Cowboy named to South Texas showcase second team

    Edna Cowboy Cade Orsak has been selected to the 2015 South Texas Showcase Second Team as a defensive back. It was a surprise for him to learn about the credit, his grandmother Nancy Simons brought it to his attention at a recent basketball tournament.
    “I was shocked a little bit at first, I knew I was put on the Honorable Mention team for All-State, but I hadn’t heard of the South Texas team before,” he said. “Learning about All-State was an honor because me, Wyatt Neuman and Braveon Terrell were selected and it was a pretty great accomplishment. It is a great honor with all the work paying off in the off season and working hard during the summer and taking the coaching we’ve been given and working with all the guys to get better, it’s all paid off,” he smiled.
    Orsak is the son of Tara and Shannon Orsak. He has two younger siblings, Reese, a freshman, and Raney, in eighth grade.
    Now a junior, Orsak said he’s been playing football since he was small, first on his knees in the living room to playing football in the yard with his dad and little brother. Once he entered seventh grade he started playing for Edna.
    “Until then I hadn’t even played on a team before,” he said.
    Orsak said his defensive coordinator, Coach Lane O’Connor, said defensively their first responsibility is the pass/play. “We take away the pass/play (from the opposing team) and then we run support, then we go help make tackles,” he said. “Check, read my keys, make sure it isn’t a pass/play and then run from there. We key on a certain back, like the way he’s positioned or taken out of his stance, or uncover a lineman on the line of scrimmage to see whether he came off the ball or he got back on his heels into a pass/block.”
    As for playing for Edna, Orsak said it’s an honor and a privilege. “With our new coaches we’ve had in the past couple of years, they are all great and they know what they are talking about. They tell us if we buy in we’ll be good and that’s the thing, you have to buy in first,” he said. Speaking of his teammates, “He has my back and I have his back, that’s how it is for us. It’s a good thing because the community is our here for us and they are giving us all kinds of support, like making hamburgers before the games all the time. It’s really great to play here and I like it.”
    Looking to the future, Orsak said he’d like to gain some weight in order to get stronger and faster, in addition to helping the team do the same thing so they can take football a little farther this year than last.
    He said he owes a lot of learning from Athletic Director Huey Chancellor, who he said trusts you if you trust him. “From there the sky is the limit. Buying in is his philosophy, we know he’s won before and we’ve won with him before, with him it gives you confidence he’s your coach and he knows what he’s doing and he always seems to have the right answer,” he said. “Coach O’Connor as well, he’s been a coach to me on both sides of the ball for years. He knows when to get intense with it and when to straighten it up, he explains things well and gives the reason behind it.”