COMEBACK KID
Ready junior defensive lineman Jerad Koboi beats cancer, COVID to become ‘heart and soul’ of his football team
As his team prepared to celebrate a 23-13 victory over Buckeye Valley on Sept. 10, Ready coach Michael Schaefer called junior defensive lineman Jerad Koboi to come forward, then handed him the game ball.
Koboi had one of the team's top performances with 4.5 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks, but there was more to the moment than what he accomplished on the field.
After going through treatment in the spring following a cancer diagnosis and then testing positive for COVID-19 in early August, it marked the first official competition for Koboi since wrestling season early last winter.
“Some things are bigger than this game, and that's people,” Schaefer said shortly before giving Koboi a hug while teammates cheered during the postgame huddle. “There's not a lot of young men who have dealt with what he's dealt with physically, right? He's overcome cancer. He's overcome COVID. He's our heart and soul.”
Koboi, who was third-team all-league in wrestling at 170 pounds as a freshman in 2019-20, noticed late that season that he seemed to have a swollen lymph node in his neck.
The issue didn't cause pain, but when it continued to grow, doctors believed it best to have it removed. Koboi saw limited action on the mat last season before having surgery to remove the lymph node.
A biopsy showed that he had Nodular lymphocytepredominant Hodgkin lymphoma, which is considered a slow-growing cancer. He underwent chemotherapy treatments from March through May.
Ready’s Jerad Koboi played in his first game Sept. 10 after recovering from cancer and COVID-19. He recorded 4.5 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks in a 23-13 victory over Buckeye Valley.