IRVING – With 11 minutes left in the first quarter, senior wide receiver Jonathan McGill put Coppell’s first points on the board with a 52-yard touchdown reception. From there, the Cowboys were on their way to victory,

In its last game of the regular season, Coppell defeated Irving Nimitz, 35-14, entering into the Class 6A Region I bi-district playoffs next week.

“Going into next week, we’re going to watch a lot of film and prepare the best we can,” senior offensive lineman Trevor Stange said. “For a lot of us, it’s our senior year and we have to make it count.”

The Cowboys plays Southlake Carroll next Saturday at 2 p.m. at Dragon Stadium.

After the first touchdown by McGill, the Cowboys regained possession on an interception by senior defensive back Brandon Point less than two minutes later. However, they were not able to capitalize on the possession and settled for the punt.

When Nimitz got its first full possession, it was evident that the Coppell defense would dominate. From pressure on the quarterback from senior linebackers J.R. Barker and Xavier Brown to pass coverage from McGill, who also plays safety, and other defensive backs, the Vikings were having a hard time gaining yards.

Moreover, not even a punt was untouched by the hands of the Coppell defense. Senior defensive back Khalil Rasheed blocked the punt and returned it for a touchdown, giving Coppell a, 14-0, lead with 3:29 left in the first.

Twelve seconds later, Coppell had the ball again on a fumble recovery.

Soon after, senior wide receiver Rasheed Noel ran it up the middle for a two-yard touchdown. With 2:52 left, the Cowboys had a 21-0 lead.

But Coppell’s defense was not finished. Just before the end of the first, the Cowboys forced and recovered another fumble. However, at the beginning of the second, they were not able to score and turned the ball over on downs.

The only touchdown in the second was a six-yard run by sophomore Jason Ngwu, which put the Cowboys up 28-0 going into halftime.

“I feel like we executed very well throughout the game,” Stange said. “We hit on all cylinders and I couldn’t be more proud of my team.”

In the second half, the Vikings scored twice and Coppell scored once more, bringing the score to 35-14.