Quarterback Cookus shaking off last season’s setback

The golden Southern California sun gleamed off the small, blonde-haired toddler as he strode into the backyard, dragging a baseball bat behind him. As his family gathered around for his first swing, someone placed a ball on the tee and his mother inched closer, camera in hand, ready to capture the moment. He awkwardly cocked his arms back and swung with all the might a 2-year-old can muster.

A loud ding off the tee was immediately followed by a thud on his mother’s chest. An innocent picture of her little boy’s first swing was replaced by the still image of stunned faces.

Case Cookus didn’t pick up a football until middle school, but much like his first swing of a bat, hitting people in the chest comes naturally for Northern Arizona University’s award-winning quarterback.

After winning national freshman of the year honors in 2015, Cookus saw his sophomore season last year cut short by a shoulder injury. Adversity, though, has proven to be the biggest motivator for Cookus, who didn’t receive a Division I offer coming out of high school.

Cookus played wide receiver as a junior at Thousand Oaks (Calif.) High School before moving to quarterback his senior season. Despite passing for 27 touchdowns with just two interceptions, Division I recruiters opted to pass on the inexperienced signal-caller.

“It obviously upset me (not getting any Division I offers),” said Cookus, who also played baseball and basketball through high school. “The thing that hurt me was that I was a senior and teams already had their quarterbacks when they were juniors, and it’s just something where I look back and say no one wanted me.”

Instead, he ventured to Ventura College, just a sandy skip north of Malibu.

Slowed by a shoulder injury, Cookus never played a down of junior-college football. He continued to hone his skills and send his film to D-I programs.

NAU wide receivers coach Aaron Pflugrad took notice and decided to visit Ventura.

“He was as impressive as I’ve ever seen from a quarterback,” said Pflugrad, a receiver at Arizona State in 2010-11. “Just throwing darts all over the field, something where our receivers are going, ‘Who’s that guy? We’ve got to get him here.’ He just put on a show.”

With his Division I aspirations nearing reality, Cookus visited Flagstaff with some reservations.

“When I came up here, I really wasn’t expecting anything,” Cookus said. “But when I got here, I loved it, and I told myself that if they give me an offer, then I’m going to take it.”

The transition did have its own obstacles, however: a new team, different