NEW MADISON – Tri-Village Patriots senior, Seth Cook, the son of Duane and Lora Joe Cook recently signed to play NCAA DII football for the Findlay Oilers while continuing his education with studies in criminal justice.
“I can’t wait to get out there and get another season of football,” said Cook. “Hopefully another four years, keep working hard and get everything accomplished that I want.”
“This is why we do it – to help these guys reach their goals,” said Tri-Village head football coach. Matt Hopkins. “Seth is a great person, a great player. I just couldn’t be more-happy for him and the program. It shows what can happen when you put in a lot of hard work so it is finally paying off for him.”
“Seth is a great young man and a great representation of our school district as an athlete and a student,” said Tri-Village Superintendent, Josh Sagester. “He comes from a terrific family, works really hard, a blue collar work ethic, is a tremendous football player, had a great year for us this past year.”
“He’s a big contributor on our boys basketball team,” Sagester added. “He has been in our program the last four years. Real happy for him and the fruits of his labor and gets a chance to play college football. Can’t wait to see him at the next level.”
Cook led the WOAC with 12.5 sacks and was seventh overall with 107 tackles his senior season and was named to the Southwest DVI First Team and All-WOAC First Team as a defensive lineman for the 11-2 Patriots.
Cook narrowed his choice down to the University of Findlay after weighing all his options.
“The recruiting process was pretty tough,” noted Cook. “I had a lot of college coaches ask me to go on visits. This one came up and I went up there for a visit and the campus and coaches and everything was really nice.”
The Oilers have an excellent program with a winning tradition that Cook understands will take hard work to crack the starting lineup coming in.
“I don’t expect a whole lot of playing time with the four championships they have won,” said Cook. “As long as I keep working hard and accomplish what I need to get accomplished and get in the weight room a lot, hopefully next year I’ll be good.”
“I can see him going up there and getting involved in the special teams early on,” said Coach Hopkins. “He’s going to go up there and be a great teammate and push those guys every day so they’re going to become a better team just by him being up there.”
“He’s going to push their starters or he’s going to take their spot,” Hopkins added. “He’s a winner in everything he does and he’s going to take that mentality up there. That is what I told the coaches at Findlay – you’re getting a really good one.”
Cook took time to thank the many that helped him reach his coach of playing football at the next level.
“I would like to thank God, my coaches, my family and all my friends and all my ex-teammates for getting me to where I am right now,” he stated.
