Page 14 Fall Football Preview • Thursday, August 27, 2026 sailor. mnsun. com
COOPER HAWKS
Offensive returners provide edge to finish the job
DOMINIC BISOGNO dominic. bisogno @ apgecm. com
A new football season has brought a new chance at glory for the determined roster taking shape at Robbinsdale Cooper.
The Hawks enter 2026 looking to improve on a tough 2025 season. The team’ s 3-7 record stood in stark contrast to recent years, with Cooper winning seven and eight games in the previous two years. A major schedule change from 2024 to 2025 was a major factor. Cooper had to play eventual state champions Spring Lake Park in the regular season and sections, along with facing strong programs like Buffalo and Armstrong.
Head coach Tony Patterson is excited to see a strong core of returners take the lessons of 2025 to heart and bring a sharper edge to Cooper’ s lategame performances.
“ Last year was a great experience for our guys,” Patterson explained.“ We had a lot of guys become first-year starters and we were in the majority of our games. We’ ve been preaching about finishing the game. We’ ve got a lot of good returners, I think seven notable ones on offense and six on defense. The experience is there and we just have to put guys into the position to finish games.”
That talented group of new leaders is on the same page as its coaches when it comes to the message and ambitions of this season.
As Ashton Harris put it, the Hawks know they must learn from past mistakes to set the right foundation for future
( SUN PHOTOS BY DOMINIC BISOGNO)
Cooper’ s Antonio Ferguson, Erick Larkins, and Ashton Harris( left to right) depart a huddle during a recent practice.
Hawks.“ I’ m excited to be a senior now,” Harris said.“ We take a lot of pride in what’ s going on here, so it’ s about doing good for our season, but also helping set things up for the future at Cooper. … We have to learn to finish. We came out of a lot of halftimes last season too focused on what we did to teams in the first two quarters. We got complacent and now we all know how quickly the game can shift.”
Three-year quarterback Beckham Van Voorst has been on a long journey with Cooper and has evolved from fighting for starts to all-out starter. Van Voorst noted that his perspective has sharpened over time.
“ It’ s our year to lead. We’ ve got young guys in the program that it’ s our responsibility to help bring up to speed,” he continued.“ Everyone’ s hungry to get back to it after how last season went. … We talk about finishing all four quarters a lot and how to leave your mark on a game. … We just had our big player reunion and we got to see firsthand the standard they’ ve set. I think we all understand better now that we have to do our part to continue that.”
The legacy of Cooper football is on the mind of fellow senior Erick Larkins, who added that he intends to learn from and follow in the footsteps of past Cooper greats that have helped shape the program.
“ It sort of feels like finally it’ s our time to leave our mark here. Last year ended a little shaky, but we’ re excited to be back and do better,” Larkins explained.“ We know we have to keep our foot on the gas this year. We underestimated our opponent sometimes last season and we can’ t do that this year. … We’ ve had a lot of good leaders. Jaxon Howard, Emmanuel Karmo,
Sema’ J Young, they’ ve made a big impact on us and now it’ s time for us to do the same.”
The standards are strong at Cooper and the history of the program is a high bar to reach, but finding ways to bridge that gap is crucial for the Hawks.
Patterson noted that he saw some of his players start to become leaders last season, but he needs to see them continue to mature this fall.
“ We’ ve had a lot of great guys here in the past and some of the upperclassmen here haven’ t had to be leaders before because of that,” Patterson continued.“ They took steps toward that last year, but I really want to see them continue that this year. … The expectations at Cooper are going to remain the same. We have to go 1-0 every week. We have to be able to put the C on and know what it represents. We’ ve got a lot to uphold as Cooper Hawks.”
QUICK HITS
Head Coach
Tony Patterson Fourth Season
Last Year’ s Record: 3-7
Key Returning Players
Beckham Van Voorst returns for his third year as quarterback. He will have familiar outlets in senior receivers Ashton Harris and Erick Larkins. Two-way star Antonio Ferguson will follow-up on his 53-total tackle junior year, with lineman Parish Jackson set for a season of defensive leadership.
Schedule
Sept. 3: At St. Francis Sept. 10; Buffalo Sept. 18: At Holy Angels at 7 p. m. Sept. 25: At Park Center Oct. 2: Irondale Oct. 8; Spring Lake Park Oct. 14: At Armstrong Oct. 21; Sartell
Game times 6 p. m. unless otherwise noted