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EDWARDSVILLE – As Edwardsville football tight end Jack Cooper prepares for the Tigers’ IHSA first-round playoff game Friday night at Evanston, he was able to perform a rare feat for any Tiger athlete in last week’s game at Collinsville.
With his first-half touchdown catch in Edwardsville’s 65-13 win over the Kahoks last Friday night, Cooper became only the third player in the last 18 years to both hit a home run for the baseball team and score a touchdown for the football team in the same year.
Cooper joins both Paul Jonff in 2000-01 and Blake Conreaux in 2005-06 to pull off the feat.
In an interview, Cooper thought it was all about helping the both Tiger teams out in any way he could.
“Yeah, I don’t think I really realized it,” Cooper said, “but I was just trying to help my team win games, whether it’s football or baseball.”
Cooper played football in both his freshman and sophomore years but didn’t play in his junior year to concentrate solely on baseball. As a sophomore, Cooper hit .355 with four home runs and 30 RBIs to help the Tigers go to the Class 4A state final. In his junior year, he hit .336 with four homers and 28 RBIs.
Cooper decided to play football for his senior season at the urging of some friends on the team.
“A lot of my close friends play football,” Cooper said, “and they encouraged me to come out for the team this year, and I’m really glad I did.”
On the football team, Cooper has caught four passes for 35 yards and the touchdown against Collinsville, and he adds diversity to the Tigers’ starting backfield of quarterback Kendall Abdur-Rahman and running backs Justin Johnson, Jr. and Dionte Rodgers.
The Tigers’ baseball season ended early with a loss in the regional final against O’Fallon this past spring.
“Things didn’t go the way we wanted to,” Cooper said about the baseball team, “but I played with a great group of guys.”
Off the field, Cooper is a member of the school’s National Honor Society chapter, and he’s also a high honor roll student. He’s currently being recruited by several colleges, including a pair of prestigious Ivy League schools.
“The Ivy League is something I’ve always strived for,” Cooper said, “but I’m keeping my options open. I’m also looking into doing a postgraduate year as well.”
He’s being recruited mainly for baseball but is also willing to go to a school that will let him play both baseball and football as well.
“I’m talking to other schools right now,” Cooper said, “mainly for baseball, but if I could find a school that would let me play both, that would be fantastic.”
As to the game Friday night at Evanston, Cooper in anticipating that it’ll be a very good game.
“It should be a really good game,” Cooper said. “Every team we play from here on out is a good team, so we’ve got to be ready to play every night.”
And Cooper is also thinking the Tigers could make a deep run into the playoffs once again. The Tigers made it to the semifinals last season before losing to Wilmette Loyola Academy.
“I think that we could make a deep playoff run,” Cooper said, “if we do what we’re capable of doing.”
Cooper is looking ahead to the future and seeing what it has in store for him.
“Looking ahead to the future, It’s exciting, but also nerve-wracking as well,” Cooper said. “I’m excited to move on to the next chapter and see what it holds for me.”
No matter what the future holds, you can bet that Jack Cooper will be very successful in whatever he does, athletically and academically.
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