The leading rusher in the GHSA from a season ago has found his next home as Chattooga’s Zayden Cook has announced his commitment to Murray State.
“I decided to commit to Murray because I felt like they are working towards something,” said Cook. “Their goal of re-building the program from the ground up, and becoming a winning program is what caught my attention.”
Cook dominated the competition this year for Chattooga as the senior running back totaled the sixth-highest rushing yards in a single season in GHSA history, totaling 2,939 yards in his senior season.
Cook passed notable names such as Nick Chubb, Jahmyr Gibbs and plenty of others on his way to a historic season for the Indians in 2024.
The 5-foot-11, 195-pound running back helped Chattooga reach the first round of the postseason for the first time since 2021 this past season, where the Indians were defeated by Dodge County to end their season.
The Indians went 6-5 in 2024 and finished fourth in Region 7-ADI with a 3-4 record.
Throughout his historic season a year ago, Cook showed why he was one of the top running backs in the state by constantly putting up absurd statistics week-after-week.
In 2024, Cook saw action in 11 games, rushing for over 100 yards in each of them, accounting for 327 carries along with 33 touchdowns on the season.
In his incredible season a year ago, Cook rushed for over 200 yards in 10-out-of-11 games, rushed for over 300 in three games and even eclipsed the 400-yard mark on the ground once this season, rushing for 464 yards in a 56-36 victory over Dade County where the running back also scored six rushing touchdowns.
His stats from last season earned him honors such as the Score Atlanta Offensive Player of the Year at the inaugural Score Atlanta Football & Flag Awards Show last December.
According to MaxPreps, Cook’s astonishing 2,939 yards was the 11th most rushing yards from a single player in the country, only around 700 yards behind the leader, Auburn-commit Alvin Henderson’s 3,620 yards. While he was 11th in the country in total rushing yardage last season, Cook’s 267 yards per game was the second-highest rushing yards per game in the country, only behind Strake Jesuit’s (TX) Josh Hebert’s 272 yards per game.
Cook is joining a Murray State football program that finished the 2024 season with a 1-11 record and a nine-game losing streak. However, Cook looks to add a spark to the backfield as he is a part of the biggest recruiting class in program history that includes Cook and a recruiting class of 67 players joining the team this off season.
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