The562’s football coverage for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Long Beach Poly alums Wendell “WoWo” Moe, Jr. & Tyson Ruffins.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
The Wilson football program gathered on campus Thursday afternoon in the annex, where senior quarterback Mack Cooper signed with Prairie View A&M to continue his athletic and academic career.
Cooper originally joined the football team as a freshman to stay active in the weight room for baseball, but he soon earned the starting job as a sophomore. The 6-foot-5 QB went on to start for three seasons, putting together a standout senior year in which he threw for 2,134 yards and 23 touchdowns while leading the Bruins to their first Moore League championship since 1991.
“It feels amazing,” Cooper said after signing. “I’m just so happy to sign to a college to play my next three or four years, and I feel very proud of myself to be in this situation. I’m proud of everything I’ve done and I feel like I’ve worked as hard as I could to get to this situation.”
Cooper was first introduced to Prairie View A&M when he met a few of the coaches at a camp in Houston, Texas. He committed before the start of the season, but began drawing interest from other programs after his standout senior year. Still, he stayed true to Prairie View A&M, the first school to recruit him.
“With Prairie View I feel like I have the same opportunity as any other school,” he said. “The coaches, I’ve known them the longest, and they took that shot on me. I just felt like I had a strong connection when I visited there with the coaches and the entire staff, and everything I saw was great over there. I’m excited to be there.”
It was a unique three-year stretch being the starting quarterback at Wilson, where Cooper had to adjust to a different head coach every year. The journey started with a shaky sophomore campaign under Scott Meyer, then continued with a run to the CIF-SS Division 9 championship game last year under Travis Clark, and finished with a jump up five divisions and a Moore League title under current coach Raudric Curtis.
“I think it was a blessing,” Cooper said of the coaching changes. “That’s just more information and more coaching for me to take in. It was rough going into each season not knowing what was going to happen and who was coming in, but I see it as a blessing now because it helped me grow and get better.”
The signing day concluded with a message from Curtis, who thanked Cooper in front of his teammates, coaches and staff, and his parents.
“It feels like I’ve known you for longer than I have because of how close we’ve come over the last few months, but I just want to thank you for your leadership,” Curtis said to Cooper. “My ability to count on you is what was steadfast when I came in here. I had no doubt about the leader you are and it’s because of the person that you are.”
