Wooddale faces a team saying goodbye to a coaching legend
http://tri-statedefenderonline.com/articlelive/articles/4300/1/Wooddale-faces-a-team-saying-goodbye-to-a-coaching-legend/Page1.html
By Corey Green
Published on 10/29/2009
When Wooddale’s first-year football coach, Marcus Rogers, took the job in February one of the first things he did was circle three games in red on his calendar – Houston, Germantown and Collierville.
Having already played Houston and Germantown, the Cardinals (7-2, 5-1 in District 15-AAA) will face an inspired Collierville team (3-6, 2-4) in the regular season finale at Halle Stadium on Friday.
Earlier last week, Collierville’s 66-year-old coach, Paul Cox, announced that he was retiring at the end of the season, ending his 34-year run as the Dragons’ coach.
“I’m happy this game is at the end of the season,” said Rogers. “This is not a game to get lax. You’re talking about a guy that has been at a school 34-years. I hope I can coach half as long as he has. We know they’re going to bring it. He will have his team motivated. This game will have all the extra incentives.”
Before Rogers’ arrival, Wooddale had won just three of 18 games over the past two seasons, including a winless 2008 campaign. With last week’s 35-28 victory over Southwind, the Cardinals locked up an automatic playoff berth.
“People thought I was crazy when I told them I was going to take the job, but I saw the potential,” said Rogers. “I knew I could bring it out of them. Nobody believed, but the people in our locker room. We believed we could make this turnaround. Now the rest is history.”
Senior linebacker Keith Reynolds anchors a Wooddale defense that is allowing just 14.2 points per game. Reynolds leads the Shelby-Metro area with 16 sacks this season.
Sophomore running back Jovon Robinson leads the offense with 1,184 yards on 125 carries and 19 touchdowns. Against Southwind, Robinson racked up 86 yards, three touchdowns and tacked on an 80-yard interception return for a score.
“Jovon Robinson has been our all everything for the past few weeks,” Rogers said.
Last year, Collierville smashed Wooddale 63-12, a fact not lost on Rogers, who says the dragons “were a play away in a lot of their games this year.”
He expects a playoff atmosphere on Friday.
“We want to send coach Cox out the right way, meaning a Wooddale victory,” he said.
Either way coach Cox just would like to see his players play well.
Win or lose against a Wooddale team that he calls “extremely talented,” Cox said he will be proud of his players and hopes they play well. “It’s going to be pretty emotional though, because it’s the end of my career.”
Cox, has guided the Dragons to 19 playoff appearances since his arrival at Collierville in 1976. He has 251 career wins with Collierville and ranks second among active Shelby-Metro football coaches with 280 overall career victories, including his three seasons at Bishop Byrne. St.George’s Ken Netherland is first with 346.
With his 280 wins, Cox ranks third all-time in Shelby-Metro history behind Netherland and Memphis University School’s Jake Rudolph with 295. Cox is the sixth winningest active coach in Tennessee.
“Coaching is 12-months around,” Cox said. “A lot is football, but even more so is watching boys become young men. Being with kids and working with young people has been my life for the last 39-years. I’ve been teaching them how to handle adversity, how to deal with set backs, and how to work with others. That’s a big part of coaching.”
Last week in Cox’s last home game, senior running back Eric Reed led the charge as the Dragons sent Cox out a winner at Osteen Field. Reed scored three touchdowns on runs of one, five and nine yards in a 30-14 win over rival Houston. Sophomore tailback Kevin Hall added 86 yards on 11 carries, including a 27-yard touchdown.
“That was big for me,” Cox said. “To get a win in my last home game and to see former players and coaches come back meant a lot to me.”
Cox says his success has come with the help of many people.
“One thing I can say is that I’ve been lucky,” he said. “I’ve been blessed to have great assistant coaches, great booster club members, great support of the parents, and my family has been with me since day one. I could not have come this far without all of them. It’s been a family affair. Coaching, that’s what it takes for everyone to be a part of it. I can tell you one thing; Collierville has been a fun place to be.”
