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by Tony Moore

Cole Ahnell 鈥�15 is the kind of student-athlete who will be talking football and suddenly get sidetracked by a thought he has on the economy viewed through the lens of the most recent unemployment numbers. So it鈥檚 no surprise when he says, 鈥淢y main focus looking at colleges was, what鈥檚 a good academic school that has football where the coach wants me to play quarterback?鈥�

Clearly, he found a great fit at Dickinson.

鈥淐ole was recruited as a defensive back or slot receiver by most schools,鈥� says Darwin Breaux, head football coach. 鈥淏ut his competitive nature, leadership, football IQ and athleticism made him an excellent fit for our offense.鈥�

When Ahnell circles back from discussing the economy to football again, specifically the idea of his name appearing in the Dickinson record books, the international business & management and economics double major is way more humble than he has any right to be. 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 looked at my stats,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd the way our offense is structured, it鈥檚 very diverse, in that we run the ball a lot, so my passing stats won鈥檛 be that great.鈥�

Of course, his passing stats are pretty great: If Ahnell has just an average season this year, he could move into the top two or three in both career passing yardage and career total offense. This is all the more impressive when taking into account that he stands 5'6" in a position that increasingly sees players well over 6 feet tall.

鈥淭here鈥檚 an advantage to being able to hide behind blockers when I鈥檓 running or throwing,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he defense can鈥檛 see my release points and can鈥檛 get their hands up. Being small helps me be quicker and just hasn鈥檛 hindered me at this level.鈥�

Breaux doesn鈥檛 see any hindrance either. 鈥淗e鈥檚 an elusive runner and very effective passer,鈥� he says. 鈥淗e is a complete player and a real competitor.鈥�

Now he鈥檚 turning that competitive spirit toward his senior year, with some specific goals in mind.

鈥淔or me the most important thing is winning,鈥� he says, 鈥渆specially the Bucket, the Wagon and the Boot.鈥� The mention of these games against Gettysburg and Franklin & Marshall and the Centennial Conference championship, respectively, triggers a memory for Ahnell鈥攚hat he refers to as his best football memory, and one that shows just what Dickinson football means to him.

鈥淔reshman year in the Wagon, it was my first game start, and we were down 21-0 at halftime,鈥� he begins. 鈥淲e ended up coming back and winning 31-24. What really made that memory for me was seeing the elation on the seniors鈥� faces鈥攕eeing how badly they wanted it and how hard we fought as a team to win it.鈥�

We already know how badly he wants it, so all he鈥檚 waiting for is the elation.

For more on the longstanding rivalry between Dickinson and Gettysburg, read the fall 2009 Dickinson Magazine story, "A Rivalry's Roots."

Read more from the fall 2014 issue of Dickinson Magazine.

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Published November 5, 2014