Off The Beaten Record: Cooper’s Return to Lima a Surprise, But A Good One
By ROSS BISHOFF
The news that Jerry Cooper will take over the Shawnee football program was quite a shocker to me. It’s certainly not a bad surprise or anything just … unexpected to say the least.
On one hand, you have Cooper, who has done a pretty thorough tour of the Lima area as a coach—including stops at Hicksville, Waynesfield-Goshen, Bath, Columbus Grove and LCC before heading to Tennessee to coach for the past four seasons at Seymour High.
On the other, you have Shawnee, which has had five coaches—Dick West, Steve Owen, Jon Carpenter, Frank Crea and now Cooper—in less than seven years. So, it’s obvious some stability would be a good thing for the program.
I’m not saying this pairing is bad or doomed, don’t get me wrong, I’m just looking at recent history. I actually think this could end up being a very good thing for the Shawnee football program and the Western Buckeye League.
Cooper’s credentials can’t be disputed. His career record is 250-104, he won a state title at Grove and at LCC he turned the T-Birds into a state power, with an 87-21 mark with eight playoff appearances in nine years.
And Shawnee certainly returns some talent into the season with Johnny Caprella, Peyton Wilson and Jacob Cowan—All-WBL selections—back to a roster that started to make some noise a season ago.
And for the WBL, it’s another fantastic coach added to the mix, with Doug Frye, Travis Moyer, Ken Schriner and on down the line, making it a brutal conference to compete in.
That’s a very good thing for all the teams involved. Not only do outsiders respect your conference more—which is handy come All-District/All-State time/AP Poll voting time—but is a very good way to push each team when nonleague teams enter the scene.
I mean, the Midwest Athletic Conference teams beat each other up and down each week during the season. Then they get to the postseason and roll.
Don’t get me wrong part II, I’m not saying the WBL is suddenly going to be the MAC or that it hasn’t been good already, but adding another very good coach will only help the players and teams involved.
All-in-all, it was a surprise to see Cooper coming to Shawnee, considering he gave his return to Ohio around a “5-to-10 percent chance” when he left. But it’s a good surprise for those who enjoy Lima-area football and those parents and fans who root for Shawnee.
Whether Cooper can match any of his past success or not is to be determined. But his return certainly gives us all another reason to look forward to football season come mid-summertime.
Numbers of the Week: 17
Wapakoneta won its 17th Western Buckeye League wrestling title this past weekend. Wapakoneta claimed the championship outright after winning the WBL tournament with 146 points to O-G’s 122.5.
Quote of the Week: “It means the world to us.”
– Pandora-Gilboa’s Drew Johnson said after his team beat Fort Jennings on Saturday to win the PCL title outright. P-G also won the Blanchard Valley Conference title outright on Friday, it’s the first time in the program’s history the Rockets have won both championships.