By John Loop
Sports Editor
The road to a state championship starts Friday for the Coppell Cowboys as they look to avenge last season’s second round exit against the DeSoto Eagles.
Coppell has weapons on both sides of the ball to potentially make it to all the way to Cowboys Stadium and the Class 5A title game, but that journey will begin against the Irving Tigers (6-4, 4-3), the fourth place finisher in District 6-5A.
The Tigers’ offensive attack starts with senior running back Antonio Franklin, who has become a cornerstone in Irving’s run-first approach. Franklin has amassed just over 1200 yards and 14 touchdowns on the season, and his closest competitor, senior quarterback Christian Garcia, is 800 yards behind him (474).
Garcia’s arm balances out Franklin’s legs in the offensive scheme. The senior has thrown four times as many scores (12) as he has interceptions (3). Because opposing defenses have focused more on shutting down the run, Garcia has been able to find junior Chase Goodall (36 receptions, 468 yards, 3 touchdowns) and senior Michael Coley (35 receptions, 536 yards, 3 TDs) on the edge for big gains with ease.
Coppell, however, has a strong running game of their own. Senior Gavin McDaniel, junior Charles West and sophomore Brandon Rice have gashed defenses in past weeks with hard downhill running.
The continued dominance of the run has opened up passing lanes for junior quarterback Skyler Bonneau.
Bonneau is coming off of a game against the Lewisville Farmers in which he threw six passes and completed four of them for 126 yards and three scores. If Bonneau can keep his rhythm during this game, Coppell should have no problem handling the Tigers defense.
The challenge for the Coppell defense will be to force turnovers. The Tigers have a tendency to score quickly and frequently. They hit 58 in Week 2 against Grand Prairie and 49 in last week’s victory over Irving MacArthur. Senior defensive ends Solomon Thomas and John Herubin should provide plenty of trouble for Garcia in the backfield, and ball-hawking safety Chris Adkins will help the secondary to limit Goodall and Coley to little production.
