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Refreshing

• Roland Cola may be the smallest man on the field for the Wildcats, but he has played as big as anyone in South Georgia’s playoff push.

Paul Dehner Jr.

Sitting on a table in the South Georgia Wildcats training room, Roland Cola calmly begins to state his height and weight.

“I’m about 5-foot-10 and one-hundred …”

He can’t even finish the sentence before teammates start shaking their heads and Cola breaks into a knowing laughter.

 One look at the Wildcats’ middle safety engulfed by his taller teammates in a huddle during games explains the comedy.

He lists at 5-9 and 175 pounds.

“That’s about right,” Cola says. “But I try to get a little extra. I am bigger with my equipment, you know.”

Though he may attempt to sneak a few extra inches and pounds into his biography, Cola would never turn his back on his undersized frame or fighting mentality.

This 27-year old with draping dreadlocks proudly hails from the outskirts of New Orleans, listens to reggae music before games and celebrates a slow, southern pace.

“I’m just calm, relaxed all the time,” he says. “The Big Easy off the field.”

But on the field, he sees himself as a warrior. Scraping and clawing for every inch, he thrives in the role of underdog. He has done so this year in setting a Wildcats single-season record for tackles while tying the record for interceptions.

Even when giving up as many as five inches and 40 pounds to an opponent, he doesn’t view his size as a disadvantage.

In fact, in many ways, it defines him.

“I love it,” he says. “I love being the underdog, the sleeper. I love for people to overlook me.”

Relishing the role of underdog is exactly what brought him to South Georgia.

After playing for the University of Houston, Cola eventually landed on the practice squad of the AFL’s Philadelphia Soul in 2006. But he never dressed for a game.

Cola had the physical tools to play, but didn’t know arena football.

“I was kind of lost at first,” he said. “I was just out there — an athlete trying to make plays.”

Once Philadelphia let him go, he attended a 2007 camp with the New Orleans VooDoo, but that didn’t stick either.

However, coach Derek Stingley spotted Cola’s speed burst and change of direction at the camp and saw the foundation of a great defensive back.

But upon arriving in South Georgia last year, his technique required significant polish. And in the business of winning football games, he was left the odd man out in a crowded defensive backfield.

Ever the resilient fighter, however, he clawed for seconds of playing time and earned a spot on special teams.

“I had no choice to play him just because of the plays he was making in practice,” Stingley said. “I couldn’t deny the talent — I had to put it out on the field.”

When 2008 came around, he had to put it at the most scrutinized position on defense — middle safety.

Stingley anointed Cola the starting position and knew his defense would go as far as Cola could take them in his first season as an arena-league starter.

“It was like come in and be ready, you got to hold it down,” Cola said of his

conversation with Stingley. “No questions asked. No excuses.”

The adjustment period came with its rough patches. Stingley reigned in his play-calling at times to compensate for Cola’s inexperience. Even some of the basic coverages were simply blown.

“The beginning of the season, I started off kind of shaky, just getting the feel for everything,” Cola said. “The speed is different from practice to games.”

Yet game by game, Cola eased into a comfort zone and combined physical tenacity with mental capacity.

He has grabbed six interceptions in the past five games, which includes two last week in a rout of Daytona Beach.

“He has definitely been taking advantage of opportunities, making interceptions and plays,” fellow defensive back Pierre Lee said. “Last year, he was a great player, but you can see the difference of what a year can do in the indoor game. He has been getting better each week.”

It has all added up to his league-high 85 tackles and also nine interceptions, good for fifth best in af2.

Stingley, ever the perfectionist in judging the position he once played in the AFL, says Cola still hasn’t reached his full potential.

But after two years of watching him evolve from a raw special teams contributor to franchise record holder, Stingley knows if given a shot, Cola could finally latch on as a polished defender in the AFL.

And a playoff push from the Wildcats could grant Cola the exposure needed to garner the opportunity.

Though underdogs don’t think about those variables.

“Just hustle,” he said. “That’s my main thing. It will speak for itself in the end.”

It will also make people forget about 5-9, 175.

“I didn’t know he was that small if that’s what he is because he doesn’t play that way,” Stingley said. “He plays like he is 6-1, 190. I have never looked at his height as an issue because I know what kind of athlete he is.

If other teams do, they underestimate him, I don’t think you should do that because he is going to make a bunch of plays.”

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