OABCIG’s Cooper DeJean: Class 1A Player Of The Year

What really can you say about [player_tooltip player_id="23817" first="Cooper" last="DeJean"] that has not already been said? The OABCIG senior led the Falcons to a second consecutive state title and unbeaten season, finishing what might be the greatest two-year career in the state. DeJean, who has already committed to the University of Iowa, is expected to compete in the secondary. But honestly, the Hawkeye coaches need to at least take a look at him on the offensive side of the ball as well. This past fall, DeJean led the state with 4,682 total yards of offense. That number is over 2,000 yards ahead of his next closest competition in Class 1A. DeJean completed 60 percent of his passes, racking up 3,447 yards with 35 touchdowns and a quarterback rating of over 147. He also had another 1,000-yard rushing campaign, finishing with 1,235 yards and 24 more scores. <em>An excellent rhythm passer, DeJean has plenty of arm strength to push the ball downfield. He also continues to improve with his short and middle distance passes, showing nice touch and putting the football where only his receiver can catch it.</em> That’s 59 touchdowns just on offense alone. See, DeJean isn’t just a one-way player. Not even close. He also recorded 53.5 tackles including 44 solo stops for the Falcon defense, adding in two tackles for loss and a sack from his safety position. DeJean also picked off three passes. <em>Teams just cannot risk the deep pass on DeJean, and he is strong enough to come up and assist in stopping the run game.</em> Would that be enough? Nope, not for DeJean. On special teams, he returned two of the five punts he touched back for touchdowns and had a kickoff return on one of the five kickoffs he was given. And for good measure, he averaged just over 37 yards per punt. <em>His speed and football knowledge make him quite the effective player on special teams, as DeJean has a nose for being where the action is.</em> Sixty-two touchdowns accounted for, equaling out to 372 points with two more on a successful conversion. Over the past two seasons, DeJean recorded 10,026 yards from scrimmage with 152 touchdowns, scoring 922 points. That included 6,993 yards passing and 77 TDs with 2,527 yards rushing and 68 more TDs. Other players considered include Jack Pettit, Van Meter; Sam Sieren, Sigourney-Keota; [player_tooltip player_id="23962" first="Easton" last="Harms"], OABCIG; and [player_tooltip player_id="23944" first="Aaron" last="Graves"], Southeast Valley.