Don Perryman of Belfast, a member of the NEWS Sports staff, opened defense of his shared guest title in the Football Forecast with a 16-4 mark.

Two-time defending champion and six-time season winner Pete Warner shares the staff lead with Dave Barber, each posting an 18-2 record. John Holyoke is a game behind.

This week’s guest is the other half of the defending champion duo, Earle “Pete” Cooper.

Cooper was the Lawrence High School football coach for 28 years before retiring in 1996.

Cooper won 10 regional championships and three state ttitles at Lawrence of Fairfield, where the football stadium is named after him. He also coached Madison from 1964 to ’68.

Cooper went to Morse High in Bath and was a 1964 graduate of the University of Maine. He was a co-captain of the 1963 Black Bear football team.

Cooper is now retired from teaching, also, and lives in Fairfield with his wife, Lois.

He hasn’t left coaching for good, though, as he is assisting his son Kevin, the football coach at Bonny Eagle High School in West Buxton.