(Bossier City) - Gary Cooper became the BattleWings' starting quarterback in the off season and had a really good night passing in his first start at the Wings' healm, but it wasn't enough as the Central Valley Coyotes' held the BattleWings scoreless in the fourth quarter for a come-from-behind victory 55-54.
Cooper threw for 282 yards and 7 touchdowns with 1 interception. But Coyotes' QB Joe Ayoob tossed 5 touchdown passes himself, 3 of those to Tonae Martin who returned for Coach Freddie Biletnikoff from last year's Coyote team that led af2 in scoring.
The game had several strange twists, like the Coyotes giving up two safeties to the Wings, and each kicker missed extra points. But the big missed kick was by BattleWings' Chris Bennice to end the game just wide of the mark. If good, the Wings would have won by a pair.
The last time before tonite that Chavis McCollister played in the CenturyTel Center he caught 4 touchdown passes to almost single handedly beat the wings playing for South Georgia last season. Tonite as a BattleWing, McCollister caught 10 passes from Cooper, 4 of those were for TD's.
Turnovers and botched special teams play kept the Wings from putting the Coyotes away, even after moving out to a 20-point lead. But good defense by the Coyotes and a couple of miscues kept the Wings scoreless in the fourth quarter and gave Central Valley the one point squeaker.
The BattleWings return to the CenturyTel Center next Friday night to host the Corpus Christi Sharks who shocked the Austin Wranglers in both teams' season opener. The Wings swept Corpus last season, but Wings' Coach Jon Norris knows the Sharks are improved. Kickoff for Friday's game is 7:35 PM.
PASSING
Gary Cooper 20-35 with 1 interception, 7 TD's
Joe Ayoob 17-31 with 1 interception, 5 TD's
RECEIVING: BattleWings
Chavis McCollister 10 for 124 yards, 4 TD's
Manwell Talbert 5 for 104 yards, 2 TD's
Dustin Johnson 4 for 41 yards, 1 TD
RECEIVING: Coyotes
Jason Barnes 7 for 76 yards, 1 TD
Tonae Martin 3 for 47 yards, 3 TD's
RUSHING: BattleWings
Jason Schule 5 for 13 yards
Gary Cooper 2 for 3 yards
RUSHING: Coyotes
Joe Ayoob 7 for 28 yards, 2 TD's
Damian Walker 4 for 19 yards
FUMBLES
Battlewings 5 and lost 4
Coyotes 1 and lost 0
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