The Pirates are always good— always in the mix for a State Championship and a deep run in the playoffs as well under Coach Chip Darden and his great staff. This season, there seems to be more stability up front and it’s led led by Hudson Hamilton and of course, Coach Hays— the legend of Offensive Lineman Coaches.
I think this season the Pirates will go more to a ground attack first mentality, even though they have one of the best players in West Texas in Michael Dever at the Wideout position. Let’s not forget he verbally committed to Texas Tech recently and has some of the best hands in the Country!
Rodriguez will be the quarterback one and has a plethora of options at the Tailback position including Jackson Austin— who looks to have a tremendous Senior Campaign and will rack up some more offers along the way. There are also a couple of more tailbacks that will make a significant impact for Lubbock-Cooper, but we will get to that later.
In their preseason game Friday against Odessa, the Pirates offensive and defensive line pushed the Bronchos around all game with exceptional play from Malik Epps-Keller in the backfield and Cole Stanzione hovering around the entire field during the contest. There were some quick QB Pressures from Sione Vaea during the scrimmage and the Pirates’ defense was sharp.
This performance was expected from the Pirates and LCP will have another tuneup scrimmage before their Bally Sports game of the week in TEXAS when Lubbock-Cooper takes on Lovejoy in the Metroplex on Friday, August 30th at 7:00pm. Thats one thing I love about the Pirates; they will schedule and play any team, any time. How will the Pirates do this season? I think well.
LCP moves down to 5A DII and that’s where a lot of their runs have came from with their latest two in 2021, and 2019, coming in 5A DII when the Pirates made the State Semifinals in both seasons. Here is their 2024 schedule below! Let’s go, Pirates!
LUBBOCK-COOPER PIRATES:
Key Returners:
Hudson Hamilton
Jackson Austin
Michael Dever
Malik Epps-Keller
2024 Schedule
