Kooper Alms: The Wall at the Back of Branson's Defense
Ask anyone who has watched the Branson Pirates this season where the attack starts, and they will point to the back line. That is where Kooper Alms lives, and this year the senior center back has been the superstar of Branson's defense.
The Joplin match, which Branson went on to win 5 to 4 in penalty kicks, told the whole story. Joplin's goalkeeper, Gage Stovern, kept launching massive punts, sixty and seventy yard balls meant to flip the field in one kick. Time after time, Alms rose to meet the ball out of the air and headed it right back to a teammate in the midfield or out wide, turning Joplin's biggest weapon into a Branson restart. By the second half it looked less like a duel and more like a routine.
It is not just the aerial game. Alms is quick, and he can run down just about anybody on the field. Attackers who think they have slipped in behind learn otherwise a few strides later. He recovers the ball cleanly, and then comes the part that makes him special: the exit. Alms distributes out to his wingbacks, finds Uriah Guevel on the flank, or sends it up the field to the wingers and lets an attack start rolling.
That combination is why Branson's back line has felt unstoppable in stretches this season. Alms erases the danger, then immediately creates something with it. Nothing gets behind him, and nothing gets wasted in front of him.
Defense rarely gets the headlines. This week it earned one. Kooper Alms is your Player of the Week, and every forward in the Central Ozark Conference already knows why.
Number 11, standing in the way. Good luck.
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