Rine keeps blood flowing through Lakewood defense
HEBRON — Cohen Rine enjoys the responsibility of being a coach on the field as the senior middle linebacker for the Lakewood football team.
Of course, Rine enjoys being in the middle of the action, too.
"I like being in charge of the defense, especially helping out guys with where they should be, what blitzes should be done," Rine said. "And I am just having fun hitting people."
When injuries left coach John Poulnott short on linebackers, he looked at his surplus of lineman and found the perfect puzzle piece to fit. Poulnott moved Rine from defensive end into the center of the defense, and Rine now is the heartbeat of the Lancers on that side of the ball.
"Cohen is selfless. He's not on our team captain, but that doesn't mean he's not a captain," coach John Poulnott said. "He would love to be a tight end for us, but when it came time to look at what our personnel was allowing us to do, he was willing to play tackle for us. He was a defensive end last year, but we were limited at linebacker so he was willing to make that transition."
Watch any second of the 48 minutes, and chances are Rine will be on the field. In addition to starting at left tackle and middle linebacker, Rine also is a kicker.
"His selfless attitude is something we try to push on our kids," Poulnott said. "It's a team concept here. You may be playing out of position, but that's what our numbers require."
Rine admitted he can get “worn out on defense because you get hit every play” at middle linebacker, but he was ready to be an ironman. He began playing both sides of the ball at the varsity level last season and prepared in the offseason with the mind-set he would not spend much if any time on the sidelines.
"There is definitely a lot of energy this year," Rine said. "The second half, we really just have to come out fighting. I know it's hard because a lot of guys are playing on both sides of the ball, but that shouldn't be an excuse. We should all be fired up and ready to play."
Lakewood (0-5) is hoping to carry lessons learned into Licking County League-Cardinal Division play, which begins Friday with a trip to Heath (2-3).
The Lancers started slow in a 41-0 loss to Licking Valley last Friday, allowing 21 first-quarter points. The Panthers used good field position to score on their first three possessions.
"Tackling, tackling, tackling," Rine said. "Those are the little things that already should be done. We have to wrap, and you have to hit him low. If you are taking out a train, you don't blow up the train, you blow up the tracks. We definitely have to take out the legs, be flowing, be downhill, be the hammer not the nail."
Junior Tyler Christman and Adam Crawford split time at quarterback with Crawford throwing for 93 yards and later catching six passes from Christman for 61 yards. Junior Isaiah Mitchell caught four passes for 51 yards and added 25 yards on the ground.
"Everybody has their primary position but in order for us to create some depth that's not truly there, they are going to have to start learning a secondary position, so we can rotate people off the field and give people some breaks," Poulnott said.
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Cohen Rine keeps blood flowing through Lakewood Lancers defense
