Dawgs make history in 35-16 win over Midway

By DAVID MORRIS

Cove Leader-Press

Hewitt – The Copperas Cove Bulldawgs (4-6, 2-4) boarded the bus and stopped in Hewitt for the season finale with the Midway Panthers (7-3, 4-2) in a classic Thursday night contest.

Copperas Cove, playing for pride, has dropped each of the district contests since winning at home over Killeen High School Sept. 27.  For the Panthers, a win has them hosting a playoff game next week, a loss and their playoff game is on the road.

This rare Thursday meeting proved to be different from the previous four district contest as the Dawgs shutout Midway in the second half of play to come from behind and win for the first time in 11 meetings that dates to 2007.

Leading the Dawgs on offense, Anthony King passed for 204 yards on 12 completions and rushed for six carries. On the ground, KJ Zeigler carried the ball 27 times for 125 yards and four touchdowns. Glass was King's favorite receiver hauling in 8 passes for 135 yards that included a touchdown.

Midway took the opening kick at their own 24-yard line. The Panthers were able to move the ball 32 yards on eight plays before a fourth and 10 forced a punt to the Dawgs’ 16-yard line where King would begin the first drive for Copperas Cove.

Cove advanced the ball just three yards on three plays, forcing a punt of their own on the opening drive, moving Midway back to their own 33-yard line.

One play later Lathan Whisenton scampered 67 yards for a touchdown and the first score of the night. The missed point after kick left the score 6-0 with 7:32 remaining in the first quarter.

An offside by the Panthers on the onside kick negated their recovery at the Dawgs’ 44-yard line and instead set them to kick from the 35-yard line.

Teagan Facison returned the kickoff to the Dawgs 43 where they began their second drive.  Zeigler touched the ball for the first time on this drive, and three carries for a first down later, King found Arthur Miller for a 39-yard gain down inside the 10-yard line. On second and goal Zeigler found the endzone for the Dawgs. Luna added the kick to give the Dawgs the lead over the Panthers, 7-6.

The lead would last one play as Luna kicked to Jesse Satterfield who hauled in the ball at the 11 and raced to the endzone for an 89-yard return. This time the kick was good and the Panthers lead was 13-7.

Maceo Irick returned the kick to the Dawgs’ 35-yard line. The drive stalled after six plays and two first downs. On a fourth and eight, Kyson Ignacio would send the ball to the Panther’s 5-yard line with just over a minute left in the first quarter.

Pinned deep in their own end of the field, the Panthers moved the ball on the legs of Whisenton out to the 30 before the quarter would end. Coming out of the break brought up second and 13 for the Panthers with the ball being knocked out of the hand of McNair. On third and long McNair would run up the middle and be stopped for no gain and a fourth and 14. The punt, hauled in by James Marshall was returned for 14 yards out to the Dawgs’ 40.  

Chipping their way down the field, the Dawgs used 8 plays to move the ball 26 yards before facing a third and seven where King’s pass would fall incomplete bringing up fourth down. The fourth down passing attempt would be thrown away by King, turning the ball over on downs at the Panthers’ 34-yard line.

The Copperas Cove defense allowed the Panthers to move the ball 39 yards on nine plays before a fourth and three at the Cove 28 would turn the ball over to the Dawgs as the pass would fall incomplete.

With just over 3 minutes remaining in the half, Copperas Cove would slow the pace, moving the ball 18 yards on four plays and two minutes of the clock before calling a timeout. Facing a second and four from the 45, Glass would haul in a pass from King to move the Dawgs inside Midway territory and two plays later Zeigler would be downed at the two-yard line with 40 seconds remaining and a first and goal to go. From the two-yard line he would power through the line and give the Dawgs the lead late in the first half 14-13.

Luna’s kick would be brought out by Satterfield to the Panthers’ 33-yard line. Picking up 21 yards on first down 12 on the next play and six by McNair on the fresh set of downs quickly had the Panthers inside Dawg territory at the 27-yard line with 12 seconds left in the half. Facing third and one from the 35-yard line with six seconds left, Abraham Bustamante lined up for a field goal attempt that sailed through the goal posts and gave the home team the advantage going into halftime 16-14.

