FOOTBALL: Abilene Cooper rallies to beat Amarillo High

LUBBOCK Cougars quarterback Clayton Nicholas scored on a 1-yard run with 2:01 remaining to play to lift his team past the Sandies in a Class 5A Division II area playoff Saturday at Jones AT&T Stadium.

Nicholas finished 17-of-33 passing for 221 yards.

The Cougars (9-3), advanced to face Mansfield Timberview next week in a regional playoff.

Abilene Cooper wide receiver Lorenzo Joe, who caught the game-winning touchdown last week against Arlington Lamar, threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Randle at the 9:50 mark of the second quarter to get the Cougars on the scoreboard.

Keanan Milligan and Ashton Tillman each scored touchdowns for Amarillo (8-4). 

Amarillo High............ 7.... 7     0     0   —    14

Abilene Cooper......... 0.... 7     0   14   —    21

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

Amarillo High: Keanan Milligan 5 run (Mason Edmondson kick), 7:28.

Second Quarter

Cooper: Derrick Randle 30 pass from Lorenzo Joe (Wes Polk), 9:50.

Amarillo High: Ashton Tillman 14 run (Mason Edmondson kick), 1:08.

Fourth Quarter

Abilene Cooper: Kerry Sims 21 run (Wes Polk kick), 11:53.

Abilene Cooper: Clayton Nicholas 1 run (Wes Polk kick), 2:01.

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TEAM STATISTICS

Yardstick                   Amarillo              Cooper

First Downs........................ 13.................... 21

Total Yards...................... 265.................. 357

Rushes-Yards............ 43-231............. 34-106

Passing Yards................... 34.................. 251

Passing...................... 4-12-1........... 18-34-1

Fumbles-Lost................... 2-0................... 0-0

Punts-Avg.................... 5-35.4.............. 4-33.5

Penalties-Yards............. 7-52................. 7-52

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

Amarillo High: Keanan Milligan 21-142, Ashton Tillman 9-71, Josh Woods 6-28, Cole Sanchez 4-9, Gabe Rodriguez 3-(minus 19).

Abilene Cooper: Matt Watson 11-43, Xavier McCann 5-23, Kerry Sims 1-21, KaShawn Brown 3-10, Edrick Gonzales 2-9, Steven Lugo 3-8, Joe 2-7, Team 1-(minus 2), Nicholas 6-(minus 13).

Passing

Amarillo High: Nate Rodriguez 4-12-1 34.

Abilene Cooper: Clayton Nicholas 17-33-1 221, Joe 1-1-0 30.

Receiving

Amarillo High: Ryan Sluder 2-15, John Bennett 1-12, Jacob Wise 1-7.

Abilene Cooper: Lorenzo Joe 5-74, Derrick Randle 4-72, Anthony Pierson 2-34, John Patrick 2-18, Edrick Gonzales 2-12, Matt Watson 2-11, KaShawn Brown 1-30.