Catholic's Cobb tops all-CCC football team

Catholic junior tailback Jeremiah Cobb scored 38 touchdowns this season and accounted for 234 points in the 2021 season, more than 12 River Region teams.

Finding a player of the year in the Capital City Conference wasn’t easy this year.

One team stood out during the regular season, another went to the Super 7 Championships and the other three weren’t far behind.

Catholic, which rolled up 13 impressive wins and scored more than 600 points before a stunning upset in the 3A semifinals, had more than one standout player on the team. The Knights had a big-play quarterback in Caleb McCreary, a dependable scoring threat in tailback Jeremiah Cobb and three Power 5 commitments on the defensive side of the ball.

“While I could sit here and tell you that I think we could have four or five players of the year, Jeremiah was the engine that kept us going,” Catholic coach Kirk Johnson noted. “When you’re the number three back in the nation and you’re getting all these accolades, he keeps a level head and shows up to work every day.”

Cobb was selected by his fellow Capital City Conference coaches as the CCC player of the year after scoring 234 points this season -- more than the total points scored by 12 teams in the River Region.

After rushing for 2,013 yards last season as a 160-pound sophomore, the 5-foot-11, 185-pound Cobb beefed up and rushed for 2,163 yards on 195 carries, averaging 11.1 yards per carry and 154.5 yards per game. He added another 561 yards on 24 receptions, scoring 30 touchdowns on the ground and eight on receptions.

“He put on a lot of weight to sort of help with the bruising (demands),” Johnson said. “When you’re getting 200-plus carries, that’s tough. We didn’t quite get him to 200, but when you’re getting those carries, you’ve got to be able to take that bruising. Last year as a sophomore, at 160, we didn’t think he could take it. And we had two Division I-A receivers (DJ Carter and Miles Butler) catching passes.

“Shout out to (Catholic quarterback) Caleb McCreary for being selfless. He threw for 3,000 yards as a freshman, then had to turn around and hand it off and become a different type player.”

Cobb currently is ranked third nationally by Rivals at his position and has 18 college offers. Johnson predicts that 2022 will be even better than 2021 for his star tailback, who captured the 100-meter and 200-meter state titles last spring in the 3A state outdoor meet.

“We’re going to challenge him,” Johnson said. “I want him to put on even more weight, I want him to work on his quick-twitch muscles, I want him to catch it out of the backfield because we have to utilize his skill set out of the backfield. We’re blessed to have that.”

McCreary also made the all-CCC team at quarterback (the coaches selected both McCreary and Saint James’ KJ Jackson to the position), one of 13 Catholic players selected to the first team. In addition to Cobb’s selection as the player of the year, the coaches also selected an Offensive Player of the Year and a Defensive Player of the Year.

Offensively, the coaches selected Montgomery Academy’s Jamal Cooper, the Eagles’ tailback, defender and return specialist who moved to quarterback at the start of the 3A playoffs and guided the Eagles to a stunning upset of Catholic in the semifinals before suffering a heartbreaking loss in the finals to Piedmont. Cooper was actually placed on the team as an athlete on the defensive side of the ball because of his versatility on that side of the ball as well.

Defensively, the coaches selected Catholic senior linebacker T.J. Dudley, who led the Knights with 138 tackles this season and even more amazingly led his team with six interceptions, returning five of them for touchdowns.

Coaches split their votes between Catholic’s Kirk Johnson and Montgomery Academy’s Robert Johnson for coach of the year honors, but gave the edge to Robert Johnson after avenging regular-season losses to Trinity and Catholic in the playoffs to reach the 3A finals.

