Halftime Update: Frenship Builds Serious Advantage Over Lubbock-Cooper

LUBBOCK, TX — The 5A Div II No. 8 Lubbock-Cooper Pirates hosted the 6A Frenship Tigers out at Pirate Stadium on Friday night, September 20. On paper, this seemed like a dream matchup guranteed to be a hit, however, the Tigers had other plans. Frenship hung 35 points on the Lubbock-Cooper in the first half and lead 35-14 at the break.

Frenship’s offense ignited early, with quarterback Holden Phillips hitting several receivers on the Tigers’ first drive. Cooper’s defense forced several third downs on the drive, but Frenship could not be stopped. Phillips hit the Tigers’ Chase Campbell on a 10-yard touchdown pass on 3rd and goal for the game's first points.

The Tigers' defense crushed any answer the Pirates would have had on Cooper’s first possession with a takeaway. Pirates’ Quarterback Ryan Rodriguez hit an open man, but the Tigers were there to rip the ball away. Frenship answered only three plays later with a 65-yard touchdown pass from Phillips to Campbell. The Tigers led 14-0 midway through the 1st quarter.

Another two punts from the Pirates resulted in two more touchdowns for the Tigers. First, a 1-yard touchdown run from Ethan Deleon. Next, Texas Tech commit Leyton Stone decided he wanted to be involved and caught a deep pass down the sideline to set the Tigers up with a 1st and goal. Jordan Hernandez finished off the drive with a short touchdown, and just like that, the Tigers led 28-0.

Lubbock-Cooper finally got on the board midway throught the 2nd quarter. A big play through the air set up several tough runs to push the Pirates towards the goal line. Jackson Austin scored form 2-yards out to cut the lead to 21.

The two teams traded one more touchdown a piece before the half, but Lubbock-Cooper had work to do during the break if they had any hope of climbing back into this contest. Frenship led at the half, 35-14.