A mixing of the old and the new and a desire to play college football against some of the very best, were two of the reasons that Northeastern State University Covid sophomore Blake Corn chose to attend college in his hometown of Tahlequah.

“College life for me has been about keeping the old friends I had in high school while finding it easy to make new friends at NSU,” said Corn. “Coming out of high school I was looking for a school that had a degree program in what I wanted to study and to play football against some of the best teams in the nation. I had offers from some of the GAC (Great American Conference) schools, but I knew that at NSU I would be playing against the very physical teams in the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) and that was fine because that’s the kind of player I am.”

Blake, a physical education major, will play in the defensive line for the RiverHawks football team this fall for the third year. Last year he led the team in sacks with 3.5 and had 4.5 tackles for loss. He has also been on the MIAA Honor Role the past two years.

On the scholastic side of college, Blake has worked hard to be able to establish a good working relationship with the faculty.

“I like the class sizes at NSU because there are usually only about 15-20 people in each of my classes. Coach Eck (NSU football coach JJ Eckert) wants us to sit in the first three rows in our classes, but I always sit right up front because I think if you’re every struggling in a class and the instructor who sees you every day in that front row paying attention, they’ll be more likely to help you than the guy in the back who’s goofing off.”

Being a Tahlequah native, Corn already knew about the charm of the town and what it had to offer but for prospective students and athletes he had some advice.

“Sometimes I hear people say that Tahlequah is too small a town, but I know from living here just how much the town has to offer like the lake and the river and it has grown a lot in the past few years. People here really support athletics from high school to the college level and things like the new Event Center have helped raise school spirit in the past few years. Being from Tahlequah I think I take extra pride in being a RiverHawk because I want to see the town and the teams succeed. I just want to be an example of what NSU can provide for people in an enjoyable family-like atmosphere.”