Selfless Cobb carries Greenies to TV win
ARDEN - Kokayi Cobb has plenty of awards and accolades including a preseason all-state selection as a running back for Christ School.
He lived up to those expectations on Thursday by rushing for 132 yards on five carries with two touchdowns in the Greenies’ 31-7 win over Robbinsville.
But his best work of the week came on Monday, and the effort paid off for Christ School’s defense on Thursday.
It came as a surprise. He made a sacrifice.
Cobb, the first-team running back, inserted himself into the scout-team offense. He didn’t ask coach Mike Moroz if he could do it. The senior just did it.
“It was such a shock,” Moroz said. “I’ve never seen that in all of my time in football. He was our top receiver and top running back last year, one of our best players.
“And he just went in with the scout team.”
Cobb didn’t necessarily need to practice the offensive game plan for the Black Knights (0-3). With Robbinsville’s run-dominated offense, he didn’t need to practice much at defensive back. But if he could emulate Robbinsville running back Ian Wiggins for the week, he could give his defensive teammates a better understanding of what they’d face when the lights — WMYA-TV (40) television lights, too — replaced a setting sun at Richard Fayssoux Field.
“It was something I could do to help my teammates and make them better,” Cobb said. “I thought about it a little during the day because they needed somebody who could really run on the scout team.
“I didn’t tell coach I was going to do it. I just did it.”
The unusual practices prepared the Greenies’ defense.
It limited Robbinsville to 55 rushing yards on 32 attempts including eight tackles for loss. The Greenies held Wiggins — who entered the game with a sore hamstring and exited in the third quarter with a hurt ankle — to 31 yards on 13 carries with a long of eight yards. Robbinsville finished with 197 total yards with 57 of them coming on a touchdown pass from Alex Bridges to Chandler Jumper.
“(Cobb) is one of the main reasons why our defense shut them down today,” Moroz said. “He made our defense much better this week.”
Cobb made himself better, too. He and Moroz agreed that Cobb had an awful preseason. He didn’t practice with the effort, intensity or focus necessary to improve — and certainly not up to the level a senior leader should display.
“He was running routes half-speed,” Moroz said. “Then he came out this week and did a completely selfless act.
“He went from a guy who was slacking in practice to a guy who said, ‘I got this.’”
Yet Cobb did display the ability that earned him preseason honors.
Cobb gave the Greenies (2-1) a 21-7 lead in the second quarter when he took a handoff, headed through the middle of the line, juked one defender and out-ran two others down the right sideline for a 63-yard touchdown.
“That play turned everything in our favor,” said Christ School quarterback Drew Johnson who completed 19-of-28 passes for 221 yards and a touchdown to Keyvaun Cobb. Sage Holley had a 1-yard touchdown run and Ryan Caves added a 35-yard field goal just before halftime. The Greenies led 24-7 at the break.
Cobb, the scout-team running back, again showed he’s a first-team all-state selection with a 55-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. He started to the right, but the Black Knights bottled him up. But they didn’t take him down. Cobb went left, picked up one block from Johnson, a couple other blocks from teammates then burst through two defenders for the impressive touchdown.
“I said before the game that he’d have a special night,” Moroz said. “Call it karma, call it whatever you want, but it happened for a reason.”
Not a bad night for the scout team running back.
ARDEN - Kokayi Cobb has plenty of awards and accolades including a preseason all-state selection as a running back for Christ School.
He lived up to those expectations on Thursday by rushing for 132 yards on five carries with two touchdowns in the Greenies’ 31-7 win over Robbinsville.
But his best work of the week came on Monday, and the effort paid off for Christ School’s defense on Thursday.
It came as a surprise. He made a sacrifice.
Cobb, the first-team running back, inserted himself into the scout-team offense. He didn’t ask coach Mike Moroz if he could do it. The senior just did it.
“It was such a shock,” Moroz said. “I’ve never seen that in all of my time in football. He was our top receiver and top running back last year, one of our best players.
“And he just went in with the scout team.”
Cobb didn’t necessarily need to practice the offensive game plan for the Black Knights (0-3). With Robbinsville’s run-dominated offense, he didn’t need to practice much at defensive back. But if he could emulate Robbinsville running back Ian Wiggins for the week, he could give his defensive teammates a better understanding of what they’d face when the lights — WMYA-TV (40) television lights, too — replaced a setting sun at Richard Fayssoux Field.
“It was something I could do to help my teammates and make them better,” Cobb said. “I thought about it a little during the day because they needed somebody who could really run on the scout team.
“I didn’t tell coach I was going to do it. I just did it.”
The unusual practices prepared the Greenies’ defense.
It limited Robbinsville to 55 rushing yards on 32 attempts including eight tackles for loss. The Greenies held Wiggins — who entered the game with a sore hamstring and exited in the third quarter with a hurt ankle — to 31 yards on 13 carries with a long of eight yards. Robbinsville finished with 197 total yards with 57 of them coming on a touchdown pass from Alex Bridges to Chandler Jumper.
“(Cobb) is one of the main reasons why our defense shut them down today,” Moroz said. “He made our defense much better this week.”
Cobb made himself better, too. He and Moroz agreed that Cobb had an awful preseason. He didn’t practice with the effort, intensity or focus necessary to improve — and certainly not up to the level a senior leader should display.
“He was running routes half-speed,” Moroz said. “Then he came out this week and did a completely selfless act.
“He went from a guy who was slacking in practice to a guy who said, ‘I got this.’”
Yet Cobb did display the ability that earned him preseason honors.
Cobb gave the Greenies (2-1) a 21-7 lead in the second quarter when he took a handoff, headed through the middle of the line, juked one defender and out-ran two others down the right sideline for a 63-yard touchdown.
“That play turned everything in our favor,” said Christ School quarterback Drew Johnson who completed 19-of-28 passes for 221 yards and a touchdown to Keyvaun Cobb. Sage Holley had a 1-yard touchdown run and Ryan Caves added a 35-yard field goal just before halftime. The Greenies led 24-7 at the break.
Cobb, the scout-team running back, again showed he’s a first-team all-state selection with a 55-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. He started to the right, but the Black Knights bottled him up. But they didn’t take him down. Cobb went left, picked up one block from Johnson, a couple other blocks from teammates then burst through two defenders for the impressive touchdown.
“I said before the game that he’d have a special night,” Moroz said. “Call it karma, call it whatever you want, but it happened for a reason.”
Not a bad night for the scout team running back.