ALL-CAPITAL CITY CONFERENCE

FOOTBALL TEAM

WR -- Mac McClinton, 5-10, 190, Sr., Trinity

WR -- Justin Rose, 5-11, 170, Jr., Catholic

WR -- Ethan Beard, 5-5, 133, Jr., Saint James

TE -- Nigel Walker, 6-3, 200, Sr., Montgomery Academy

OL -- Ahmad Lee, 6-2, 305, Sr., Trinity

OL -- Garrett Harden, 6-2, 220, Sr., Catholic

OL -- Robert Huffaker, 6-2, 245, Sr., Montgomery Academy

OL -- Jake Streeton, 6-2, 216, Jr., Saint James

OL -- Hudson Whitt, 6-0, 230, Sr., Montgomery Academy

RB -- Jeremiah Cobb, 6-0, 185, Jr., Catholic

RB -- Jashawn Cooper, 6-0, 235, Jr., Montgomery Academy

RB -- Cosner Harrison, 6-0, 184, Jr., Saint James

QB -- Caleb McCreary, 5-10, 185, So., Catholic

QB -- K.J. Jackson, 6-2, 205, So., Saint James

Ath -- Corey Landers, 5-9, 185, Jr., Alabama Christian

PK -- Alex Kohn, 5-10, 165, Sr., Montgomery Academy

DL -- Donovan Emerson, 5-8, 205, Sr., Alabama Christian

DL -- Javen Augustus, 6-6, 210, Sr., Catholic

DL -- Barr Armistead, 6-4, 250, Sr., Saint James

DL -- Jamarion Augustus, 6-4, 195, Sr., Catholic

DL -- Jack Patty, 5-10, 190, Sr., Trinity

LB -- T.J. Dudley, 6-3, 225, Sr., Catholic

LB -- Joe Handey, 6-2, 195, Sr., Trinity

LB -- Patrick Ryan, 6-0, 220, Sr., Catholic

LB -- Trey Schlemmer, 6-0, 190, Sr., Alabama Christian

DB -- Bradley Thomas, 6-1, 172, Sr., Saint James

DB -- Kylon Griffin, 6-2, 190, Sr., Catholic

DB -- Avery Stuart, 6-2, 185, Jr., Alabama Christian

DB -- L.J. Green, 6-1, 168, Jr., Catholic

DB -- Jourdan Thomas, 6-2, 200, Sr., Catholic

Ath -- Jamal Cooper, 5-11, 195, Sr., Montgomery Academy

P -- Gabe Russo, 6-1, 190, Jr., Catholic

RS -- Norris Pemberton, 5-10, 170, Jr., Trinity

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jeremiah Cobb, Catholic

COACH OF THE YEAR: Robert Johnson, Montgomery Academy

Honorable Mention: A.J. Alozie, DL, Jr., Saint James; E.J. Babies, RB, Jr., Catholic; Will Belsterling, DB, Jr., Catholic; Ethan Binns, LB., Sr., Catholic; Carson Brown, OL, So., Trinity; Chris Bryan, TE, Sr., Trinity; Clayton Craft, LB, Sr., Saint James; Otasowie Dion, LB, Jr., Alabama Christian ; Grayden Flowers, PK, Jr., Trinity; Luke Harkless, WR, Jr., Catholic; Clint Houser, WR, So., Saint James; Owen Johnson, DL, Jr., Montgomery Academy ; Arch Lee, LB, Jr., Montgomery Academy; Thomas Lester, OL, Sr., Montgomery Academy; Chase Letner, RB, Trinity; Judson Lindsey, LB, Sr., Montgomery Academy; Webber McClinton, DB, So., Trinity; Seawell McKee, DB, Jr., Trinity; Connor Owens, OL, Jr., Saint James; Harrison Parkman, DL, Jr., Trinity; Chapman Pouncey LB, Jr., Trinity; Daniel Scott, OL, Sr., Trinity; D’Andre Sneed, ATH, Sr., Alabama Christian ; Carson Springer, P, Jr., Montgomery Academy; Coleman Stanley, QB, Sr., Trinity; Jack Thomas, LB, Alabama Christian; Kameron Tuck, DB, Jr., Montgomery Academy; Jake Tucker, OL, So., Trinity; Tucker Williams, OL, Jr., Saint James; Chance Wilson, ATH, So., Montgomery Academy; Jamari Young, WR, Sr., Catholic

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