The Cope Cougars eighth-grade team earned a share of the district title and the seventh-grade team finished undefeated with victories over Greenacres at Bossier’s Memorial Stadium last week.
The eighth-grade team won 40-12 and the seventh-grade team won 22-6.
The eighth-grade team finished 6-1 overall and 4-1 in district, sharing the championship with Haughton. The seventh-grade team finished 7-0 and 5-0.
This marks the first time in school history both Cope teams have won district football titles, eighth-grade coach Ray Smith said.
Smith said the Cope-Greenacres game is always a big rivalry.
“The kids know each other and they know they’ll be future Vikings,” he said. “Credit to Greenacres for paying a very physical game with 20 kids. Their wide receiver No. 10 (Sentavion Ball) and quarterback No. 40 (Carter White) played well against us.”
Cope running back Trey Jackson completed an outstanding middle school career. He rushed for 971 yards on 75 carries and scored 15 touchdowns in seven games.
Jackson gained more than 2,000 yards the last two seasons.
He scored four touchdowns against Greenacres on runs of 27, 28 and 14 yards and an interception return of 30 yards.
Jeremiah Boudreaux and quarterback Connor McConathy scored on runs of 6 and 3 yards, respectively. Markell Hampton ran for two conversions.
Smith said the Cougars’ line, with three starters weighing less than 130 pounds, has been “the unsung heroes of our offense.”
They include Champ Endris, Nathan Hill, Kyler Hively, Phillip Hughes, Brandon Litton, Brandon Sanders, Madden Sawrie, Larry Sims and John Mark Williams.
End Dante LaCour led the defense against Greenacres with five tackles and one sack. Other standouts included linebackers Endris and Sincere Walker, tackles Jose Parra and Larry Sims, and end Sanders.
