Football: Recuperating Cook gets a shot with Shenandoah (09-22-06)
By Craig Juer (Daily Staff Writer)
WINCHESTER — Hobbling around on crutches with his ankle immobilized, Brian Cook had to wonder if his football career, too, had been subdued when he was awkwardly tackled by a Brentsville defender last fall.
"I thought I was never going to play again," he said earlier this week.
Cook suffered a broken fibula and torn ankle ligaments on a 12-yard reception in the fourth quarter of Millbrook's 14-0 loss to Northwestern District foe Brentsville. He had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance and missed the rest of his senior season.
"When we saw that, we were devastated," former Millbrook teammate Malcolm Lofton said. "We thought our team was falling apart almost because he was such a core [player], such a leader."
Cook was suddenly less attractive to college recruiters. When VMI coach Cal McCombs was fired after last season, new coach Jim Reid and his staff didn't continue to pursue the injured fullback. His aspirations of playing Division I college football were crippled.
"I kind of got lost in the shuffle there," he said.
Division II Shepherd was interested but wanted Cook as a defensive lineman. He played nose guard at Millbrook but wanted to try fullback in college.
Division III Shenandoah and Virginia-Wise were still interested; in the end, he joined his hometown Hornets.
"Last year, when coach [Paul] Barnes came to our school and recruited me, I was still on crutches and everything from my injury, and he just made me feel real good about coming back and rehabbing," Cook said. "And also the type of offense they run here [appealed to me]. They use the fullback a lot more than other colleges do, and that's the position that I play. I wanted to run the ball."
Before he could run the ball, he had to be able to walk. He amassed 690 yards and four touchdowns before the injury but wouldn't play another snap in high school.
Cook's ankle is still convalescing, but he was healthy enough to back up Steven King at fullback against Waynesburg on Saturday.
"[I told him,] 'Have great perseverance and you'll overcome your injury; keep believing in yourself,'" Barnes said. "And I think he has, and he's worked very hard to get back on that field."
Although Cook carried the ball just twice Saturday for a loss of 2 yards, his dominance in high school suggests that, when he's fully healthy and given the chance to play regularly, he'll have the size to overpower many D-III defenders.
"He was like 'The Bus' of high school football," said Lofton, referring to retired Pittsburgh Steelers star Jerome Bettis. "It was impossible to tackle him. You couldn't tackle him up high because he'd run you over, and down low he'd just step on you."
Lofton and three of his teammates stood together after Millbrook's practice Wednesday and described Cook with mythological reverence.
"He was a beast at nose guard, too," center T.J. Bruno said. "When I came up my sophomore year and he was a junior playing nose guard, I couldn't even get the snap off as a center. I was like, 'This kid's too much.'"
At Millbrook, Cook split carries with J.J. Casagranda. At Shenandoah, he shares the backfield with King, injured sophomore Teley Tate, junior Paul Diggs and senior Brandon Lacey. At 6-foot and 240 pounds, Cook is easily the biggest of the bunch.
"That's a great size for a college fullback," offensive coordinator Brian Wolf said. "He's still rehabbing his ankle from last year, but speed-wise, he's going to be a little bit slower than the smaller guys. So we're not going to ask him to do outside tosses or anything."
Cook agreed that he employs a markedly different style than the other players at his position.
"The other fullbacks here are a lot faster than me," he said. "They're a lot shiftier. I'm more of a straight-forward, downhill runner. I don't make a lot of cuts like they do. I'm more of a power back."
King said Cook's size and physicality indicate he has a future at Shenandoah.
"A lot of what we do [offensively], the fullback has to be one of the most physical players," he said. "Just looking at him, you can see that he's a hard-nosed football player. I think Brian's going to be a vital asset to this team."