The Cardinals (7-2, 5-1 in District 15-AAA) will face an inspired Collierville team (3-6, 2-4) in the regular season finale at Halle Stadium on Friday.
Wooddale faces a team saying goodbye to a coaching legend
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| Corey Green |
Having already played Houston and Germantown, the Cardinals (7-2, 5-1 in District 15-AAA) will face an inspired Collierville team (3-6, 2-4) in the regular season finale at Halle Stadium on Friday.
Earlier last week, Collierville’s 66-year-old coach, Paul Cox, announced that he was retiring at the end of the season, ending his 34-year run as the Dragons’ coach.
“I’m happy this game is at the end of the season,” said Rogers. “This is not a game to get lax. You’re talking about a guy that has been at a school 34-years. I hope I can coach half as long as he has. We know they’re going to bring it. He will have his team motivated. This game will have all the extra incentives.”
Before Rogers’ arrival, Wooddale had won just three of 18 games over the past two seasons, including a winless 2008 campaign. With last week’s 35-28 victory over Southwind, the Cardinals locked up an automatic playoff berth.
“People thought I was crazy when I told them I was going to take the job, but I saw the potential,” said Rogers. “I knew I could bring it out of them. Nobody believed, but the people in our locker room. We believed we could make this turnaround. Now the rest is history.”
Senior linebacker Keith Reynolds anchors a Wooddale defense that is allowing just 14.2 points per game. Reynolds leads the Shelby-Metro area with 16 sacks this season.
Sophomore running back Jovon Robinson leads the offense with 1,184 yards on 125 carries and 19 touchdowns. Against Southwind, Robinson racked up 86 yards, three touchdowns and tacked on an 80-yard interception return for a score.
“Jovon Robinson has been our all everything for the past few weeks,” Rogers said.
Last year, Collierville smashed Wooddale 63-12, a fact not lost on Rogers, who says the dragons “were a play away in a lot of their games this year.”
He expects a playoff atmosphere on Friday.
“We want to send coach Cox out the right way, meaning a Wooddale victory,” he said.
Either way coach Cox just would like to see his players play well.
Win or lose against a Wooddale team that he calls “extremely talented,” Cox said he will be proud of his players and hopes they play well. “It’s going to be pretty emotional though, because it’s the end of my career.”
Cox, has guided the Dragons to 19 playoff appearances since his arrival at Collierville in 1976. He has 251 career wins with Collierville and ranks second among active Shelby-Metro football coaches with 280 overall career victories, including his three seasons at Bishop Byrne. St.George’s Ken Netherland is first with 346.
With his 280 wins, Cox ranks third all-time in Shelby-Metro history behind Netherland and Memphis University School’s Jake Rudolph with 295. Cox is the sixth winningest active coach in Tennessee.
“Coaching is 12-months around,” Cox said. “A lot is football, but even more so is watching boys become young men. Being with kids and working with young people has been my life for the last 39-years. I’ve been teaching them how to handle adversity, how to deal with set backs, and how to work with others. That’s a big part of coaching.”
Last week in Cox’s last home game, senior running back Eric Reed led the charge as the Dragons sent Cox out a winner at Osteen Field. Reed scored three touchdowns on runs of one, five and nine yards in a 30-14 win over rival Houston. Sophomore tailback Kevin Hall added 86 yards on 11 carries, including a 27-yard touchdown.
“That was big for me,” Cox said. “To get a win in my last home game and to see former players and coaches come back meant a lot to me.”
Cox says his success has come with the help of many people.
“One thing I can say is that I’ve been lucky,” he said. “I’ve been blessed to have great assistant coaches, great booster club members, great support of the parents, and my family has been with me since day one. I could not have come this far without all of them. It’s been a family affair. Coaching, that’s what it takes for everyone to be a part of it. I can tell you one thing; Collierville has been a fun place to be.”