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Cook leads talented group of RBs at YSU
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Jamaine Cook
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
As the YSU football team enters today’s Red-White spring game, the coaches still have unresolved questions at just about every position.
Running back is no different. But the questions range from “How much better can they get?” to “How do you get backups such as Allen Jones, Torrian Pace and Jordan Thompson more touches?” to “What the heck are you going to do with talented incoming freshman Demond Hymes?”
When asked that last one, running backs coach Louie Matsakis shrugged and said, “Get him on the field.”
YSU finished second in rushing in the Missouri Valley Football Conference last season (only league champion Northern Iowa had more) and then-sophomore running back Jamaine Cook led the conference in all-purpose yardage with 180.6. (The next-closest player, South Dakota State’s Kyle Minett, was second with 154.4.)
“The thing he does great is he has an extremely good work ethic,” Matsakis said of Cook. “He’s always the first guy in a meeting, the first on the field, one of the last to leave.
“If he’s got a minor tweak, he’s not going to pull out of practice or out of a workout. That’s what sets him apart from a lot of people.”
Although Cook (5-foot-9, 200 pounds) has always done everything well — from running to receiving to pass protection — he’s emerged as more of a vocal leader this spring. He was the team’s best player last fall and has only solidified that spot through 14 practices.
“The other guys haven’t taken a step back,” Matsakis said. “They’re pushing. We can’t play a whole season with one tailback.”
Sophomore Adaris Bellamy (5-10, 220), who rushed for 570 yards last fall, is the backup right now, while Pace (5-10, 225) has jumped in front of Jones (5-10, 215) on the depth chart, possibly due to Jones’ two fumbles in last Saturday’s scrimmage.
“Adaris is very hard to tackle in the open field,” Matsakis said. “He does stuff in practice that you only see on Playstation.
“Allen Jones, he’s explosive. He’s got burst. When he sees a crease, he hits it and in straight-ahead speed, he’s one of our faster backs. And Torrian pace is a load to bring down. It takes two or three guys.”
Thompson, meanwhile, has been switched to wide receiver, mainly because he’s too talented to stand on the sidelines. Although it’s clear he’s still learning, Thompson has shown good hands and athleticism at the position this week. (He missed the first three weeks due to academic issues.)
“Everyone wants to know who can have him,” YSU coach Eric Wolford said of Thompson. “He can play running back, he can play receiver, linebacker. He could probably play safety.”
Hymes, a standout from Warren Harding, could see time on special teams this fall but, barring injury, it’s unlikely he’ll get many carries out of the backfield.
And that, the coaches say, is a good thing. Wolford wants to stockpile top talent at every position in order to create the type of competition the Penguins only have at running back.
Of course, competition may not be the right word — at least not when it comes to the starting position.
“It’s exciting when the best player in your football program is your hardest worker and he [Cook] is the hardest worker, by far,” Wolford said. “He receives a lot of accolades and he backs it up with hard work.”