Tribune names SLO County’s football Player of the Year and all-stars. Here’s the full list
Among a season of highlights for Atascadero High’s football team, the name Trey Cooks was a frequent refrain.
Capping off a stellar run that culminated in a CIF-Division 6-A state championship thanks to a commanding 41-0 win over San Gabriel High, Cooks was a driving force of the Greyhound offense, scoring four rushing touchdowns in the Dec. 10 victory on a wet and windy night in Atascadero. The title was the program’s first state championship in school history.
All year long, Cooks powered a fearsome attack that featured a formidable Greyhounds’ offensive line, along with the running and passing of his quarterback younger brother, Kane, and sure-handed receivers in Mason Degnan, Dallas Parish, Kaleb Pryor and other key contributors.
That performance has earned Trey Cooks, a senior, another honor: The Tribune’s 2022 San Luis Obispo County high school football Player of the Year.
Cooks, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound power back, was taught to “run downhill” by coaches, taking on would-be tacklers versus trying to maneuver around defenders. With that strategy, Cooks was good for 7.7 yards per carry.
“I kind of started out the season slow because I hadn’t been running that much,” Cooks said. “I was focused more on strength. But then I just focused more on running and less on lifting, and I feel I got a lot faster and was able to make a lot of better moves toward the end of the season.”
He tallied 1,952 yards on the ground in 15 total games, racking up 22 rushing touchdowns in addition to a fumble recovery score while playing defense as linebacker earlier in the season. Of his season rushing total, 832 yards came in the playoffs.
Cooks played about half of the season on defense as linebacker before Cooper assigned him exclusively to offense while reducing the number of go-to running backs from three to two, Cooks and Diego Real.
Turning the season around
After three straight losses to open the 2022 season, following a 3-8 campaign in 2021 and an 0-7 results in the 2020 COVID-shortened season, things were not looking promising for a school that has enjoyed past generations of football success.
The Greyhounds won CIF titles in 1982, 1983, 1986, and four straight years from 1993 through 1996, Cooper said.
It was the team’s fourth game of the season against Everett Alvarez High, Cooks said, that was the turning point.
Down 29-7 at halftime, Cooks acknowledged the looming obstacle.
“I personally wasn’t very excited to go out in the second half, but I felt like the whole team came together,” he said. “And we realized we can win. That was the pivotal point in our season.”
For its first victory of the season, Atascadero beat Everett Alvarez 42-36 in overtime.
The Greyhounds never looked back the rest of the season, losing only once thereafter 21-20 to Pioneer Valley, a Santa Maria team they later beat 27-13 in the playoffs after being down 13-0 in the first half.
The Hounds went on to an 11-4 overall record, finishing atop the Ocean League at 5-1, the same record as San Luis Obispo High, whom they beat 28-24 on Sept. 23.
“That’s what my coaches taught me a lot about, bringing back Atascadero football,” Cooks said. “They said it was about downhill running and just running the ball hard and fast, which is what I’m good at.”
Acceleration and power
Cooper described Cooks as an intelligent student and player, noting he was a talented member of the high school orchestra, playing cello, which he started doing in the sixth grade (he didn’t play in the Atascadero High orchestra this year but did as a freshman, sophomore and junior).
Cooper said there were times when Cooks made him “look real good as a coach in the sense that he can make a bad play look good. Whether we called the wrong play or maybe the scheme didn’t work. He would break it and score, making all of us look good.”
Cooper said Cooks is noted for his “physical nature and the number of tackles he breaks, but he learned how to be patient to let the hole develop, then accelerate with power once it does. He understood where the hole was supposed to be and what could happen if it wasn’t there.”
A family legacy
Cooks comes from a family of football stars.
His father, Roosevelt Cooks Jr., played linebacker at University of Nevada, where his second cousin, Elijah Cooks (also a former Greyhound star) starred at receiver before transferring to San Jose State this season.
Elijah is currently playing with the Spartans as a graduate student on the Mountain West Conference team.
Elijah’s dad, Adrian Cooks, also was a San Jose State player. Carlos Adams, Cooks’ uncle, shares the Atascadero school record with Nick Tenhaeff with five individual touchdowns in a single game.
Trey’s grandfather, also named Roosevelt Cooks Sr., was a star football player at Atascadero High as well. Trey Cooks was also named Roosevelt, making him Roosevelt Cooks III, which is why he’s called Trey.
“Most of my family has played football,” Trey Cooks said. “We talked about football with my dad sometimes to see what we can do better.”
His father played at Yosemite High before his college career, and photos show a close resemblance.
“My dad and me look very similar,” Trey Cooks said. “We look almost exactly the same, comparing high school pictures of him to me.”
Cooks gives credit to his offensive line and his brother, Kane, a junior, with whom he bonds through football, along with several pals on the team.
“I have a lot of friends on the team and my brother and me have grown up playing sports together a lot,” Trey Cooks said. “My brother and I are close to the same age and we were always put on the same teams. It’s pretty cool for me and him to have something in common to connect about because we have different friend groups and don’t share any classes being in different grades. So sports gives a way to connect.”
The brothers were recognized at a local restaurant after their state title victory and people have reached out to congratulate them for continuing a championship tradition at Atascadero, Trey said.
