By Matt Florjancic
D3sports.com
When translated from Latin to English, Semper Fidelis means Always Faithful.
Those words have been synonymous with the United States Marine Corps since the late 1800s. They serve as the Marines Corps motto and represent the feelings of many former Marines.
Oberlin linebacker Joseph Cook understands the real meaning of those words.
Prior to playing in Saturday night's game at Washington and Jefferson, Cook spent three years in the United States Marine Corps. Cook, a 21-year old Lance Corporal from Greenwich, Ohio, is still in the reserves with his term of service in the Marines set to continue through May 2012.
"It was great to strap on the pads and look in the stands and see my parents there," said Cook. "There were big smiles on their faces. I'm sure they really get excited when they see me in my dress blues, but when I had on that white jersey, I haven't seen a smile that big in a long time, especially from my dad. It's definitely what he wanted ever since I was little and he knows it's what I've wanted as well.
"Oberlin is a very diverse campus," he added. "The students are all different from one another. It's great to see that everyone can do what they want, be who they want to be."
Cook's journey to Oberlin started back at River View High School.
At first, Cook did not know where he should attend school. All Cook knew was he wanted football to be a part of his future. Though the desire to play football was there, Cook liked the physical and mental challenges the military offers its recruits.
"I looked around to a lot of colleges and I was interested in quite a few," he said. "One day, a recruiter came into the school and started telling me about my options in the military. I looked at all the different branches of the military and the Marines seemed more appealing to me. It seemed harder. It's more of a pride thing than anything else. That's the route I ended up taking.
Joe Cook traded in his dress blues for Oberlin's whites, making his collegiate debut Saturday at Washington and Jefferson. Oberlin athletics photo |
"Football is the one thing that really got me interested in college," Cook added. "I've just always loved football. My dad was a coach for high school. The whole time I was over in Iraq, I was thinking, 'If I didn't do this, what would I be doing?' Football was the only thing that really came to mind. When I got back, that was the first thing I wanted to jump into. I got my chance at Oberlin. With a military background, you appreciate everything a lot more, just being afforded the opportunity to play."
Cook made up for any lost time on the field Saturday night. He registered two tackles in his first collegiate game.
During preseason camp and in game preparations at Oberlin, Cook drew upon his experiences from boot camp with the Marines.
"You have very minimal communication with home," Cook said. "The guys in your platoon are everything you have. You have to stick together. It's a really great team-building experience. That's something that's very helpful in football as well. Every day at boot camp was kind of like a game of football. You're relying on everyone else to do the right thing and relying on everyone to carry through to the end.
"You could definitely pick out the Marines that were in athletics than the ones that weren't," he added. "It seemed like the athletes were a step ahead of everyone else for the first two weeks, but toward the end, everyone got on the same page. We did it all together."
After earning the title of United States Marine, Cook went to Military Occupational Specialties School. While at MOS, Cook earned a heavy equipment operator's license. Once he completed MOS school, Cook's unit got activated.
He spent three months in North Carolina preparing for deployment which first took him to Kuwait and then Iraq.
"The toughest part was being away from the family," said Cook. "I have a 5-year-old sister and a 7-year-old brother and mom would send me pictures every month or so.
"It seemed like they were growing up years at a time in just a 30-day span," he added. "It was tough missing my little brother's first baseball game, my sister going through making friends. I felt like I missed a lot, but when I got home and I saw those big smiles and got those big hugs, it made up for it."
Though serving in a war and playing football are on different ends of the spectrum, Cook does not mind when he hears coaches use a comparison of the two.
In fact, Cook sees the similarities quite clearly. He will continue applying the lessons he learned during his time with the Marines to his football career.
"You can't really take everything they say to heart," he said. "It's generally the same concept. It's one team against another, just like its one military against a group of people or another military.
"It's all team-oriented, team-based," concluded Cook. "If one guy's doing his job for the good of the group and if everyone on that same team is doing their job at the same time, then something good is going to happen. You have to think of the whole, do your job and contribute to the team."
Saints put 2008 behind them
The Thomas More Saints exorcised any demons that remained from last year's 41-14 home opening loss to John Carroll. The Saints returned the favor with a 14-7 win inside Don Shula Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The Blue Streaks were well on their way to tying Thomas More late in the game, but an illegal blocking penalty negated freshman DaQuan Grobsmith's 26-yard touchdown run. Thomas More senior defensive back Wade Begley sealed the road win with an interception, the third Saints takeaway of the game.
In the win, Trevor Stellman was 11-of-23 for 166 yards through the air. He also rushed for both touchdowns. Stellman handed John Carroll its first non-conference loss since 2006.
News and Notes
While four of their division rivals came up on the wrong side of the scoreboard last weekend, the Ohio Northern Polar Bears upset No. 4 ranked North Central 28-19 at Dial-Roberson Stadium. The Polar Bears trailed early in the game, but seven points in each quarter gave them the win.
Ohio Northern outgained North Central 402-267 in total yards. The Polar Bear defense gave up 120 yards and three rushing touchdown to Dominic Sulo, but Brent Donley gained 144 yards and answered with three scores of his own.
After a bye week, the Polar Bears host No. 1 ranked Mount Union on Sept. 19 at 1:30 p.m.
Whalen back on for Case
Senior quarterback and returning Gagliardi Trophy finalist Dan Whalen led Case Western Reserve to a 33-21 win over Kenyon on opening weekend. Whalen completed 30 of 37 passes for a career-high 409 yards and four touchdowns.
Whalen now has 6,789 career passing yards, which puts him first all-time in Case history.
Doing it all
Alma quarterback Mackenzie McGrady completed 22 passes for 344 yards and four touchdowns while leading the Scots to a 28-16 win over Bluffton. McGrady also carried the ball 20 times for 69 yards.
Great Lakes Region Teams in D3football.com's Top 25
No. 1 Mount Union (OAC): No change following 52-10 victory at St. John Fisher
No. 9 Ohio Northern (OAC): Into the rankings after 28-19 upset win over former No. 4 North Central
No. 10 Washington and Jefferson (PAC): Up four spots after 35-9 win against Oberlin
No. 13 Case Western Reserve (UAA): Up three spots with 33-21 victory over Kenyon
No. 16 Wabash (NCAC): Up two spots and will open season against Denison Saturday
No. 21 Otterbein (OAC): Up three spots after 28-7 victory against Denison
Others receiving votes: Trine (MIAA), Capital (OAC) and Thomas More (PAC)
Games of the Week
Carthage (0-0) at Hope (0-1), Saturday, Sept. 12, 1:30 p.m.: Hope played close to Illinois Wesleyan, but a late interception prevented the comeback. In the 28-25 setback, Hope was outgained 491-437, but quarterback Chris Feys threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns. This is Carthage's first game of the season. The Red Men gave up over 240 yards passing per game last year and 25 touchdowns through the air, as opposed to 12 on the ground.
Hanover (0-1) at Waynesburg (1-0), Saturday, Sept. 12, 1:30 p.m.: Waynesburg won 42-39 over Wooster last Saturday when Brad Dawson connected with Josh Fisher for a 25-yard touchdown. Waynesburg had 500 yards of total offense, but gave up 521 in the win. In the meeting last year, Hanover lost 34-32 on a last-second Waynesburg touchdown.
