Abilene ISD -

Old district rivals Odessa Permian and Abilene High will meet on the football field for the 60th time in their history Thursday night in a non-district game at Ratliff Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. as the Eagles and Panthers each look to start their respective seasons 3-0.

The Eagles opened their season two weeks ago with a 60-36 win at San Angelo Central and followed it up with a 42-33 victory last Friday over Cooper in the 64th Crosstown Showdown at Shotwell Stadium. The Panthers defeated Plano, 13-10, in their season-opener and outscored El Paso Eastlake, 56-49, last week to improve to 2-0.

Abilene High fans planning to attend the game in Odessa will sit on the stadium's east side, and tickets are available here. Ector County ISD has implemented a clear bag policy at Ratliff Stadium. Only clear bags will be allowed in with spectators to ensure the safety of all events at the stadium.

Fans can find the live audio broadcast from AHS announcers Chuck Statler and Cody Coil here. The Odessa Permian live stream (video) is available here.

The duo of quarterback Brayden Henry (pictured) and senior wide
receiver Ryland Bradford leads the Eagles. Henry has thrown for 414 yards and five touchdowns in the first two games while rushing for 211 yards and three touchdowns. In last week’s win over Cooper, Henry threw for 216 yards and two touchdowns and ran the ball 19 times for 144 yards and three touchdowns en route to winning Great American Rivalry game MVP honors.

The Panthers got a touchdown by Luke Paradeaux with 34 seconds left to take the lead and an interception by Ian Rylee to seal the game for Permian. Despite throwing two interceptions, Permian quarterback Jakob Garcia still completed 12 of 16 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns while also running for 61 yards.

Cooper Cougars
Cooper will be back at Shotwell Stadium for the third straight week, and the Cougars will welcome a familiar face on the visitor’s sideline as San Angelo Central head coach Mark Smith returns home to coach against his alma mater for the first time. Smith played for current Highland Park and former Cooper head coach Randy Allen and later played at Hardin-Simmons University.

Smith’s return to Abilene this week is fitting because the Cougars will celebrate Homecoming at Shotwell Stadium. Each team is 0-2 entering Friday’s game, set for a 7 p.m. kickoff. Tickets are available here.

The Cougars and Bobcats have met 51 times in a series that dates back to 1961. San Angelo Central leads the all-time series 27-23-1. The only opponents Cooper has played more in its history are Abilene High (64 games, including 2024), Midland Legacy (63 games), and Odessa Permian (54 games).

Fans who cannot attend the game in person can watch the action on AISD Live with Jimmy Pogue and Rick Cason calling the action. The Cooper audio-only broadcast with Pogue and Cason is available here. As a reminder, AISD has implemented a clear bag policy at Shotwell Stadium and the Shotwell Annex. Only clear bags will be allowed in with spectators to ensure the safety of all events at Shotwell and the Shotwell Annex.

Cooper starting quarterback Austin Cummins has had a solid start to the season, completing 32 of 57 passes for 378 yards and five touchdowns through two games. Cooper’s other main offensive threat is receiver Zavian Alexander, who has caught 12 passes for 193 yards and four touchdowns through two games.

Central, which rallied from down 48-14 to pull within a field goal, got two touchdown passes and two touchdown runs from Christian English, but the electric quarterback was intercepted three times. English has thrown for five touchdown passes and run for four more through two games.

Volleyball
The Lady Cougars of Cooper knocked off Mineral Wells in three sets (28-26, 25-14, 25-18) Tuesday night to run its record to 10-13. Rachel Sprencel led the Lady Coogs with 10 kills, Maeley Siglock with nine, Amyah Walzer with eight, and Payton Ellis with six. Cayelyn Nault and Jaedah Titus shared the setting duties with 17 and 11 assists, respectively.

Walzer and Nault led Cooper’s defensive effort with 13 digs apiece and by Siglock and Ellis, who each had two blocks. The Lady Coogs are back in action Friday at 4 p.m. at Andrews and will play two more times next week: Tuesday at Frenship at 6 p.m. and Friday at Brownwood at 5 p.m.

The Lady Eagles lost at Stephenville, 3-0, Tuesday night for their fifth straight loss. Abilene High (11-17) is off Friday and won’t play again until Tuesday, Sept. 17, at Midland Christian. Next Friday, Sept. 20, the Lady Eagles will be in Midland again to play Midland High.

Cross Country
In a tune-up for next month’s Region I-5A cross country championship meet, the Abilene High girls won the Lubbock Invitational team championship last Saturday at the Mae Simmons Park course. Qualifying teams in Region I will compete for the regional championship on the same course on Monday, Oct. 21.

The Lady Eagles saw their top four runners finish in the top eight as they scored 60 points, easily out-distancing second-place Azle, which finished with 72 points. Senior standouts Mason Murray (second overall, covering the 5-kilometer course in 19:38.8) and Zoe Vann (fourth in 20:06.9) led the way for Abilene High, with sophomore Remie Batten finishing sixth (20:28.6), and junior Emily Brumley coming in eighth (20:44.3).

The Cooper girls finished 12th, led by sophomore Lila Murillo, who was 21st (21.48.5). Senior Kayla Dillon was 42nd in 23:15.9, and sophomore Mizeri Ortiz was 60th in 24:40.2.

On the boys’ side, Azle won the team championship with a score of 92 points, followed by Lubbock Monterey (100 points) and Abilene High (101 points). Cooper only took three runners to the meet and didn’t qualify for a finish in the team chase.

Abilene High senior John Alcantar finished second in the individual chase, covering the 5-kilometer course in 16:03.3. Junior Aldo Sanchez was fifth in 17:10.4, followed by junior Cassidy Scott in 12th (17:4.2), sophomore Antonio Delagarza in 40th (19:28.2), and sophomore Reynaldo Salinas in 42nd (19:32.9).

Cooper’s Gabriel Reyna finished 26th overall (18:29.2), followed by Braden Dawson (77th in 20:41.9) and Dylan Gladden (86th in 21:45.6).

All four AISD teams are back in action Saturday at 7 a.m. at the Abilene Invitational, which will be run at Sherrod Park.

Team Tennis
The two AISD Team Tennis squads continued to roll last week as they swept Midland Legacy and Midland High.

Cooper’s two wins push the Cougars to 19-0 on the season as they prepare to host Brownwood at 4 p.m. Thursday and then begin District 4-5A play Saturday at 9 a.m. when they host Wichita Falls Memorial. Cooper will play at No. 7 Wylie at 5:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 17, in the second of four district matches.

Abilene High, meanwhile, is 19-1 after sweeping Midland High and Midland Legacy. The Eagles will be in Wichita Falls on Saturday to begin District 4-5A play at 9 a.m. against Wichita Falls Legacy. They will also be in San Angelo on Tuesday, Sept. 17, to take on old rival San Angelo Central at 5 p.m.