Hard As Bricks Bocook Has Turned Himself Into One Of Gsl’S Toughest

He scares his coach and he intimidates his teammates.

So you can only imagine how his opponents feel.

North Central’s Ezra Bocook would prefer to stay out of the spotlight, but that’s no longer possible.

The three-sport senior star is becoming well-known to the area’s serious high school sports fans as one of the top prep athletes in Spokane.

People stop him in the grocery store. They talk about him in the Albi Stadium press box on Friday nights.

“Is there anyone else who has been first team in all three sports?” one person asked last week during NC’s football game against Mt. Spokane.

Bocook wasn’t last year, but he came close. And his chances are good this year.

He prides himself in being one of the toughest football players in the Greater Spokane League - as well as one of the toughest in wrestling and baseball.

“He’s a warrior, that kid,” said Mead football coach Bob McCray. “He’s fun to watch. I don’t have to tackle him. Let the 18-year-olds tackle him.”

That can be difficult. Bocook has made a name for himself as one of the league’s hardest hitters.

“He hits like a ton of bricks,” said fellow NC linebacker Adam Farr. “He’s a pretty dominant figure. He’s a natural athlete. He doesn’t even have to work for it, but he does.”

At 5-foot-8 and 197 pounds, Bocook doesn’t exactly look like a natural athlete.

But he has the results to prove it. As a junior, he was first-team all-league in wrestling and baseball. He placed eighth in this year’s State 4A wrestling meet at 171 pounds.

Indians coach Wes Hobbs has never seen someone work as hard as Bocook.

Bocook said he had no choice but to put more energy into football this summer. That’s the only way the NC coaching staff was going to let him play running back his senior year.

Last season, Bocook was limited to linebacker because he didn’t participate in summer weight lifting and running with the rest of the team. His mind had always been on baseball and wrestling in the summers.

“Last year during wrestling season, after I first got my name in the paper, I started working harder and harder,” Bocook said.

He wakes up at 5 a.m. each morning in order to arrive at school by 5:30 for a morning run with wrestling coach Randy Cloke.

“Somebody might be a little taller or a little faster, but no one can outwork this kid in any sport,” Hobbs said. “He got his hands on the ball as a sophomore and at that time, he wasn’t as dedicated as we wanted him to be.

“We told him he wouldn’t see the light of day until he came to play. This year, he was bound and determined to be a fullback. He did everything we asked of him, and it paid off for him and for us.”

The big payoff for Bocook was that he got to wear No. 44 - his number since his flag football days.

With his new uniform came a two-page printout from Hobbs about John David Crow, the 1957 Heisman Trophy winner. All of the players in the NC backfield receive jersey numbers of former Heisman winners.

Bocook says there’s no special secret to standing out in three sports.

“I eat a lot and my dad gives me a vitamin each morning,” said Bocook, who used to box, but quit after middle school to focus on school sports.

During football season, he concentrates on football. Next, wrestling becomes his favorite sport. Then it’s baseball. He hopes to play football or baseball in college.

“I wouldn’t wrestle him for all the marbles in the world,” Hobbs said. “He’s just competitive. He keeps coming. He doesn’t know when to stop. I’m happy for him. He’s earned it and it’s his turn to shine.”