Dragons hope finish brings quick start
Landrum has John Cooper School carrying momentum of 2015 in tough SPC race
The record doesn’t reflect it, but The John Cooper School played well down the stretch in losses to St. Stephen’s Episcopal and St. Mary’s Hall, and a 42-37 win over The Village School in the finale.
Coach Brent Landrum hopes that momentum – and determination – carries over this season.
“We finished strong,” Landrum said. “The three best games we played all year long were the last three of the year.
“After some bumps in the road, the boys didn’t quit. They continued to fight, and it’s hard when you’re in a season like that and things aren’t going well, and you’re playing a good schedule.
“A lot of people would quit, and my kids didn’t do it.”
They finished the year 2-8 overall, including a 14-0 win over TAPPS opponent Rosehill Christian.
Now the Dragons head into a new district that presents fresh challenges.
Instead of dividing geographically into north and south, the SPC split into 4A and 3A, with John Cooper in the smaller 3A division with eight other teams that are more evenly matched by size and skill.
The only problem is none of their district opponents are close.
“The closest road game we’ll play in conference this year is 3½ hours away,” Landrum said.
Still, Landrum is excited about playing a schedule filled with more like-minded SPC opponents.
He’s also optimistic about a defensive change he hopes makes them more competitive.
Cooper hired defensive coordinator Cody Edwards out of Royal Palm Beach in Florida to install a new 3-4 front.
Landrum said the scheme is a better fit for the size and depth on the line.
“It’s a little more aggressive (than they’re old 4-2-5),” Landrum said. “With certain things that are being run today, in the spread-offense world, it take some of those things away and makes us a little more aggressive on the edge, so we’re hopefully going to be better setting the edge with this defense.”
Key defensive players include linebacker Emerson Raybon, defensive end Stijn Albers, safety Eric Grosser and nose tackle A.J. Krehbiel.
“Defensively, it’s been a struggle for us, but we have more speed and more athleticism,” Landrum said. “The thing we don’t have is size. We’ve had more size in the past. We have less size now but more speed and athleticism, and so running a 3-4 plays right into our hands with that.”
Raybon, who also plays running back, gives them skills.
The senior holds the team record for rushing yards and is their leader in tackles and sacks, earning him team MVP honors last year.
“(Raybon’s) not a jumpcut guy,” Landrum said. “He’s a more downhill guy, which doesn’t necessarily work well in our scheme. We need to get that guy. But he’s getting better at the zone concepts and he runs hard.”
They’ll run behind a rebuilt offensive line, with Krehbiel the only returner at center.
The two backs also will take handoffs from a new quarterback in sophomore Evan Minarovic, who replaces the graduated Michael Gerber.
“He brings a different dimension than Michael Gerber did,” Landrum said. “He’s more of a dualthreat kid, he has a stronger arm and he’s faster, but Gerber had a great grasp of the offense, he was a veteran and he’d done it for so long.
“So there are going to be some hiccups there, with Evan begin young and not having as many years in the system as Michael did, but I’m excited about him.”
Cooper is loaded at wide receiver, with Trent Burgess and Grant Huettel, who also play cornerback, as the top returners, Logan Leax and Daniel Gerber returning, and Michael Fisher up from junior varsity.
“Depth-wise, at receiver, we have as good of a receiving corps as we’ve had here, and that’s why I feel comfortable that we’ll be able to throw the ball as well as run it,” Landrum said. “Those guys all catch the ball well, they all run well, they all block well, and they’re all fairly physical kids.”
Cooper scrimmages Fort Bend Christian on Friday, Aug. 12, at home and Second Baptist on Aug. 19 at home, and opens Aug. 26 at Iola.
“Physicality on defense and running to the ball … (are) the biggest things I’m looking for,” Landrum said. “I want to see how physical we are, how well we tackle and how many people we can get to the ball. Offensively, we cannot turn the ball over, period, end of story. That was an Achilles heel of ours last year.”