a bad snap), the running backs are looking to put this game behind them and fix the issue whether it be caused by the weather or not.
“I am not going to make any excuses. It was a bit colder but I do not think it affected us much. We came out slow, came out happy after half-time, but I do not think we should blame the weather for that,” junior running back Gavin McDaniel said. “We just came out unfocused. There’s nothing to blame, nothing to point fingers at, we just came out unfocused.”
After the third quarter Coppell was back on track and was flawless in the fourth quarter.
“We need to get focus, try to get better, and play for four quarters. If we want to be a great team, we have to be great for four quarters. We need to be self-motivated to play four quarters,” McBride said.
Coppell is ready to put the past behind them and move on to greener pastures as they are looking forward to what next week has to offer when they take on Denton Ryan.
“A great opportunity to play a good team,” Mahon said. “We have a shorter week to get ready but we are ready to take it on.”