Wyoming East’s football program has hit a rough patch.
The Warriors haven’t won more than two games in a season since 2019.
Steven Cook took over the program last season, navigating through injuries and youth to claim two wins, yielding 60 points in six of their 10 games.
But Cook is hoping that the young players he had to throw in the fire last year are able to grow and learn from those experiences.
“All those young kids we had to play last year, they’re back,” Cook said. “They’ve grown so I guess that’s what our focus has been in the offseason, and so far this preseason through the summer and now in camp our focus is growing and getting better with every day and every rep. You know, they’re still young. We only have seven seniors. But you should be able to see the results of getting that experience at a young age.”
Coming in is a talented group of freshman that Cook anticipates will contribute immediately.
“Grayson Ashley, he had a scope on his knee but I mean, he’s gonna be playing as soon as he’s ready,” Cook said. “And there’s a couple more that came back and came up from eighth grade who are going to contribute. Jackson Lattie, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anybody who loves football as much as that boy. He’s interesting. He’s always around the ball. We have a lot of sophomores and they’ll be playing too. Like I said, the ones that played last year got a lot of experience. Gabe Shrewsbury, Ashton Blankenship and Caleb Hatfield all three started on the line last year as freshmen and they’re back so that’s always a plus.”
The Warriors don’t have one singular player they’ll run their offense through, electing to go by committee and spread the ball around.
“We’ll be able to distribute the ball,” Cook said. “I wouldn’t say that we have one bell cow back or workhorse. We have kids who can take a lot of carries if they need to, but we’re not gonna need to do that this year I don’t believe. I’m pretty confident in a few. Devan Walls, he’s a new face this year. He’s going to be able to carry the ball and he’s got some good speed. He runs the ball well too. Chase Adkins played last year, also a lot in the backfield. He also was a backup quarterback at times last year when we didn’t have anybody. He’ll be running the ball. Lee Hearns is at fullback as a senior so there’s plenty of options.”
As it stands there’s an active competition for the QB position. Miken Smyth and Gaige Cooper boast different skillsets but give the Warriors options depending on how they want to execute their offense.
“Miken got a lot of snaps last year,” Cook said. “Gaige likely would have too but he had a concussion early in the season. He missed the entire middle part of the season. If I’m right, he missed from Week 2 up to Week 9 or 10. We didn’t have him back until the last couple of games, so it’ll be one of those two guys. Gaige is more mobile, Miken, he’s got good arm talent. Both of them know the offense so I feel comfortable with either one.”
As far as expectations, Cook wants to be realistic as he rebuilds the program. Year 2 of a rebuild provides a chance to show you’re moving toward your goals instead of away from them.
“We’re not, of course, a state championship caliber team,” Cook said. “Really it would be an enormous Cinderella story to make the playoffs. It would be wonderful. And there’s a world where that’s possible. We would have to play some perfect games. Perfect. But we got two wins last year. We want to see more. That’s the goal. You’re out there to win every game, but moving in the right direction and committing to that process is important.”
Wyoming East will open its season Friday Aug. 30 at Westside.
