Saving the best for last

Senior quarterback Eric Cooper had just about enough of Lakeland High School’s recent losing ways.

So three months ago, on an August night, Cooper, senior tight end Jeff Good and senior wide receiver Taylor Campbell got together and decided to make their final season a winning one.

“We were just playing video games at Taylor’s house and being high school kids,” Cooper said. “And then we started to discuss football. We just made the decision that we were not going to lose this year. We were going to turn this thing around and be the leaders of this team. We were just tired of losing.”

Good recalled the night: “We were just hanging out at Taylor’s house playing Madden and it just hit us that we didn’t want to go through another season of having a losing record. We were tired of people thinking they could do whatever they wanted to do to our football team.”

During Cooper’s first three years at Lakeland High, the Hawks won just six of their 28 games.

Cooper and company matched that three-year win total this season, going 6-3, winning the 4A Inland Empire League and clinching their first state playoff berth since 2007.

“The last three seasons, we haven’t had a bunch of wins,” Lakeland coach Tim Kiefer said. “And Cooper stepping up into a leadership position and the kids hearing from a kid like him ... he’s a role model and it’s really nice to have that in a kid and a quarterback. He says all the right things. I think he’s one of the big reasons we’ve turned it around this year.”

But Cooper’s ability and opportunity to lead didn’t come without practice, fear and even a teammate’s injury.

During his sophomore season, Cooper, then a second-string quarterback, watched starting quarterback Kyle English get injured during a game.

“He got hit pretty funny and he was wobbling off the field,” Cooper said. “So after the game I went to the ice room and asked if he was OK. He said, ‘Yeah. I just hurt my knee.’”

Later that night, Cooper received a text message from English, and quickly found out the junior quarterback was, in fact, not OK.

‘Hopefully you’re ready to play next week,’ the text message read.

English tore his meniscus, making Cooper Lakeland’s new starting quarterback for the remainder of the season.

“Holy crap,” Cooper said of his reaction to the text. “I was scared out of my mind. I thought it was just going to be for one week. And then I found out that he tore it, and I was going to be the starter for the rest of the year.”

While being the varsity backup, Cooper spent a lot of time on the junior varsity squad and had quarterback experience. But the jump still presented a challenge when he took over the reins of the varsity program.

“Between JV and varsity there is a big difference for us,” Cooper said. “The hand signals are different and the play calling is more complex. It was very hard to get used to.”

Cooper’s fear of being the starting quarterback continued until halfway through his junior year when he said it just ‘clicked.’

“Most of my problems were that I was scared to mess up,” he said. “If I threw an interception I’d be down on myself for a couple possessions. I had to overcome that I could make a mistake and that it was OK. Now I can make a mistake and forget about it and go play.”

In his senior campaign, the 6-foot-2 Cooper has completed 147 of his 214 passing attempts for 1,991 yards and 15 touchdowns.

“It has always been a dream of mine to be at the top,” Cooper said. “I always wanted to be a star but not that selfish star. I wanted to be the best and second to nobody. I’m not the hardest lifter, but I will just go out and throw to work on my accuracy. I’ll throw for four hours if I have to.”

Cooper’s accuracy has helped him avoid defenders this season, only throwing five interceptions on the year.

“He’s grown into a great quarterback and he’s become more of a member of this team,” Good said. “He’s the main leader on and off the field. He’s the one that gets us fired up before the game. He’s always positive and always has encouraging things to say. Whether we are winning or losing, he’s always there for the team.”

Campbell added, “He’s become the sole leader of this team, and he makes the plays we need. If we didn’t have him it’d be really hard to be doing what we are doing right now.”

Cooper’s maturation into a star quarterback could be attributed to more than just his work ethic.

Cooper proclaimed himself, ‘very superstitious,’ noting he wears the jersey of professional quarterback Michael Vick to every practice.

“I really don’t know why I do it,” Cooper joked.

Last year, Cooper wore Vick’s Atlanta Falcons jersey to practice, but Kiefer told him to remove it because it was red and white, not Lakeland green.

But a relentless Cooper returned to this year’s first practice wearing Vick’s green Philadelphia Eagles jersey.

“It’s just my swagger,” he said. “We all have our superstitions. Taylor (Campbell) wears the jersey he had in fifth grade to practice. It barely covers his pads. Jeff (Good) never takes his socks off after practice. It’s what we do; It’s what we’ve done all season, and it has worked.”

Continuing the trend of superstitions, Cooper will be donning a new old pair of cleats this Friday against visiting Middleton (8-2) in the state 4A playoffs at Corbit Field in Rathdrum.