Team effort
Cooper said the offensive line and Kane helped balance the offense, calling it a “team effort.”
“The offensive line’s progress helped, and many of his touchdowns during the playoffs (were) when he went untouched,” Cooper said. “And his brother would keep the ball at the right time and opened stuff up as well. It is very much a team effort.”
Cooks said the offensive line had three sophomores last year and this year’s group excelled with experience and know-how.
“(Junior) Jackson Cooper, the coach’s son, helped us a lot because last year we had a young offensive line,” Cooks said. “Jackson knows so much football that even as a sophomore last year, he was able to share his knowledge with the others. By the end of the season, our offensive line didn’t need that help, which was nice, but that was needed to watch where to block the guys coming after me.”
Next steps
On top of it all, Cooks excelled despite pain in both knees and will consult with a doctor in the offseason. He pushed through and was able to play through nagging injuries.
“I’ll be going back to the doctor,” Cooks said. “I had a lot of problems with my knees.”
Cooks said that he is happy for a break to get healthy and connect with colleges, hoping to continue his career at the NCAA level.
“I went to four or five camps over the summer at different colleges,” Cooks said. “And I’ve been going to different (collegiate) games and emailed a lot of coaches. I’ve been looking forward to playing in college.”
Cooks said that the school thus far that has shown the most interest is San Jose State, where former Paso Robles High stars Josh Oliver and Bailey Gaither, in addition to his cousin, Elijah, all played.
“I’ve gotten to talk to some of the coaches there,“ Cooks said. “I haven’t been taking that much time to talk to colleges during the season. I hope to be able to do that more now.”
SLO Tribune all-star selections
In addition to Cooks, The Tribune has selected its football all-stars for San Luis Obispo County. Here is the list of honorees:
Player of the Year: Trey Cooks (Atascadero)
All-Purpose Player of the Year: Leo Kemp (Paso Robles)
Defensive Player of the Year: Mario Luera (Mission Prep)
First-team offense
Quarterback: Nicky Johnson (Morro Bay), Colby White (Mission Prep)
Running back: Drew Harrigan (Mission Prep), Luca Cuccaro (SLO)
Tight end: Tyler Garrett (Mission Prep), Kaleb Pryor (Atascadero)
Receiver: Jamar Howard (Mission Prep), Aiden Blackwood (Morro Bay)
Offensive line: Jackson Cooper (Atascadero), Jaiden Ramirez (Atascadero), Sully Medici (SLO), RJ Esmon (Mission Prep), Randy Dye (Paso Robles)
Kicker: Jordan Orcutt (Paso Robles)
Kick returner: Dylan Kriling (Templeton)
Second-team offense
Quarterback: Kane Cooks (Atascadero), Drake Missamore (Arroyo Grande)
Running back: Nami Hoag (Morro Bay), Junior Herlihy (Arroyo Grande)
Receiver: Mason Degnan (Atascadero), Damian Santos (Arroyo Grande)
Offensive line: Anthony Tejada (Atascadero), Joe Castaneda (Nipomo), Gabe Rodriguez (Mission Prep), Roman Engelmeier (SLO), Adam White (Arroyo Grande).
Tight end: Manny Diaz (Morro Bay), Dallas Parish (Atascadero)
Kicker: Skylar Silva (Atascadero)
Kick returner: Luke Terry (Mission Prep)
First-team defense
Defensive line: Kyle Hawk (Mission Prep), Johnny Peschong (Templeton), Ben Limpin (Paso Robles), Josh Brock (Arroyo Grande), Gabe Evans (Nipomo)
Linebacker: Diego Real (Atascadero), David Luera (Mission Prep)
Defensive back: Brandon Butler (Arroyo Grande), Trevor Lambeth (Paso Robles)
Safety: Mason Degnan (Atascadero), Riesen Carlberg (SLO)
Second-team defense
Defensive line: Isaac Townsend (Mission Prep), Brady Birdsong (SLO), Celtin Vert (Atascadero), Aiden Wall (Templeton), Jonathen Aguilar (Arroyo Grande)
Linebacker: Tristin Moser (Arroyo Grande), Kohen Sizemore (Templeton)
Defensive back: Hayden McKenna (Paso Robles), Cole Tanner (Mission Prep)
Safety: Eli Smiley Rooney (SLO), Jayden Nozil (Mission Prep)
Honorable mention:
Landen Miller RB (Templeton), Ivan Castillo OL (Nipomo), Gabriel Ahumada OL (Mission Prep), Connor Bowman RB (Paso Robles), Derek Tidwell (Paso Robles), Luke Terry DB (Mission Prep), Gabe Sanchez LB (Nipomo), Jan Martinus RB (Templeton), Ben Oetman K (SLO), Ben Walz RB/LB (Arroyo Grande), Jack Hathaway DB (Atascadero), Isaiah Hernandez RB (SLO), Josue Lopez Ramirez K (Arroyo Grande), A.J. Alvarez K (Morro Bay), Nolan Attala WR/DB (SLO), Jace Gomes QB (SLO).
This story was originally published December 17, 2022 at 5:30 AM.
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