Fort Worth Country Day outlasts John Cooper to win SPC 3A state title

Fort Worth Country Day’s Brian Farda has been with the football program for the past 15 years, but it’s his first season as the Falcons’ head coach. He was on staff when the Falcons won state championships in 2010 and 2016, but he said Saturday night’s win was a little more special.

Country Day won a shootout 55-41 against The Woodlands John Cooper to win the Southwest Prep Conference 3A title at Dallas Jesuit.

“I was lucky enough to be on staff here and we had success before,” Farda said. “I feel very fortunate. These kids did an outstanding job this year.”

The Falcons (7-4), which lost to John Cooper, 57-42, on Sept. 21, finished with 39 carries for 224 yards and gained 367 total.

With the Dragons (9-0) trying to erase a late two-score deficit, Country Day’s Chas Berry recovered a fumble with 20.3 seconds left to seal the trophy.

“John Cooper is an outstanding football team and really difficult to prepare for,” Farda said. “Our guys executed the game plan unlike anything I had ever seen. The kids just went off this evening.”

“It’s an amazing feeling,” said junior quarterback Stephen Murrin, who had 18 carries for 82 yards and two touchdowns.

Murrin’s first TD came from the 7 to put the Falcons up 39-20 late in the third. His second came from the 5 midway through the fourth to make it 47-34.

“We knew they had a big offense so we had to keep on scoring,” said Murrin, who added 143 yards passing and one TD. “We came together as a group. I love all these guys.”

John Cooper, which was searching for its first state title, took a 7-0 lead when Evan Minarovic hit Thomas Elkhoury for a 5-yard TD with 9:13 in the first.

Campbell Hyde returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards and Drew Chilcoat drilled a 37-yard field goal to put the Falcons up 9-7 late in the opening frame.

Murrin’s only passing TD came from 50 yards to Chris Edwards to extend the lead to 16-7 with 9:45 in the half.

Minarovic, who had 529 yards of total offense, hit Logan Leax for a 44-yard TD to get within 16-13, but Murrin answered with a 1-yard TD run with 42.9 seconds left in the half.

Country Day added three points for a 25-13 halftime lead when Ozzie Fleischer picked off a Cooper pass near the red zone.

Both teams traded off touchdowns in the third quarter.

Cooper scored back-to-back TDs to end the third and start the fourth with a 58-yard TD catch from Daniel Gerber and a 1-yard TD run from Minarovic, which got the Dragons within 39-34 with 9:15 left.

Sam Elkind scored two TDs in the second half, the last coming from 22 yards to ice the game with 1:28 left.

“The coaches set us up well this week and we were ready for any challenge Cooper gave us,” Murrin said.

Country Day, which wins its 11th state football title in school history got 82 yards rushing from Connor Brown. Edwards added 76 yards on four catches.

Minarovic was 28 of 60 for 449 yards and five TDs. He rushed for 80 yards on 19 carries. Elkhoury and Leax combined for 18 catches, 288 yards and four TDs.

This story was originally published November 10, 2018 at 9:51 PM.