Versatile Cooper Sparks Antelope Valley

See Lamart Cooper run.

See Lamart Cooper catch.

See Lamart Cooper throw.

That, in a nutshell, summed up the offensive strategy for the Antelope Valley College football team in a nonconference game against visiting Ventura on Saturday night.

And that strategy was especially apparent in the first half, when the Marauders jumped to a 13-point lead at intermission on their way to a 23-10 victory.

Cooper, a slotback, touched the ball only seven times a week ago when the Marauders tied Valley. But against Ventura, Antelope Valley’s little big man (5-foot-6, 145 pounds) either carried, caught or threw the ball eight times in the first half and 11 times in the game.

“They wanted to get me involved with the offense a lot in the first half,” Cooper said, “then use me more as a decoy in the second half. They had a guy following me on every play during the game, so it seemed to work.”

Cooper gained 71 yards in nine carries and caught one pass for 37 yards. He gained 32 of those rushing yards in six first-half carries. But it was Cooper’s four-yard touchdown pass to Courtney Miller with no time remaining on the clock in the first half that brought the crowd to its feet.

While running to the left, Cooper took a pitch from quarterback Ryan Callahan. He let the Ventura defense sucker in on the play, then calmly lobbed a pass to a wide-open Miller in the corner of the end zone.

“We have to take advantage of the defense when they key on me like that,” Cooper said. “We called the play in the huddle, but it’s up to me to make the decision on whether to run or pass, depending how they react.”

Cooper’s scoring toss capped an eight-play, 20-yard drive by Antelope Valley, which was set up by Chris Goring’s 57-yard return of an interception.

Charles Thompson’s 43-yard punt return had given the Pirates great field position three plays before Goring’s interception.

Antelope Valley (1-0-1) put the game away for good with 12 minutes 56 seconds remaining when Greg Graham scored on a 29-yard touchdown run to cap a 33-yard drive and give the Marauders a 23-3 lead.

Graham finished with 127 rushing yards in 14 carries. He also scored two touchdowns.

“Any time Lamart is in there, it opens things up for me,” Graham said.

Ventura (0-1) scored its only touchdown on a six-yard touchdown run by David Cox with 5:47 to play.

The Pirates moved the ball up and down the field in the second half, driving inside the Antelope Valley 20-yard line three times, but they were able to score on just the final one of those drives.