Aug 21, 2022 4 min read

By Joe Tuscano

Staff writer

jtuscano@observer-reporter.com

Here’s how much Jesse Cain loves football.

He enters his senior year at Waynesburg University with two more seasons of eligibility.

And he just might use them all.

Because of a shoulder injury the 6-1, 210-pound strong safety for the Yellow Jackets sat out all of last season. It was the same shoulder he injured in the 2020 season, which was already cut short by COVID-19.

Oh, did we mention academic excellence? Cain has shown a propensity for it, graduating early with degrees in sports media: Announcing and Public Relations.

“The shoulder injury happened during the COVID year,” said Cain. “The doctors told me there wouldn’t be enough time to get an MRI and surgery if I needed it. So we just decided to play through it.

“At last year’s camp, I separated it again and had to have surgery. I missed the entire season from camp. I haven’t played since the end of the COVID year. That was the last time I got on the field.”

Because the NCAA allowed players an extra season because of the virus and Cain qualified for a medical exemption last season for missing every game, he was provided another season.

So why is he continuing to play football?

“Well, if you asked my mom, I shouldn’t be,” said Cain. “I just love the game so much and it’s grown me as a man. I wouldn’t be who I am without the sport. I wasn’t ready to say no. I wasn’t ready to give up on the sport. I still have some dreams and aspirations. We’ll see if they come to fruition.”

Cain and head coach Dr. Cornelius Coleman share something in common. Both will have a hand in revitalizing the team. Cain will do it on the field and Coleman will do so from the sidelines as the Yellow Jackets’ first-year head coach.

“Playing the next two years will depend on how I perform, financially and physically,” said Cain. “I tell people I don’t have a bad shoulder but the shoulder I hurt was my right shoulder. I’m left handed so the recovery was a whole lot easier because of that.”

Cain injured his shoulder in the fourth quarter of the first game against Washington & Jefferson of the COVID-19 season.

“I just fell on it very awkwardly,” said Cain. “It just felt scary, how you can hurt it. It was dislocated and they couldn’t put it back in place. So they took me to the hospital and they had to sedate me to put it back in place.”

Cain went through a couple weeks of rehabilitation and the shoulder felt fine.

“I finished the COVID season but it just didn’t feel right,” said Cain. “The doctors told me there was an 80 percent chance it would pop out again.”

And they were right.

“They were right and I got the surgery last fall,” Cain said. “I got cleared in April so I only had a couple days of spring practice.”

Cain said Coleman had convinced a few other players to return for the extra year the virus provided.

“For me, I love Coach Coleman and he is such a positive influence on me,” Cain said. “But I would play whether we had a coach or didn’t have a coach. That’s how much I love the sport.”

Waynesburg is coming off a tough stretch, where the Yellow Jackets won only three games in the last three seasons. Coleman replaces Chris Smithley, who was given an administrative post at the school.

Senior Tyler Rains returns at quarterback, coming off a season in which he was limited to five starts because of an injury. His numbers – 61 of 108 for 910 yards, 7 TDs and 4 interceptions – are reasons for optimism.

Senior running back Justin Flack, coming off a team-leading 640 yards rushing, and sophomore wide receiver Dakota Romantino, who started nine games and had a team-high 46 receptions for 821 yards and four touchdowns, also return.

Sophomore defensive back James Davis and his team-high 79 tackles return and so does sophomore defensive back Brett Hicks, who had 59 tackles, second-best on the team.

“Every job will be open,” said Coleman. “When I came here in the spring, there were 56 guys on the roster. Even for those young men to endure two consecutive losing seasons, they got better in the spring. They helped us win games. We have young men who love it, care about it, want us to succeed, need us to succeed. We just have to have leadership in a different direction.”