“Coach (Jimmy Hoffman) gave me his cleats last season,” Cooper said. “I didn’t wear them at the beginning of this year, but once I put the cleats on, we beat Sandpoint (61-27) and Moscow (38-7). The cleats have three big holes in them and I have to tape them up really well, but coach (Hoffman) told me he won in them and I believed him.”

Born Lester Franklin Cooper III, after his father, the quarterback received the name Eric from his mother, Donna, who always wanted an ‘Eric.’

“Most people don’t know that about me,” Cooper said. “Kids think it is a cool name, and I am proud to carry the name of my father.”

Cooper spent a majority of his childhood being active outdoors, riding dirt bikes when he was 6 to stay active. It was his passion for always being active, along with his parents, that led him to sports.

At an early age, Cooper became involved in soccer, basketball, baseball and flag football.

“I just really wanted to be active and do pretty much all I could do,” Cooper said. “My parents have always been there and supported me and they introduced me to all of my sports. My dad always encouraged me to be active and never let me sleep in.”

Cooper began his football career as a running back, but was moved to quarterback in the sixth grade.

“I was always into baseball so throwing was something I was good at,” Cooper said. “I realized that I liked throwing a lot more than running.”

But Cooper added he wouldn’t be where he is today without the help and commitment of his 15-year-old brother Kenny.

“He’s always been my practice buddy,” Cooper said. “He’s always there whenever I want to go shoot or go throw. I probably wouldn’t be who I am today without him.”

Cooper also plays wing on the Lakeland basketball team, and shortstop for the Hawks’ baseball team.

He idolizes Derek Jeter and hopes to get offered a baseball scholarship this season.

Cooper’s career plans are to major in engineering or join the United States Coast Guard.

Cooper credits his success to his mom and dad, and said they have meant everything to him.

“My dad taught me to never be second to anybody and to always work hard,” he said. “And one of my dad’s key quotes will always stick with me wherever I go.

“He always told me, ‘If you shoot for great, you’ll get good. If you shoot for good, you’ll get fair. If you shoot for fair, you’ll get poor.’”

High school football state schedules

Times PDT

Mountain View (7-2) at Coeur d’Alene (9-0), Friday, 7 p.m.

Skyline (5-4) vs. Capital (7-2), Friday, 6 p.m., Bronco Stadium, Boise

Lake City (5-4) at Eagle (8-1), Friday, 6 p.m.

Meridian (6-3) vs. Highland (9-0), Friday, 4:30 p.m., Holt Arena, Pocatello

Columbia (7-2) at Hillcrest (7-3), Friday, 6 p.m.

Blackfoot (9-0) at Skyview (7-2), Friday, 6 p.m.

Middleton (8-2) at Lakeland (6-3), Friday, 7 p.m.

Preston (3-6) vs. Pocatello (7-2), Friday, 7:15 p.m., Holt Arena, Pocatello

Kellogg (3-6) at Fruitland (9-0), Saturday, noon

Weiser (8-1) at Timberlake (7-2), Saturday, noon

Snake River (6-3) vs. Salmon (9-0), Saturday, 4 p.m., Holt Arena, Pocatello

Kimberly (5-4) vs. Marsh Valley (7-2), Friday, 1:30 p.m., Holt Arena, Pocatello

Firth (4-5) at Declo (8-1), Friday, 5 p.m.

New Plymouth (3-6) at Nampa Christian (8-1), Friday, 6 p.m.

West Side (8-1) vs. Butte County (7-1), Saturday, 11 a.m., Holt Arena, Pocatello

Gooding (5-4) vs. Grangeville (9-0), Friday, 5 p.m., Kibbie Dome, Moscow

1A Division I

Oakley (7-2) at Rimrock (8-1), Friday, 6 p.m.

Horseshoe Bend (7-1) vs. Hagerman (9-0), Saturday, 1:30 p.m., Holt Arena, Pocatello

Kendrick (8-1) vs. Troy (8-1), Friday, 7:30 p.m., Kibbie Dome, Moscow

Potlatch (8-1) at Wallace (8-1), Saturday, 2 p.m., Sather Field, Silverton

1A Division II

Dietrich (5-3) at Castleford (7-2), Friday, 6 p.m.

North Gem (4-5) at Carey (9-0), Saturday, noon

Lighthouse Christian (6-3) at Salmon River (6-2), Saturday, 1 p.m.

Tri-Valley (4-3) at Kootenai (4-5), Saturday, 1 p.m.