The visiting Cooper Bulldogs scored on six of their eight possessions en route to a 43-6 win over the Alba-Golden Panthers last Thursday.

The game was one of the more physical games played this season. Crunching tackles and loud collisions were standard fare, and to both teams’ credit, it was played largely without penalties.

In the first half, Alba-Golden had drives of 47, 66 and 59 yards, but each drive ended abruptly with a turnover. 

In the same stretch, Cooper logged drives of 76, 94 and 47 yards and scored at the end of each. Therein lies the difference in the game.

The Panthers were a bit snake-bit on the night. They suffered three interceptions, two fumbles and one turnover-on-downs. Two of those interceptions were simply excellent plays by the Bulldog secondary on accurately-thrown passes. The fumbles came as a result of the combative nature of the contest.   

The first interception of the night, however, was a lofted pass over the middle which made easy pickings for Cooper and resulted in a 65-yard return for a score. That made the score 14-0 at the turn of the quarter.

A fumble midway through the second quarter gave Cooper a short field, and they scored to go up by 27. They added a 42-yard field goal as time expired in the half.

Mason Smith directed the offense in the second half after Sam Olson was sidelined with an injury.  Olson and the Panther offense had rolled up 259 yards of offense in the first half, but without a score. 

The Panthers took the opening kick-off of the second half and marched 70 yards for a touchdown. They did it all on the ground with carries by Smith, Boogie Trimble, Daidrian Green and Brett Sutton.  

It was Sutton who scored – slashing through the middle of the Cooper defense from 10 yards out.

The Bulldog defense tightened, allowing only two Alba-Golden first downs in the remainder of play. The visitors added two scores to close out the game and cushion the lead.  

The Panthers demonstrated some great passages of play against Cooper, as they have all season, but they could not sustain the productivity.

Alba-Golden travels to Morris County Friday to face the Brahmas of Paul Pewitt High School and concludes the season hosting Boles on Nov. 7.