Winning for Cooper: Troup takes 60-56 victory in first game after teammate’s injury

Published 2:11 pm Friday, September 23, 2022

TROUP — When Troup took the field on Friday night against Paul Pewitt in Omaha, it was the first time the Tigers would play football since their team member, Cooper Reid, suffered a severe head injury that hospitalized him.

The injury happened on the final play of the Tigers’ 39-22 homecoming win over Buffalo on Sept. 9. The community immediately rallied to support Reid and his family.

“We’ve had such a good outpouring of support, not just from Troup and East Texas, but all over the state and some outside the state of Texas,” Troup athletic director and head football coach Sam Wells said. “We just ask that people continue to pray. The prayers are working, and we just ask that everybody continues that.”

The Tigers entered the field on Friday night at Brahmas Stadium carrying Reid’s No. 22 jersey. They knew what they were playing for on that night.

“The emotions were very high,” junior Trae Davis said. “Everybody knew what was up. We had to get that win, just for him.”

The score was 14-14 at halftime — with one of the touchdowns coming on an 85-yard kick return by Davis. And the other touchdown came when Paul Pewitt fumbled the opening kickoff, and Troup capitalized on the short field.

But in the second half, things changed.

“We just turned it on, and they did too,” Wells said. “It turned from a defensive battle to a shootout. Our kids’ resilience showed up and their effort, too.”

The Tigers went on to win the game, 60-56.

“It was special,” quarterback Grayson Hearon said. “There was a high intensity and high emotions. Everybody knew we had to do it for Coop.”

“The way we played, every touchdown, every point scored, every fumble recovery, every tackle, it was all for Cooper,” senior running back Kevin Pierce said.

Hearon finished 9 of 18 for 309 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Pierce had 24 carries for 210 yards and five touchdowns behind the offensive line of Payton Elliott, Jacob Baker, Joseph Salgado, Skyler Sides, Cayson Jester, Jack Johnson, Colby Turner and Chris Calley. Pierce also caught a 49-yard touchdown pass. Davis had six catches for a school-record 245 yards with two touchdowns and the kickoff return for a touchdown.

“That means a lot for the team than just for me,” Davis said. “A record is a record. It’s good and all, but we’re playing for the team.”

The defense was missing their middle linebacker Reid, who had nine tackles and two tackles for loss against Buffalo to earn Tyler Morning Telegraph Defensive Player of the Week honors.

“We moved some people around a little bit,” Wells said. “Brayden Tomlinson, who was a starting outside linebacker, came to an inside linebacker for the first time and did a fantastic job against a really good offense.

“Our defense forced three turnovers and forced them to punt three times and then got another stop on fourth down, and we got some big stops when we needed it the most.”

Now, the Tigers (3-1), coming off of two consecutive wins, will have a bye this week as the rest of District 9-3A Division II begins this week.

“We’ve got some injuries,” Wells said. “We are banged up a bit as most teams are at this point. But with the emotional part and the healing part and everything else, this is coming at the perfect time for us.”

When the Tigers return to their schedule, they will host Quitman on Sept. 30 for the first varsity game at Tiger Stadium since Reid’s injury. The Tigers will host rival Arp on Oct. 14 and Winona on Oct. 28 to close out the home portion of the schedule.

But no matter when or where the Tigers are playing, they’ll be playing for No. 22.

“Obviously Cooper is a locker room favorite,” Wells said. “Our kids, they’ve done a tremendous job of dealing with all of this. We just continue loving on our kids and being honest with them. Our kids are really close to Cooper and close to the family. We pray about it and love on each other. So I think all of us just coming together, that’s how we’re getting through it.”