Q&A with Central East senior OL Tyson Cook. His thoughts on state title game, more
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Tyson Cook anchors Central East offensive line, pushing Bengals to state final.
- Team exploits improved leadership and cohesion to pursue state championship.
- Cook cites redemption, JUCO plans, and emphasis on dominating Pacifica-Oxnard.
Tyson Cook is a senior offensive lineman for the Central East Bengals.
He is one of the reasons why quarterback Jelani Dippel and running back Brandon Smith had a big season, leading the Bengals to the CIF Division I-A state championship against Pacifica-Oxnard.
The Bee met up with Cook for a Q&A to get his thoughts on the Bengals and the state title game.
The state title game is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo at 3 p.m. Saturday.
The Bengals faced Edison-Huntington Beach last season and lost in the championship game.
Question: What does it mean to get back to the state championship again?
Cook’s answer: I mean, it’s good. We finally get to show what we’re about and we get to redeem ourselves from last year.
Q: Yeah, I was going to ask you about that. Does that add a motivation for you guys to come on top this year?
A: Yes, it has a lot of motivation from last year because we couldn’t show our best ability. Now we get to show ourselves again and do better. We learned that, we got to do better, swarm to the ball and do better as a team.
Q: All right, what’s the biggest difference about this team, the makeup of this team?
A: We’re more involved with each other, more leadership, and just we’re better when we play together.
Q: OK, What did you learn from Coach (Kyle) Biggs?
A: I’ve learned a lot from Coach Biggs. He taught me to do better, and he taught me to be more of a leader than I was before.
Q: What has playing for the Central East taught you?
A: Playing for Central East, taught me to be bigger because there’s a lot of people like Jeremiah Hunter and Xavier Worthy who came here and were great. That taught me to be great.
Q: Winning a Central Section title is one thing, but winning the state is another. Is that the mentality you guys are taking this week?
A: The mentality we’re taking is like to dominate, do better and just dominate.
Q: What is next for you?
A: I don’t have any offers right now, but I’m probably going to JUCO like either Fresno City College or College of San Mateo.
