Team Spotlight: Cooper Jaguars

Although their program is only two years old, the Cooper Jaguars have already improved by leaps and bounds. At this time last year, the Jags were 0-2, having been outscored 102-8. Through two weeks this year, the squad from Burlington is 2-0 and already scored more than half the points that they scored in the entire season last year. In week 1, the Jags upset Louisville Shawnee by a score of 49-20 and this past week, Cooper scored their biggest win in their program's short history; a 28-27 victory over Scott. I recently caught up with head coach Randy Borchers for a Q&A segment about the direction of his program and here is what he had to say:

Q: What's the biggest difference you've noticed in your team this year compared to last?

A: There are two major differences that we see in our team from last season. The first difference is that our players are playing with confidence and believe that they can win. Last season our players were not sure of themselves. They were trying to learn our schemes and were playing not to lose, rather than to win. The second major difference with our team is that they are stronger and quicker than last season. This offseason was huge for our football team and the players made the commitment to work hard and make themselves better football players. I believe this is a major reason that we are 2-0 and that our players have the confidence that they can compete in Northern Kentucky.

Q: How has the early season success helped with the confidence of your players?

A: I believe that our players came in to this season believing that they can compete, but now they believe that they can win. The early success has allowed our players to realize that people now have expectations on this football team. Last season, people expected us to lose but this year people are starting to believe in us and the excuses of being a new program are no longer accepted.

Q: How can success this year help your program in the future?

A: Obviously, we are trying to build a winning tradition here at Cooper. The more success the players have this year, the more it will carry over to next season. We have got to make sure that our players do not accept losing and that they get an understanding of what it feels like to win. The more we win this season the more excited the incoming freshmen will be next season to be apart of a winning program. We understand that the success we want will not come over night but it is a building process. The more success we have this year the stronger the foundation will be for the future.

Q: What are the keys for your team to finish the rest of the season strong?

A: We have to improve every week. We are still very young and our players have a lot to learn about the game of football. As long as we can continue to teach the players and they continue to improve every week we should have a pretty good football team by the end of the season.

Q: Lastly, what is your outlook on this week's game against Holmes?

A: Holmes is a very good football team. They are very athletic and they have a ton of speed. Holmes is very well coached and their players play extremely hard. We have been preaching to our players all week that we must be disciplined and play assignment football. We know that we have to force Holmes in to long drives and cannot give up the big play. We feel that if we can do this and keep the game close until the fourth quarter than we will have a shot to win the football game.