‘Waiting in the Shadows’ - After years of injuries, Wall senior Gatlin Cordes making most of senior year in the Eagles’ backfield
Wall's Gatlin Cordes carries the ball through the Herreid/Selby Area defense during last Thursday's 9B quarterfinal game in Wall. (Matt Gade/605 Sports)
By Matt Gade
605 Sports
WALL — For two years, Gatlin Cordes has suffered injury after injury, including a pair of torn ACLs. Still, despite setbacks, the Wall senior has done everything needed to get back out on the field.
“He's that kid who has fought through so many injuries, and if you define Gatlin, it's resilient,” Wall head coach Lex Heathershaw said. “And on top of that, it's the ultimate teammate, right? He could have decided that he was going to focus on wrestling long ago. But he had football at heart, and he’s grinded it out for us.”
A season ago, the Eagles’ No. 1 running back was all-stater Jace Mohr, who finished with 1,460 yards and 28 rushing touchdowns as the Eagles claimed the 9A state title.
Now, it’s Cordes's turn to carry the ball. A job he didn’t originally expect to have.
“To be honest, I thought I was going to be defense only,” Cordes said. “I was running the ball good this kind of preseason, and it turned out that I was the guy for running back. I didn't really expect that, but that's how it turned out.
“I was pretty motivated. I knew it would be my time to come and start, more than likely, and I knew we had a really good chance of making it back for another state championship. So I was really pumped because this is my time to shine, really.”
This season, Cordes is the Eagles’ second-leading rusher behind quarterback Tanner Volmer, with 507 yards on 62 carries for an 8.2 yards-per-carry average and five rushing touchdowns over seven games. A 72.4 yards-per-game average.
Cordes, who missed three games this season with a hip injury, returned last Thursday in the Eagles' 59-8 Class 9B quarterfinal win over Herreid/Selby Area.
“I don't know what he ended up rushing-wise, but he ran the ball really hard tonight,” Heathershaw said following Thursday’s game. “You know, he's not the biggest kid out there anywhere, but he hits hard and goes at holes hard and things like that. I mean, you saw at the end, where it was like, all right, well, we're up, we have the lead, let's just give it to Gatlin and let him close it out. He can do those things for us, and it was nice to see him look healthy tonight too.”
Since his sophomore year, Cordes has faced numerous setbacks yet he never wavered.
Cordes said football is his passion, and he never thought about not trying to get back.
“I've always just really liked football. It's like I'm better at wrestling, but I think I like the sport of football more. And I just knew it would pay off someday to stay stick with it,” Cordes said.
Cordes said that while he originally thought he’d be more on the defensive side of the ball, scoring touchdowns is a lot of fun.
Cordes credits his offensive line for making his job in the backfield a lot easier.
“It makes it way funner, way easier,” Cordes said of running behind his line. “They don't get a whole lot of credit, but they're the ones doing a lot of the work.”
As a team, the Eagles are averaging 239.6 yards on the ground with 40 total touchdowns. Senior quarterback Volmer is the team's top performer with 1,257 yards on 87 carries and 26 touchdowns on the ground.
After Thursday’s win, Cordes said he had a few bumps and bruises but felt good after the game in his first game back since his hip injury.
The Eagles (10-0), who are the top seed in 9B, host the fourth-seeded Pirates from Avon (8-2) in the semifinals on Friday night at 6 p.m. MT.
Cordes said he’s excited for the game. Knows the Eagles have to play to their full potential to come away with the win.
Heathershaw said he’s glad to have Cordes back not only for Friday’s game, but this season.
“He's been kind of waiting in the shadows for a long time, and it's his senior year. It's his time to shine, and he's done that for us,” Heathershaw said.
