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November 21, 2009

Cooper, Trojans through to final

By Brian Holtzapple

ELIZABETHVILLE — No, it might not have been the Southern California Trojans and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish slugging it out, but Friday’s District 3 Class A semifinal between Upper Dauphin and York Catholic provided some of the same drama as their collegiate brethren do on the national level.

The favored and top-seeded Upper Dauphin Trojans found themselves in a tight battle with York Catholic in the first half, but most of that was from their own doing as they fumbled the ball three times in their own territory.

The second half was a different story, however.

Upper Dauphin held on to the ball, and so did senior fullback Cody Cooper, who rushed for 136 yards and two second-half scores as the hosts pulled away for a 26-14 victory at Trojans Stadium.

Now Upper Dauphin (10-1) faces a familiar foe in its first ever district championship game. It will play Millersburg on Friday at 1 p.m. at HersheyPark Stadium in an all Twin Valley Conference final. The Indians were the only team to beat the Trojans on the year by taking a 26-6 victory on Oct. 23.

“I’m so happy for our kids. We’ve made history at our school and we’re excited about going to Hershey,” said Upper Dauphin coach Carm DeFrancesco. “I don’t remember the last time we won 10 games, but it really doesn’t matter.

“An all TVC final speaks volumes for our league. We’ve never got a lot of public fanfare, but now we’re going to be on the big stage,” added DeFrancesco. “I’m happy for Millersburg and boy, it’s nice to get a rematch because the last time we played them they had our number.”

For much of the first half York Catholic (7-5) had Upper Dauphin’s number.

Upper Dauphin fumbled the opening kickoff, but Tyler Grosser made up for that miscue with a one-yard touchdown run on the Trojans first possession for a 7-0 lead with 5:10 left in the first quarter.

York Catholic tied the game by capitalizing off Upper Dauphin’s second fumble with a 16-yard run by Nicholas Full early in the second quarter.

The third fumble happened soon after for the Trojans, but their defense prevented the Irish from taking advantage again.

“I’m not one to make excuses, but that week off might have made us rusty,” said DeFrancesco. “York Catholic’s defense really stepped up, but to just give up seven points says a lot about our defense.”

They say good defensive play aids the offensive side, and it rang true late in the first half when Ty Raubenstine caught a six-yard scoring pass from Tyler Koppenhaver on 4th-and-goal to give the Trojans a 14-7 halftime lead moments after they stuffed the Irish on fourth down.

Koppenhaver finished with five catches for 95 yards.

“Raubenstine bailed us out with some unbelievable catches. He’s our go-to guy. We were struggling and he made some catches,” said DeFrancesco. “Tyler Koppenhaver, with his feet, bought us some time and (Raubenstine) made some great catches. He pulled us out of the fire because we weren’t very good in the first half.”

Cooper took over in the second half, and in the fourth quarter he scored on short runs of five and four yards, respectively, to help Upper Dauphin add onto its lead as well as run out the clock.

“Cooper’s been coming on the last half of the season. Teams have been stacking up on Grosser, and who’s picking up the slack?” said DeFrancesco. “We wore (York Catholic) out in the second half. We ran the clock and we ran the ball and ate up the clock.”

Cooper made the most of his last game in Trojans Stadium, but he and his teammates aren’t done yet.

“It’s an amazing feeling doing something that no other Upper Dauphin team has done,” said Cooper. “This was my last game on this field and I just wanted to go out and give everything that I had. I give all the credit to my linemen.

“(The district final) is going to be one of the most memorable experiences in my life. It’s going to be nuts and it’s going to be a little bit crazy,” Cooper added.

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