Stat leaders going into the locker room were Zeigler with 16 carries for 70 yards and a pair of touchdowns while Cuthbert racked up 10 yards on three carries. King was 7 of 11 passing for 94 yards, while Glass hauled in 5 catches for 53 yards. Miller caught 2 for 41 yards.

Returning from the locker room, Cove received the kickoff at the 25-yard line as the ball was sent out the back of the endzone for a touchback. Zeigler carried three straight times for a first down moving out to the 35-yard line. Miller would lose three on the new set of downs, bringing up second and 13. From the 33-yard line Zeigler would get the ball back to the original line of scrimmage for third and long. 

Glass added 40 yards to his first half total on first down moving to the Midway 20. Zeigler added to the total with a 14-yard rush down to the four-yard line. From there he would find the end zone and his third touchdown of the night. The score capped off a 9-play, 75-yard drive that put Cove on top 21-16 in the third quarter of action.

Luna’s kickoff was downed at the Midway 41. McNair and the Panther offense would move just seven yards on three plays before fourth and three forced what would be the third punt of the night for Midway. Some trickery and an incomplete pass on fourth turned the ball over to Cove at midfield.

With a five-point lead, King found Glass on a 30-yard pass tackled at the 18-yard line on first down. On the new set of downs, Copperas Cove would need three to pick up the first down as Zeigler stumbled down to the five before walking into the end zone on the next play to extend the lead to 12.

Lined up at the 40, Luna sent a ball onsides and was recovered by the Dawgs at the 41 yard line. A King to Miller connection moved them down to the 9-yard line. A taunting call would back them up to the 24 where it would be first and 10. Three straight runs put the Dawgs behind the sticks with fourth and long from the 21-yard line. King lined up in shotgun and sent a pass out the back of the endzone, giving the ball back to Midway at their own 22.

Midway turned the ball back over to Copperas Cove after three consecutive incomplete passes on the drive used less than a minute of time. The punt flipped the field possession, downed by the Panthers at the 11, yard line of Copperas Cove.

Cuthbert moved the ball on the ground with a 54-yard run up the middle that included aa touchdown saving tackle at the Midway 40-yard line.  

Two plays later, the clock marked the end of the third quarter with the Dawgs holding to a 12-point lead with the ball at the 33-yard line with three to go for the first. Cuthbert would pick it up on a fourth and one, gaining seven on the rush.

Offsides on second down put Cove behind the sticks with 15 yards to gain for a first. Scrambling for his life with half the defensive line chasing him, King threw the ball out of bounds, bringing up fourth down and 15 to gain. Going for it on fourth down, King launched the ball to the endzone that would be batted down and turns the ball over at their own 30-yard line.

McNair sent the ball downfield on a pass that fell just beyond the fingers of his receiver on first down, connected on a screen pass picked up seven on second down and a quarterback keeper on third failed to pick up a first down with an unsportsman like penalty backing the Panthers up after initially picking up the first down at the 39-yard line. Four plays later again faced with a fourth and long, a swarming Dawg defense locked up the Panther receiver stopping him short of the line to gain, turning the ball over at the 27 for Copperas Cove.

With just under 6 minutes to play, the Dawgs began their methodical drive that chewed the clock down to two minutes when Glass collected his first touchdown of the night off an 8-yard ass from King. The point after kick by Luna extended the lead 35-16.

The Panthers would have one final shot at closing the score, but the ball would be picked off in the endzone and after a penalty was assessed, the Dawgs lined up at their own 10-yard line.

From there King would be down for no gain on first, two more knees and the Dawgs earned their fourth victory of the season, their second district win, improved their record over their 2023-24 campaign and ended the 11-game losing streak to the Panthers.

Copperas Cove ended the season with two wins more than last year’s campaign with wins over Ellison, Del Valle, Killeen and Midway.  King was 143/251 on the season with 16 touchdowns and six interceptions.  He rushed for 148 yards on 61 carries.  Cuthbert carried the ball 95 times on the season collecting 487 yards.  He had 19 receptions for 111 yards.  Zeigler carried the ball 167 times for 1142 yards on the season. Glass collected 73 receptions for 1013 yards on the year while Miller had 40 receptions for 581 yards.