{"id":23271,"date":"2012-04-02T20:02:00","date_gmt":"2012-04-03T03:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/?p=23271"},"modified":"2012-04-03T18:37:35","modified_gmt":"2012-04-04T01:37:35","slug":"kolbeck-comeback-in-full-swing-at-apu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/?p=23271","title":{"rendered":"Kolbeck Comeback in Full Swing at APU"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Kevin Kolbeck<\/p><\/div>\n

By Joe Torosian<\/p>\n

(Azusa)- \u201cYou know who 87 is right?\u201d Mid Valley Sports\u2019 Tim Peterson said as the Azusa Pacific inter-squad scrimmage in March concluded. \u201cThat\u2019s Kevin Kolbeck.\u201d<\/p>\n

When last seen on a football field Kevin Kolbeck was scoring a touchdown every 4.5 receptions and averaging 21-yards per grab for the San Dimas Saints in 2010.<\/p>\n

As is the case with most high school athletes, even successful ones, it seemed like that was that. While some schools showed interest, Kolbeck decided to take his talents, along with his sore back, to Long Beach State to start the next chapter in his life.<\/p>\n

A huge epiphany didn\u2019t occur, but a process beginning with him going back to the Smudgepot contest between San Dimas and Bonita began to stir things.<\/p>\n

\u201cI missed being out there,\u201d said Kolbeck when asked about what brought him to APU and back to football. \u201cI missed being part of a team, the relationships, I missed scoring. I\u2019d been playing three sports a year my entire life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kolbeck began considering his options and was looking at a couple of schools back east. He wasn\u2019t even thinking about APU, but a conversation with San Dimas assistant\/APU \u201cGet Back\u201d Coach Dane Johnson brought things full circle.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy brother happened to run into Coach Johnson,\u201d Kolbeck said. \u201cAnd Coach said that I should be playing at APU. I gave Coach (Johnson) a call, we had a good talk. I realized I had an opportunity to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI said it was ridiculous,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cThere\u2019s no reason he shouldn\u2019t be playing football. He has great hands, decent speed, and he\u2019s really long.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recruited him out of San Dimas,\u201d said APU OC Rudy Carlton. \u201cHe definitely had a huge upside, he\u2019s a dynamic athlete.\u201d<\/p>\n

Making up his mind to play was one thing, whether or not his body would allow him to play was another. Beyond being out of helmet and pads for a year was a lower back injury he sustained going into his final season at San Dimas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI over lifted,\u201d said Kolbeck. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t the same all year. It was one of the reasons I wasn\u2019t going to play anymore. I was in so much pain. By the end of the season I wasn\u2019t able to lift at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

While a year away from the game is certain doom for a young player for Kolbeck a year away from the pounding of football turned out to be a blessing.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy back\u2019s healed,\u201d he said. \u201cIt just got better, it had time to heal. I\u2019ve got no pain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Free from pain and his mind back in the game Kolbeck has made the team and is working out the kinks of being away from football for 12 months.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was great being back in pads again,\u201d he said about the recently completed spring workouts at Azusa. \u201cI was very rusty just at being a football player and getting back into the every day grind.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know (Coach Victor) Santa Cruz is working him hard,\u201d said Bill Zernickow, Kolbeck\u2019s HC at San Dimas High School. \u201cKevin\u2019s a great kid, I can\u2019t wait to see how he does in college. He had great drive while he was here and wanted to be good, he really works hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

From a Delaware Wing to an Oregon-type of spread offense. Adjustments?<\/p>\n

\u201cLuckily I\u2019ve been able to understand most of it (Coach Carlton\u2019s offense),\u201d said Kolbeck. \u201cIt\u2019s just a lot of concepts and stuff, a lot of different routes and concepts. It\u2019s interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was great to knock some of the rust off of him this spring,\u201d said Carlton. \u201cHe\u2019s got a lot more football and lot more in him that we\u2019ll see. The pressure a 6-5 receiver puts on a defense is tremendous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce he gets adjusted to the scheme and physicality of the game, if not this year then next, he will be a weapon for them,\u201d said Johnson.<\/p>\n

Majoring in graphic design (minor in marketing), Kolbeck sees the difference between his current and former college.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely different than Long Beach,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been a Christian my whole life. It\u2019s really good to have your leaders be men of faith. They talk to you a lot about doing the right thing and life lessons.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Kolbeck has grabbed back the fleeting and elusive fellowship of football, all that remains is getting into competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll do whatever it takes to get on the field.<\/p>\n

Cougar Notes:<\/strong> While talking about Kolbeck, Johnson was quick to mention another APU wide receiver, Tanner Henry<\/strong>… \u201cThat kid came in last year and didn\u2019t play like a freshman, he came in and looked like he had played college ball for a while,\u201d said Johnson and that it would be difficult for teams to double-up on Henry with someone like Kolbeck on the other side of the field…Henry played his high school football at Centennial Corona… \u201cI\u2019m really excited about the potential of our front five (offensive line),\u201d says Carlton. \u201cPlus Justin McPherson<\/strong> and Tyler Tuiasosopo<\/strong> made huge strides in being leaders of this football team.\u201d….Did you know while it\u2019s six hours from Azusa to UC Davis, it is also only six hours from Azusa to Dixie St. in St. George, Utah? …Fast Fact: APU is 4-2 all time against Nazarene colleges. 4-0 against Olivet Nazarene, 0-2 against Mid America Nazarene…<\/p>\n

Contact Joe at joe@midvalleysports.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Follow him on Twitter at @joet13b<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Joe Torosian (Azusa)- \u201cYou know who 87 is right?\u201d Mid Valley Sports\u2019 Tim Peterson said as the Azusa Pacific inter-squad scrimmage in March concluded. \u201cThat\u2019s Kevin Kolbeck.\u201d When last seen on a football field Kevin Kolbeck was scoring a touchdown every 4.5 receptions and averaging 21-yards per grab for the San Dimas Saints in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[871],"tags":[6828,723,7114,1483,6301],"class_list":["post-23271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-college","tag-azusa-pacific-cougars-football","tag-bill-zernickow","tag-dane-johnson","tag-kevin-kolbeck","tag-san-dimas-saints-football"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23271"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23304,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23271\/revisions\/23304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}