UNION, Ky. — Cooper High School junior Cam O’Hara smiled Monday afternoon when he reflected on one of his most memorable touchdown passes.
With seconds until halftime in last week’s 62-36 win over visiting Great Crossing, O’Hara eluded a defender and threw the football as far as he could toward the end zone in the direction of senior wide receiver Isaiah Johnson, who was 60 yards away.
The result left O’Hara, his teammates and the Cooper coaches and fans in disbelief.
“I was like, ‘No way he just did that,’” O’Hara said.
With a defender facing him toward the end zone, Johnson managed to jump and reach over to grab the football near the Great Crossing player’s hip. The official ran toward the players to signal touchdown. Cooper teammates rushed in to celebrate.
“Everybody’s jumping up and down,” O’Hara said. “That’s just unbelievable. That’s something I’ve never even seen before. So it’s just crazy.”
In a season with so many memories already for the undefeated Jaguars, O’Hara and Johnson will be remembered for one of the most outstanding touchdown pass plays in Cooper history.
“I kind of got on Cam saying, ‘Man you short-armed it,’” Cooper head coach Randy Borchers deadpanned. “You only threw it 65 yards. But, overall for him to have that arm strength and for Isaiah to have the concentration to catch that – it kind of topped off the night. And it was just a cool thing to see.”
O’Hara was 21 of 32 passing for 312 yards and six touchdowns. He also rushed for 38 yards and a touchdown. That performance earns O’Hara the WCPO 9 Gold Star Athlete of the Week.
“He always does a great job of looking downfield and finding the open receivers,” Borchers said. “And he’s got the arm strength – he can throw across his body. He can throw on the run. He just does a great job for us.”
O’Hara, who has a 3.8 grade-point average, has several scholarship offers including the University of Kentucky, Miami University, Western Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky, Akron, Kent State and Tennessee State.
O’Hara will be in the spotlight again this Friday night as the Jaguars (5-0) travel to Highlands (4-1) for a Class 5A, District 6 showdown.
It is a rematch of the 2023 state semifinal in which Cooper won 17-15.
“There is a lot on the line,” Borchers said. “You’re looking at that No. 1 ranking, district ranking and give you some home playoff spots. With the way the RPI is ranking out whoever gets it has a really good shot of getting three or four games at home so it’s a really big game. It’s become a really big rivalry for us over the last couple of years.”
There is no doubt plenty of eyes will be watching O’Hara and his teammates compete this week – again.
“We all thought the Ryle game (21-14 win Sept. 6) would be the game of the year but it was close,” O’Hara said. “Hopefully this is going to be a really, really good game. I’m excited.”
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