Cooper, Bennett led Gators to state title match

Jason Bennett thought he might be in for a long season when he took over as coach of the Vicksburg Gators last summer.

After all, the team had never won a playoff game, was coming off a 7-8-2 season, and was a young team in rebuilding mode.

As it turned out, Bennett’s instincts were right. The Gators did have a long season. Longer than all but one other team, in fact.

In his first season at the helm, Bennett guided Vicksburg to the best season in the history of the boys’ programs. VHS won the Division 6-5A championship and reached the Class 5A championship game for the first time before losing to Clinton.

And now, Bennett’s reward for the Gators’ success is the Vicksburg Post’s soccer Coach of the Year award. Vicksburg’s leading goal-scorer, Michael Cooper, was selected boys’ Player of the Year.

“I’ve told a bunch of people if you told me I’d get this award and we’d have the season we had, I’d have laughed,” said Bennett, whose team finished the season with a 14-10-2 record.

Bennett is the one laughing now. A year ago at this time, he was searching for a job after finishing college. He went through a series of jobs over the next few months, each one leading him toward Vicksburg High.

A stint coaching youth teams at the YMCA got him in touch with former VHS coach Casey Smith, who was about to leave for Hattiesburg. Bennett had been trying to land an assistant’s position at one of Warren County’s two high schools, and ended up applying for and getting the head coaching job at VHS when Smith left.

“The only thing you can say is God wants me to be here,” Bennett said.

Early in the season, it seemed like the Gators were blessed, too. Bennett brought an increased emphasis on discipline, and it helped Vicksburg get off to a 5-2 start and No. 9 ranking in the Clarion-Ledger poll before the holidays.

“He did something no other coach had done. He disciplined us strictly. He ran us. We were always tired when it came to the last 10 minutes of games. This year we could go the full 80 minutes and overtime,” said Cooper, who had 15 goals and eight assists this season. “We didn’t like it at first, because we didn’t think he was serious. Then when we started winning games, we realized he wasn’t doing it just to be a pain.”

As quickly as the success came, though, it left again. Vicksburg lost six straight and tumbled from the polls, prompting Bennett to shuffle his lineup by switching several players to new positions.

It turned out to be the best move he made all year.

With the new alignment, the Gators won six of their last eight regular-season games. They beat Warren Central 1-0 for their first division title, then, ironically, knocked off Smith and Hattiesburg in the first round of the playoffs.

A 2-0 win over Pascagoula followed – avenging last year’s 8-0 playoff loss – before VHS stunned Oak Grove in overtime to reach the state championship game. The run ended there with a 2-0 loss to Clinton, but it hardly diminished the Gators’ season.

“It’s exciting, because I pretty much have the same talent, but everybody has bought into the new system,” Bennett said of the team’s prospects for next season. “Hopefully it’ll be better, because they’re ready and they know what’s coming.”

One of the biggest beneficiaries of Bennett’s midseason lineup change was Cooper. The sophomore had been playing midfield and setting up the offense.

When Bennett made the changes, he moved Cooper up top in the offensive scheme. It took the reins off the speedster and allowed him to do what he does best – outrun defenders and finish scoring opportunities, not just start them.

“When I was playing midfield the first half of the season, I was getting a chance to set up my teammates,” Cooper said. “But when he put me up top I got a chance to score and still assist on plays.”

Cooper’s best game came late in the regular season against St. Andrew’s. Bennett noticed Cooper had scored 24 goals with his select team, yet only six for the Gators, and challenged him to close the gap with a hat trick.

Cooper failed to do it. He only scored two goals, just missed a third, and assisted on another score in a 3-2 VHS win.

“I was just calm and ready to score some goals,” Cooper said. “Plus, we won. That team tied us last year.”

Cooper was the Gators’ biggest offensive threat in the playoffs. He had three goals and two assists in the four postseason games, along with numerous breakaway chances. That forced opponents to account for him at all times, opening up opportunities for other players. Cooper assisted both goals against Pascagoula and scored twice in the 4-3 overtime win over Oak Grove for the South State championship.

And as good as Cooper was, Bennett said the best is yet to come.

“We use his speed when he’s up top. He doesn’t have to worry about marking anybody or playing defense,” Bennett said. “I think he can be one of the better players in the state with a little more maturity and a little more physical ability.”

WC’s Coker keeps Hubert’s memory alive in goal

By Sean P. Murphy

Emily Coker clutched her silver and black jersey tightly in her hands. The gloves she wore during her senior season as Warren Central’s goalie were tucked neatly underneath.

It’s not just clothes she holds tightly in her hands, it’s memories. It’s the wish of the mother of another former standout goalie from Warren Central. It’s a piece of Courtney Hubert that Coker said will never get away.

“It’s coming with me wherever I go,” said Coker, who garnered The Vicksburg Post’s girls soccer Player of the Year honors. “I’ll never let it go.”

Hubert was killed in a car accident in 2003 along with her younger sister, Erin. At the time of the accident, Coker had Hubert’s goalie shirt. When she asked to give it back to Hubert’s parents, however, they insisted on her keeping it.

She wore the same jersey through 16 victories this season, a whopping 15 of them coming by way of shutout. She led the Lady Vikes to the playoffs, as Hubert often did, and earned a scholarship to play in college.

“Before each game, she would go to the cemetery and visit Courtney and talk with her,” WC coach Kristin Gough said. “Courtney took care of Emily and showed her the ropes. It’s only fitting that she win this award.”

Two years ago, Coker did not even know if she would play soccer. She was locked in a battle for the starting goalie with a seventh grader and didn’t see much time in net. In addition, she was a cheerleader and that conflicted with soccer.

“I didn’t want to play anymore,” Coker said. “I wasn’t having any fun.”

A batch of soul-searching and a change of heart brought Coker back to the soccer field with a renewed vigor for the game.

“She had to balance cheerleading and soccer, and that was stressful,” Gough said. “The seasons overlap and it’s tough to juggle both. She decided to pick one or the other. Luckily for us, she picked soccer.”

Her impact was felt almost immediately.

She led the young Lady Vikes to a win over powerful Northwest Rankin early in the season, then went on to lead the team to the second round of the Class 5A state playoffs.

The Lady Vikes were eliminated in the second round, but Coker’s standout season was good enough to earn a scholarship to Hinds Community College. She had considered playing at Southern Miss, where her brother Kevin is one of the baseball team’s catchers, but decided against it.

Hinds lost both of its goalies to graduation this year and Coker will have a chance to make an immediate impact.

“She is capable of doing anything,” Gough said. “She has to stay strong and focused. She has to love what she is doing.”