Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Ashton Cook has seen his fair share of defensive game tape during a stellar four-year high school football career.

As a three-year starting quarter and the son of a coach watching film kind of comes with the territory.

After all that film study and time dissecting opposing defensive plans what does Cook see as the best way to defend his own Regina offense that leads Class A in total yards?

“I honestly don’t know what I would do against us, I really don’t,” Cook said. “But I do know whatever teams are going to try to do our coaches are going to have a great plan to counter it and we are going to execute. We are going to try to attack whatever they give us.”

Even if Cook did have an idea of how to slow the Regina offense the senior quarterback isn’t giving out the plan before the third-ranked Regals face second-ranked Saint Ansgar (10-0) in a Class A state semifinal on Friday at 9 a.m. in the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.

It’s also impossible to blame Cook for not having a plan to stop his own offense since no one else in Class A has had much luck slowing Regina this season.

Regina (9-1) returns to the UNI-Dome for the second consecutive season averaging 40 points and a Class A best 425 yards of total offense per game.

The key to the Regina offense this season? Balance.

Led by the best trio of skill position players in Class A and one of the most productive anywhere the state Regina has found an offensive equation opposing defenses have yet to solve.

“A big part of what makes us so good is how diverse we are,” Cook said. “I feel like we have the athletes to run the ball effectively and the line to do it to and we can also throw the ball around. Defenses don’t really know what we are going to do so we can kind of surprise them.”

Everything the Regina offense does starts with Cook.

A three-year starter with more than 6,500 career passing yards and 60 touchdowns the 6-foot-5, 210-pound Cook has had a spectacular senior season.

Cook leads Class A with 2,286 passing yards and 2,510 yards of total offense and is second with 22 passing touchdowns.

“He is up there with any quarterback as the best,” Regina senior running back Theo Kolie said of Cook. “His leadership is so good and the way that he motivates all of us. If the defense is keying on us we can always count on his legs to get us first downs.”

Surrounding Cook are two of the best playmakers anywhere in Class A in Kolie and senior receiver Alec Wick.

Kolie has emerged as an elite running back, ranking sixth in A with 1,316 yards and second with 27 touchdowns while averaging 8.2 yards per carry.

“If you watch Theo game he has really involved into a triple threat running back he can run he can block he can catch,” Regina coach Marv Cook said. “He does everything you ask a running back to do, he runs hard, he runs with power he runs with speed. He has completely evolved.”

Wick is the home run hitter in the offense.

An elite route runner, Wick has been one of the state’s top pass catches for the past three seasons.

Wick leads A in receptions (57), receiving yards (1,047) and touchdowns (15).

“Absolutely Theo and Alec are two are the best at their spots,” Ashton Cook said. “They both make spectacular plays. Alec makes some catches where I am just like ‘what happened’ and Theo has had some incredible runs, he blocks great too in the passing game. It helps having those playmakers around.”

Directed by offensive coordinator Ed Hinkel and head coach Marv Cook and centered around its trio of playmakers the Regina offense is predicated on spacing, precision and perhaps most importantly matchups.

“They put 11 out there and we put 11 out there and they can only guard certain areas of the field,” Marv Cook said. “If you have an idea of where they are at and what they are trying to do then you can try to take advantage of it.”

That is the great conundrum created by the Regia offense that opposing coaches must answer.

What exactly do you attempt to take away?

Regina has rushed for 279 yards in a game this season and passed for 391 in another.

The Regals have five games with 200 or more rushing yards and seven times have passed for more than 200 yards.

Regina averages 189 rushing yards and 236 passing yards per game.

“There have been games we go into and we know we are going to throw it a lot because they have seven guys in the box and other games they have six in the box and we may have a different strategy,” Marv Cook said. “A lot of it is just read and react and try to put your offense in the best possible play to have success.”

As the season has gone Regina has seen different defensive schemes nearly every week.

In preparation Hinkel talks routinely with long-time Regina defensive coordinator Jason Dumont about what type of plan he would implement against the Regals.

“Dumont and I talk about it and I say all the time ‘this is what I would do to try to stop us’ and Jason will always have something else or ‘this is what I would do to you’,” Hinkel said. “We got back and forth and I think that’s been good.”

Just as opposing defensive plans have changed the Regina offense has progressed.

In a 32-27 quarterfinal win over Wapsie Valley Cook rushed for a season-high 74 yards and senior Levi Quinlan caught six passes for a team-high 75 yards.

Quinlan us up to 43 receptions for 511 yards and Sam Aitchison has 15 receptions for 187 yards.

“A lot of teams think that our offense revolves around Ashton or Alec but we have other guys too,” Kolie said. “We have Sam Aitchison, we have Levi Quinlan we have guys that are ready to step up at any moment.”

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