The Palo Duro Dons didn’t just beat Abilene Cooper on Thursday night. For most of the first half, they made it look easy.
Palo Duro scored touchdowns on each of its first five possessions, piled up more than 300 yards on the ground and leaned on another dominant defensive performance to roll past Cooper 35-7 in a District 2-5A Division II matchup.
The victory moved the Dons to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in district play, putting them alone atop the district standings for at least 24 hours.
And if the first half was any indication, Palo Duro looks every bit like the team to beat.
The Dons were nearly flawless for the first 23 minutes of the game, building a 35-0 advantage before Cooper finally found the end zone with 19 seconds remaining before halftime.
The second half was a different story. Palo Duro’s offense never rediscovered the rhythm it had during those opening five possessions, and 11 penalties for 100 yards added some frustration to what otherwise was a comfortable victory.
Still, when a team can essentially put a district game away before halftime, there isn’t much reason to complain.
Raymond Johnson takes over
Palo Duro has shown throughout the season that it can hurt defenses through the air, but this time the Dons decided to simply run through Cooper.
Raymond Johnson led the charge.
The senior running back finished with 201 yards on 22 carries and scored four touchdowns, turning the game into his personal highlight reel.
Quarterback Julian Reese got the scoring started after converting a fourth down with his legs on Palo Duro’s opening possession. He later broke loose for a 23-yard touchdown run that gave the Dons a 7-0 advantage.
Then Johnson took over.
He scored from 5 yards out midway through the first quarter to make it 14-0 before adding an 18-yard touchdown run on Palo Duro’s next scoring drive.
His biggest play came shortly afterward.
Johnson found daylight and exploded down the sideline for an 88-yard touchdown, stretching Palo Duro’s advantage to 28-0 and making it clear that Cooper had no answer for the Dons’ rushing attack.
Johnson added a 4-yard touchdown late in the second quarter for his fourth score of the night.
Palo Duro finished with 337 rushing yards. Johnson supplied most of them, but he had plenty of help.
Sophomore Caddyn Toombs-Jackson came off the bench and rushed for 74 yards on 10 carries, while Reese added 53 yards on six attempts. Reese had a quiet night by his usual passing standards with 82 yards through the air, but Palo Duro didn’t need to throw the ball much when the ground game was working that well.
Dons defense slams the door
As impressive as Palo Duro was offensively in the first half, its defense might have been even better.
Cooper managed only 92 total yards and five first downs for the entire game.
Defensive lineman Keanan Posey finished with six tackles and a sack, while Zachary Linton recorded seven tackles and a sack.
The Cougars’ only touchdown came after Palo Duro’s lone major offensive mistake of the first half. Reese was sacked late in the second quarter, and Chris Battee recovered the fumble.
Cooper turned the short field into points when Jamarion Dunson scored on a 4-yard run with 19 seconds remaining, cutting the halftime deficit to 35-7.
That was as close as the Cougars would get.
Even as Palo Duro’s offense stalled during the second half, the defense kept taking away any hope Cooper had of making things interesting.
The Dons forced four turnovers in the game, with Noah Faragoza, Emlliano Castillo and Darel Vargas each grabbing interceptions.
It wasn’t the four-quarter performance Palo Duro will want when the stakes get even higher later in the season. The penalties were costly, and an offense that looked unstoppable before halftime suddenly went quiet afterward.
But the bigger picture is hard to ignore.
Palo Duro is 5-1. The Dons are unbeaten in district play. They just rushed for 337 yards while holding another district opponent below 100 yards of total offense.
And for one half Thursday night, they looked downright scary.
