While Cole Cabana has already committed to Michigan, the Dexter standout running back is clearly not packing his bags just yet for the short drive down I-94. There is still work to be done at home and the senior showed in Saturday’s season opener against Grosse Pointe South that he isn’t afraid of carrying the load – or carrying the ball 32 times.
Cabana had 237 yards on the ground on those 32 carries, three of which ended in the end zone. He also had three catches for 60 yards and another score.
One of Cabana’s biggest contributions in Saturday’s 41-21 win was helping give “rookie” quarterback Reeves Taylor a chance to get used to the speed, pressure and expectations of Dexter varsity football. At one point in the game, Cabana ran the ball 10 consecutive times – helping ease the pressure of playing quarterback.
Dexter showed that its offense is going to rack up plenty of points again this season. With the talented Cal Bavineau at quarterback, Dexter scored 40 or more points in seven games last year with an offense that expected to score every time they stepped on the field.
SEE WLD PHOTOGALLERY – 140 PHOTOS!!!
And while Bavineau has graduated, the expectations remain the same.
It will start on the ground – with the best running back in the state.
“He’s a warrior who comes to work every day and goes 100 MPH every day in practice and that translates out onto the field,” Dexter Coach Phil Jacobs said of Cabana after his team’s opening victory. “He’s got great vision and once he’s in the open, he’s hard to catch.”
Cabana has been clocked at 4.29 in the 40. How fast is that? Kalon Barnes, a cornerback out of Baylor, ran a blistering top speed of 4.23 at this year’s NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
But Dexter is not a one man show and they will show teams throughout the year how many ways they can score and how many ways they can beat you.
“We aren’t one dimensional this year, we aren’t two dimensional,” Jacobs said. “We have some talented receivers we can throw the ball to.”
SEE WLD PHOTOGALLERY – 140 PHOTOS!!!
While Cabana is the center of attention, it’s a crowded circle at Dexter with Brennan Parachek and Joey Tessmer among players who can change the game with a catch or a run – or both. The two combined for nearly 200 yards receiving in the win over GPS.
And no one is more excited about that than Cabana.
“We have Brennan at tight end who is an incredible playmaker who can catch anything you throw near him,” Cabana said. “We have great receivers in Wyatt Novara and Joey Tessmer, who had a great game (Saturday). He was making plays everywhere. And our offensive line did an amazing job. We don’t have a weak spot on our offense.”
Cabana says being surrounded by all this talent on the offensive side of the ball opens up a lot of opportunities – and big holes – for the running game. And it starts with the quarterback.
“He did a great job for us,” Cabana said of Taylor. “Having a threat where we can throw the ball to the receivers we have really opens up the running game. And it works the other way, where our running game opens things up for the receivers. We have so many threats on offense this year. It should be a good season.”
Cabana admitted to being “a little bit” tired after his busy day on the hot turf at Wayne State. But it was clearly a good day.
“It was a long day, a hot day but I love it,” he said with a big smile.
