Football Playoffs: Copeland's Return Bolsters Bradley

Star Quarterback To Lead Bears Versus Cookeville

Thursday, November 3, 2016
Larry Fleming

Bradley Central's senior quarterback, Cole Copeland, has missed all or parts of the Bears' last three games ending the regular season. Copeland, however, will return to the lineup Friday night when Bradley plays Cookeville in the Class 6A state playoffs at Bear Stadium in Cleveland.
photo by Dennis Norwood/File Photo

The best possible news this week for Bradley Central’s football Bears is not the fact they are appearing in another postseason and hosting Cookeville on Friday in the TSSAA Class 6A state playoff opener at Bear Stadium.

More important is the return of talented quarterback Cole Copeland and that's enough to rattle the Richter magnitude scale. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound senior will start Friday’s game and the good feeling the Bears (8-2) will have for the first-round contest is enormous.

“I’m good,” Copeland said prior to Thursday’s walk-through. “As for my shoulder I feel better than I’ve felt – not banged up or anything – than I’ve felt in my four years here.”

When Copeland confirmed his playing status, a wide smile dominated his face.

The only guy smiling more than Copeland was Bears coach Damon Floyd.

“Cole is good to go,” said Floyd, who has guided Bradley to seven straight postseason appearances. “He’s been released (by his doctor) and he’s going to play and him being back adds a lot to our offense.”

A Mr. Football finalist in 2015 and semifinalist this year, Copeland’s return puts 1,703 passing yards and 17 touchdowns back into a Bears offense that helped win the first seven games of the season prior to his first-quarter injury against Hardin Valley.

Copeland, who owns virtually all Bradley records for a quarterback, is also the Bears’ second-leading rusher (468 yards, 10 TDs) behind junior running back Adam Mullis’ 715 yards.

Copeland felt like the injury was “pretty bad” as soon as it occurred, adding, “(My shoulder) didn’t feel so good. It was probably one of the worst moments of my life. And in the games I missed it was rough because I couldn’t help the team.”

The injury caused Copeland to miss parts or all of three games, the first time in his career in football or basketball, he’s been sidelined.

“So, I’m really excited to be back,” he said.

The return to Copeland also means that reserve quarterback Dylan Standifer can move back to his normal wide receiver position after filling in against Hardin Valley, top-ranked Maryville and William Blount. The Bears lost those first two games, but steadied the ship with a 28-13 victory over William Blount in the regular-season finale.

While Standifer has thrown for 497 yards and five scores with four interceptions, he’s the team’s No. 2 receiver with 270 yards on 18 receptions and five TDs. Lameric Tucker, a sensational junior wideout, leads the Bears with 68 catches for 1,041 yards and 10 scores.

Standifer was thrown into the fire on Oct. 14 due to Copeland’s injury and didn’t have time to think about what was happening.

Was he nervous?

Was he confident?

“I was definitely confident,” Standifer said. “But I was nervous too. I get (QB) reps during practice just in case something like that happens, and they keep me prepared. That was the first time I had been in that situation on a Friday night, and it was sure different.”

When Standifer, who is 15 years old, was forced to take Copeland’s spot, the shift further depleted the Bears’ wide receiver depth, since two starters were lost earlier in the season.

And the younger brother of former Bears quarterback Brett Standifer is looking forward to catching passes against Cookeville and not throwing them.

“It’ll be better for me,” he said. “I feel more comfortable out there. I know that having Cole back will be good for our entire offense.”

Copeland’s experience – he owns virtually every passing record in the 100-year history of Bradley Central’s football program – will be a key factor in the Bears’ ability to advance to the second round with a win over Cookeville. Game time is 7 p.m. and admission is $8.

Cookeville coach Jimmy Maynord has been preparing all week as if Copeland would get the start, so the Cavaliers won’t be surprised with the standout guiding Bradley’s offense.

“(Copeland) is a great player, so that’s been our focus,” Maynord told the Herald-Citizen newspaper in Cookeville.

The last in a long time of Copelands to play quarterback for the Bears, Copeland’s uncle, Brent, owns the single-game passing yardage mark (506) set against Cookeville in 1996. Cole has the next three marks – 456, 382 and 331.

Cole, a verbal commitment to UT-Chattanooga, has the school’s record for passing yards in a season (2,489 set in 2015), set the single-game all-purpose yardage record (579) versus Dobyns-Bennett in 2015 and owns the single-game completions (36) and attempts (53) records set against Ooltewah in 2014, a game the Owls won, 38-0.

That’s just a sample of Copeland’s exploits during his four-year career.

“Obviously, it’s big having Cole back on the field,” Floyd said. “He’s a dual-threat guy and has seen every blitz, every front and every coverage a guy could see. That’s something you can’t replace in terms of his experience.”

Floyd, however, will be cautious in how much freedom he gives Copeland on Friday.

Early this week, the Bears signal caller was limited to 20 passes in practice. The number has been increased each day. Floyd will cringe, however, if his prized quarterback is sacked, tackled hard or takes off on a scramble.

Ironically, that’s how he handled Standifer in the past two-plus games.

“Dylan did a great job when Cole was out,” the veteran coach said. “People don’t realize, but it’s all right to say now, Dylan was banged up (ribs) when he came in for Cole against Hardin Valley. We couldn’t run our full offense we couldn’t risk getting him hurt more. Our game plan was real simple the past three weeks.”

The Bears can – and may be forced to – use every bit of the playbook against Cookeville, which defeated Riverdale 39-22 to earn the second seed from Region 2-6A -- Bradley Central is No. 3 from Region 1-6A.

The Cavaliers piled up 373 yards of total offense and Blake Ashburn scored five touchdowns. Ashburn has 870 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns while quarterback Cade Smith has thrown for 970 yards and 10 TDs while rushing for 544 and two scores.

Floyd says it has been difficult determining Cookeville’s squad since the two teams don’t have a common opponent.

“With the films we’ve been watching, you’re wondering how good the opponent really is,” he said. “From years past, that region is probably the best in the state among public schools. I think teams two-through-six are pretty equal and they’ve all beat up on each other.

“Cookeville has good size; good speed and obviously are well-coached. It’s going to be a battle.”

A hurdle the Bears have to clear is this: they have not won a first-round game since 2010 in a 34-7 victory against Coffee County. A week later, Bradley lost to Oak Ridge 28-26.

Since 2011, Bradley has lost opening-round games to Cookeville, McMinn County, Maryville, Science Hill and Riverdale.

“I think a lot of that is who you play in the first round,” Floyd said. “The reason for us not having success in recent first-round games is on me. It’s not on any of the guys on this team.”

The 2016 TSSAA Football Playoffs

(Chattanooga-Area Teams)

(All Games Start at 7 p.m. Local Time)

Class 6A

Cookeville (6-4) at Bradley Central (8-2)

Class 5A

Campbell County (8-2) at Ooltewah (8-2)

Walker Valley (6-4) at Oak Ridge (8-2)

McMinn County (7-3) at Farragut (9-1)

Lenoir City (3-7) at Rhea County (8-2)

Class 4A

Chattanooga Central (3-7) at Page (6-3)