Page 16 Fall Football Preview • Thursday, August 28, 2025 sailor. mnsun. com
COOPER HAWKS
Core of returning faces set to excite
DOMINIC BISOGNO dominic. bisogno @ apgecm. com
There is little doubt that the standards are high for Cooper football.
The Hawks are set to start their latest season amid a multi-cycle long run of strong showings in the regular and post season, with reasons to be excited found across their 2026 and 2027 classes.
PATTERSON’ S THOUGHTS
Cooper has a stacked class of 2026, featuring core players from last year like Sema’ J Young, who recently committed to Bemidji State University, as well as Amari Davison, multi-positional threat Tavorian Thompson and Ajavion Wiley-Hunt.
Kicker Richard Baysah returns to provide some consistency, too.
The class of 2027 includes several talented student-athletes as well. Beckham Van Voorst was dangerous at quarterback as a sophomore and promises to do more as a junior, while Antonio Ferguson is sure to cause trouble at running back and linebacker. There is some defensive depth, too, with linemen like junior Abel Nason bringing some experience.
Head coach Tony Patterson, in his third year co-leading the team with Willie Howard after spending over a decade on the team’ s staff, has been highly encouraged by the way many players who got opportunities last season are stepping into leadership roles this fall.
“ We have some guys from the classes of 2026 and 2027 that are coming back with significant experience. They’ ve shown a lot of great leadership so far,” Patterson explained.“ I let them know that we had some guys who had played a lot of football at Cooper who left last spring and now it’ s their chance to really step up. They took that seriously and worked together this summer to keep the team active and connected. We’ re seeing the time we gave them last season paying off for sure.”
This season will see Cooper likely contend for a section run, having made the last few championship games in stride, but the team are continuing to avoid talking too much about the long term, instead focusing on one game at a time. Patterson noted that, while he continues to develop his impact on the team as head coach, the mentality of the Hawks will continue to embrace what has worked so well in past seasons.
“ We still want to stress the importance of going 1-0 every week to our guys and even as we’ ve looked at how to improve on past seasons, we stick to that message,” he continued.“ That said, we have high expectations for this team and the players have high expectations for themselves. A lot of teams say things and don’ t show the work and we want to make sure that isn’ t us, that we hold the players accountable at every turn. … I’ ve been here
( SUN PHOTO BY DOMINIC BISOGNO)
Senior running back Amari Davison( center of frame) runs the ball during a team exercise at a recent Cooper football practice.
sixteen years and, in these last three as a head coach, it’ s just been about building on the foundation we’ ve all been building for that time. Nowadays, I get to put my spin on things a bit more and obviously my voice is a big part of the team now, but it’ s always been important to also embrace the consistency and this whole staff who’ ve been here for most of or that entire time.”
Cooper will be in the Northstar West-Maroon Conference this season, joined by Armstrong and Park Center, along with Buffalo, Irondale, and Spring Lake Park. The Hawks were nearly unbeatable last season, only falling short in their two rivalry games against Armstrong, the latter of which was a section championship game that the Falcons won 28-20. They went 8-2 in the end, managing to improve on a stellar 2023 record of 7-3.
There is little reason to expect any less again this season. Cooper will have some unfamiliar teams to play, but also has a solid home-stand of three of their first four games to help facilitate a good launch into the fall. The most impressive thing, perhaps, for the Hawks is the range and depth they bring into 2025.
Patterson noted that some of the new faces on the schedule are reason for excitement.
“ There’ s some excitement for sure because of having new competition. We get to play teams like St. Francis, who we have played before, but it’ s been a while. Buffalo, too, who are new to 5A this year, we’ ve got some great competition and we’ re excited for how it can help us gear up for the latter part of the season.” Players perspectives Cooper has a number of returning players who will be familiar faces to fans and friends of the 2024 team.
See COOPER | PAGE 26
QUICK HITS
Head Coach
Tony Patterson Third Season
Willie Howard 16th Season
Last Year’ s Record: 8-2
Key Returning Players
Cooper holds a lot of promise in its class of 2026, with multi-positional talents like Sema’ J Young( WR, 2026), Amari Davison( RB / DE, 2026), and Tavorian Thompson( TE, 2026) all sure to cause problems offensively. While they look to fill the gaps left by recent big names like Emmanuel Karmo and Tony Kollie, they will have a refreshed Beckham Van Voorst( QB, 2027) ready to work. If it all connects, 2024’ s exciting offense could very well evolve into something even better.
There are plenty of defensive returners too. Thompson himself has played at linebacker, while the likes of Antonio Ferguson( RB / LB, 2027) and Abel Nason( OL / DL, 2027) will provide experience at different spots as the Hawks work to maintain their defensive grit through the last few
graduation cycles.
Schedule
Aug. 29: St. Francis Sept. 5: @ Buffalo Sept. 12: Holy Angels Sept. 19: Park Center Sept. 26: @ Irondale Oct. 3: @ Spring Lake Park Oct. 10: Armstrong Oct. 15: @ Sartell
Game times 7 p. m. unless otherwise noted