The Coach is pleased.
He sees the way Carson Cook handles himself in everyday life – as a student, brother, friend and son –and is so proud.
In all the areas that matter most – a humble attitude, a giving nature and a loving spirit -- Carson is successful.
The Coach is smiling.
He also sees the way Carson handles himself on the football field – as a senior leader, and a valued teammate -- and realizes the lifelong lessons have stuck with him.
The game is about more than points and statistics. It’s about hard work and dependability. It’s about being there in the clutch.
The Coach feels satisfaction.
Carson’s on a Springboro football team that has been a perfect 5-0 so far this season, and he’s been an enormous part of that.
Just last weekend against Piqua, he made two big hits on two different critical plays that helped the Panthers preserve their second straight shutout.
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| Bob Cook was a loving father, husband brother, friend and coach. |
He’s been everything that’s expected of a senior. He works hard, hustles and does his job extremely well.
And let me take this another step further. Allow me for a second to make a case for why Carson is the reason Boro is undefeated right now.
No, no. He hasn’t done it all single-handedly. Carson would smack me if I ever insinuated that.
But I’ll tell you why the Panthers are more than just a very good football team.
It goes back to the first game of the season. Mason was driving late in the game, trailing only 10-7. It had a hard time moving the ball well, however, because the Boro defense was killer. You couldn’t pay me to run a football at those guys.
But suddenly it looked like everything would change. On a key fourth down play, the Comets fooled everyone by running a flea flicker. It was the perfect call, and every indication said Mason was headed for a touchdown.
There was only one person to beat – Carson.
When the play was actually happening, I thought to myself, “He can’t catch him.” Since then, I have seen the play on a cable channel that has now showed the game three times, and every time I see it, I say it again, “Carson won’t get there.”
But, somehow, he did. Whether it was just a super-human burst of acceleration, or perhaps divine intervention, Carson’s outstretched hand caught just enough of the Mason runner to trip him up. Afterward, Springboro celebrated like it had just won a playoff game.
Beating Mason was huge because this year’s team needed a good start. After last year’s 3-7 finish, a loss at Mason could have felt like last year all over again. And, if you ask me, there’s no way they beat Centerville in week two.
If this team were right now 3-2, it would be a very good football team with a bright future. But at 5-0, it is a confident powerhouse with big plans.
That’s how big Carson’s game-saving tackle was.
The Coach knows all of this. His firm but gentle hand guides all he can.
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| The Boro defense |
He still is, in a manner of speaking. Carson says he feels his presence all the time. While his mother Joyce, sister Cassidy and brother Connor give him all the earthly love and attention he needs, his father gives him a heavenly hug that assures him everything will be okay – in life and in football.
Carson is the excellent kid he is today because of all of that.
It's as if a touch of heaven has a hand in all of this, which you know it does.
It's as if a touch of heaven has a hand in all of this, which you know it does.
The Coach is pleased. The Coach is smiling.
This article appears in The Springboro Sun, September 27, 2012.
This article appears in The Springboro Sun, September 27, 2012.