Bradley Central's Cole Copeland named player of the week

Bradley Central senior Cole Copeland, who's committed to UTC, is all over the record books for his high school football program.
Bradley Central senior Cole Copeland, who's committed to UTC, is all over the record books for his high school football program.
photo Bradley Central quarterback Cole Copeland passes during their prep football game against Walker Valley at Bradley Central High School on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, in Cleveland, Tenn.

Honorable mention

› Hunter Hill, North Sand Mountain: He completed 19 of 38 passes for 304 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions in a two-point loss to Dade County.› Logan Fowler and Zy Moore, Meigs County: In a road win at Oneida, the pair combined for 276 rushing yards and on 19 carries (14.53 yards per carry), including four touchdowns.› Kyle Dunn, Polk County: He averaged 18 yards per carry (12 for 216) and scored three times as the Wildcats improved to 2-0.

Of the top 20 single-game passing performances in 100 years of Bradley Central football, 13 belong to Cole Copeland.

He has six of the top 10, including second, third, fourth, seventh, ninth and 10th. The all-time best showing is 506 yards and was set by another Copeland, Cole's uncle Brent, in 1995 against Cookeville. The No. 2 performance is 456 yards, by Cole last season against Dobyns-Bennett.

He got No. 3 Friday passing for 366 yards while accumulating 437 yards of total offense. For his performance, he has been selected by the Times Free Press as the Waffle House All-Star player of the week.

"We played pretty well," Copeland said of the Bears' 39-7 victory against visiting McMinn County. "I guess I played all right. Everybody got in the flow of the game, and I got more confident with each throw."

The senior, who has committed to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, completed 27 of 37 passes and tied a school record with six touchdown passes. He also rushed for 71 yards.

"When he gets rolling and gets hot, he's hard to stop," Bears coach Damon Floyd said. "He checked off a couple of times and got us in the right play, but there wasn't anything that he didn't do."

Floyd nodded when asked if he has depleted his store of positive adjectives to describe the 6-foot-3, 195-pound star.

"A lot of (recruiters) call and ask about Cole," the coach said. "I just say he's the ultimate competitor, he's so accurate and he has so much poise. And if everything is covered, he can tuck it and run."

Cleveland radio broadcaster Gary Ownbey, the Bears' unofficial sports historian, is working on a book - "100 Years of Black-and-Gold Glory" - and has included a records section, by extension including Copeland.

The list includes the school's top two performances for passing yards in a season (2,489 last year and 2,355 in 2014 by Copeland), single-game touchdown passes (six, tied with his uncle), most career passing yards (currently second, 5,613 yards; 861 yards from tying the leader, his brother Brice); and the two top spots for most passes completed in a season (211 in 2015 and 183 in 2014). And on the lists for most passes in a game and most completions in a game, he holds four of the top five positions.

It was news to Copeland. He has no idea where he stands in the Bears' record books.

"All I'm really worried about is winning," he said, "and with the offensive line and the wide receivers making plays, that other stuff will take care of itself."

That was the case Friday.

"He was a little out of sync early," Floyd said. "He had good reads, but he probably needed to hold it a split-second longer. Then he settled in."

Said Copeland: "Everything we do starts with the offensive line, and you also have to give a lot of credit to the receivers. Both groups are reasons I had a big night and the receivers had a big night, but without the O-line there are no passes thrown or caught."

Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him on Twitter @wardgossett.

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