After unexpected breakout season, Harris County’s quarterback is looking for more
Harris County head football coach Jamie Fox had never given a game ball out, but a sophomore quarterback changed all of that in August 2019.
It was week one, and Harris County hosted local power Carver, a team that would eventually boast a 2,000-yard rusher and make a run at the Georgia High School Association 4A playoffs.
Harris County and Carver traded blows, but an injury to starting quarterback Davion Mahone meant that then-sophomore Cooper Corey, who had seen very limited snaps, was forced into action.
Corey took the opportunity in stride, running for 53 second-half yards and passing for 90 yards on eight completions, adding one touchdown. He converted a fourth-and-2 scramble with three minutes left in the game that all but guaranteed a Harris County win.
Corey passed for 1,211 yards and 15 touchdowns, with just three interceptions, in 2019. He also ran for nearly 500 yards and six touchdowns.
After a breakout season that saw him earn All-Bi-City Honorable Mention honors, the junior signal caller is back for more.
“(We want) to improve the passing game,” Corey said on Wednesday. “We were more of a running team last year. We want to be able to throw the ball a lot more.”
Improving on a breakout season
Corey quarterbacked the Tigers to a fourth-place finish in region 1-4A last season, barely clinching a playoff spot thanks to a late October win over Thomas County Central.
The offense sputtered in the Tigers’ final two games, scoring a combined 21 points that included a 28-7 first-round road loss to Starr’s Mill.
This year the offense will look different, which means more for the junior quarterback to shoulder. The Tigers have a new offensive coordinator, Kelby Holt, and confidence is high, according to Corey.
Corey may not look like the most athletic player, but he showed throughout 2019 that he can run the offense as a true dual-threat quarterback. In one instance during the Carver game, a bad snap rolled three yards deep into the end zone. Corey simply grabbed the ball up, darted through the offensive line and picked up a first down on a play that looked doomed from the start.
“He’s a stud,” Tigers receiver Marcus Dumas said. “He’s the truth. He can run, he can throw, reads, everything.”
But there were some bumps along the way learning the new offense, according to Tigers head coach Jamie Fox, such as learning new pass progressions and reads.
“Sometimes he tries to do a little too much,” Fox said. “Which, he can do a lot, but sometimes you can do too much.”
Corey, in a COVID-19-shortened off-season, learned to “relax, and let the offense come to him,” according to his head coach.
Corey said he’s improved his ability to read coverages, look at defenses and tell who’s going to be open before a play starts. He spent most of the off-season correcting his footwork, which he described as “terrible.”
“Reps, over and over and over and over,” Corey said. “Until your feet really start hurting. You feel like you want to go in, but you know you shouldn’t.”
High expectations for 2020
The Tigers open 2020 at home, against another tough opponent in Troup.
Troup, also the Tigers, won last year’s game 27-21. Corey threw for 162 yards and two touchdowns, but Troup’s Kobe Hudson and Trey Williams, now at Auburn and Shorter, respectively, carried the home team by rushing for over 230 combined yards.
Corey wants to go undefeated this year
That might be a tough ask in a region that includes Starr’s Mill and Griffin, but if the offense clicks at the rate the Tigers feel it will, improvement is to be expected.
And, like they did in last year’s season-opening win over Carver, the Tigers will need Corey playing at his best.
“I’m feeling really good going into this year,” Corey said. “I feel like I’m going to be even better than last year. Hopefully we’ll do some special things this year.”
This story was originally published September 4, 2020 at 10:00 AM.
