The Abilene Cooper Cougars ended their 1998 Football Season with an early exit from the playoffs, by losing to The Amarillo High Sandies 36-11. This was the Division II, Region I, Bi-District game that was played at Jones Stadium in Lubbock,TX on Friday, November 13, 1998. It was a another heartbreaking loss for the Coogs, as they finished their season at 5-5. The many injuries which the Cougars had sustained all through the season finally seemed to catch up with them. This time they were not able to overcome as they had done several times this season. The success of the Sandies was their running game, led by Johnny Johnson, who had 163 yds. on 17 carries. The Cougars could not seem to find the end zone most of the night, twice getting inside the 5 yd. line only to come up with no points. However the Cougars did manage 354 yds. passing by Dowell Loggains and backup QB Jeremy Janssen, completing 19 of 41 attempts. This game reminded me of last year's game vs. FM Marcus, where the passing game went well, while the running game was held to a minimum, along with breaks not going their way all night. Amarillo moves on to face El Paso Socorro next week in the Area round, who beat El Paso Coronado 27-10. The Coogs would have loved to play Socorro next week, as they demolished them last year in the Area round of the 1997 playoffs, 50-8.