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Cole, Turner wreak havoc for talented Irish defense
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Cole and Turner
Cole, Turner wreak havoc for talented Irish defense
By Joe Scalzo
Whenever Ursuline senior Dominique Cole gets a sack - something that's happened 9-and-a-half times this fall - he looks over at his hellow lineman, junior Jamel Turner, and smiles.
“We have a friendly competition,” Cole explained. “When I get a sack, I look at him and when he gets a sack, he looks at me.
“It makes the team better and it makes us better.”
While this is undoubtedly true, there’s one small problem. Trying to match Turner sack-for-sack is like invading Russia or reading James Joyce or cheering for the Browns. It may start promising, but it won’t end well.
Cole is 61‚Ñ2 sacks behind and he has (at best) three games left.
“He’s a little ahead of me right now,” Cole admitted.
Still, Cole’s development has been a wonderful surprise for the Irish. A year ago, he was an offensive role player better known for his basketball prowess. Turner had 23 sacks last fall, but he also had Division I prospect, Justin Brown, playing on the other side.
“That was one of my worries at the beginning of the year,” Turner said. “I knew if I didn’t have a person like that, I would be facing a lot of double teams.”
So Cole stepped in — and stepped up, dedicating himself to making the most of his ability.
“I think he really made a commitment to doing everything he could do on a football field and it shows,” said Ursuline coach Dan Reardon. “We weren’t sure what we were gonna get from him this year and he’s had a really productive season. I’m really proud of him because he’s worked really hard at it.”
Cole’s turning point came last fall. When the Irish lost in the Div. V state final, Cole was miserable.
“I didn’t want to go to basketball practice after that,” said Cole (6-foot-2, 210 pounds). “I was disappointed and I felt like I had let all the seniors down. That’s why, in our players meetings this year, I always tell the guys to play for the seniors and don’t leave nothing on the field, to have no regrets.
“I think we had a couple regrets last year.”
Cole was born in Youngstown, then moved to Columbus when he was 3. When his dad moved back to Youngstown in the summer before Cole’s freshman year, Cole joined him. His god-brother, D’Aundray Brown, had told Cole about Ursuline and he decided to enroll.
Turner, meanwhile, lived in Chicago until second grade, when his mother moved the family to Youngstown. Turner has three older sisters, two older brothers and one younger brother — his twin, Jamal. (When asked if people get them confused, he laughed and said, “Man, you have no idea.”)
Turner was too big and too heavy to play football as a kid, but he would go to games to watch his best friend, Dawalyn Harper, who is now his teammate.
Turner’s first organized sport was eighth grade basketball at East Middle School. Before his freshman year, one of the Irish coaches talked to him about Ursuline and he enrolled. Last football season, his first on the varsity and just the second of his career, he had a mind-boggling 23 sacks, earning first team All-Ohio honors.
“It looked harder than it really is,” he said of playing football, which is the type of thing you can say when you’re more athletic than 99 percent of the universe.
Although he doesn’t know his father, his mother was a good enough athlete to go to college on a track scholarship. Turner ran track for the first time last spring and finished second in the state in Div. III in the 110-meter hurdles. It probably doesn’t need to be mentioned that 6-3, 215-pound sophomore defensive ends don’t usually fare so well in that particular event.
“He’s a difference-maker,” said Mooney coach P.J. Fecko, whose team lost to the Irish this year. “He just has tremendous quickness and he’s extra aggressive. He makes it very difficult to run to his side, but it’s just as difficult to run away from him.”
“He not only makes plays and makes tackles, but he does extra things like strip the ball in the process. He’s a big-time player who has been living up to his reputation.”
Turner’s ability has attracted scouts from everywhere. He already has 20 scholarship offers, including Ohio State, Notre Dame, Penn State and LSU. But when he’s asked about it, he shrugs.
“I’m putting that aside until it’s that time,” he said. “I’m just focused on getting through high school.”
Cole’s decision will come quicker but not necessarily easier. He’s gotten looks from YSU and Akron for football, but he’s also considering basketball.
“Whatever one gives me the best opportunity is the one I’ll choose,” he said. “Right now, I’m thinking about football.”
Although the ultimate goal is a state title, the immediate goal is beating Kirtland and its high-powered offense. The Hornets are averaging 45 points per game. The Irish haven’t given up more than 7 in a game since early September.
Cole should get plenty of opportunities to catch Turner in the sack race Saturday night — but both players need to play well in all phases for the Irish to advance.
“Last year was disappointing and it made everyone more hungry,” said Cole. “We learned you can’t take anything for granted because you never know what’s going to happen.
“This is my senior year and I want to go out on top.”
scalzo@vindy.com