On Monday April 4, Defensive coordinator Kurt Debniak gathered the team around to tell them that they had a real live hero among them, Markus Cordova.

On April 1, Cordova and his parents went out to dinner at Steer N Stein in his hometown of Hemet, CA. Cordova noticed that another patron behind him was choking and grabbing his throat in a panic. “I had noticed the guy behind me to my left actually threw up. He inhaled and no oxygen went to his body. I saw his eyes get big so I knew right away he was choking,” said Cordova, “being CPR certified I asked him if he could breathe or swallow and he shook his head really fast so right away I had to turn him over and had to push on his stomach. I gave him three pumps and on the third one he spit it out. It was really scary and I was nervous because I never had to actually do that to some one but at the same time that his life was in danger and in my head it was either now or never.”

Thankfully for the choking man, Shad Warrell, Cordova had taken an interest in becoming a coach and to do that he must have a CPR certification if anything were to happen to a player.

“Marcks is one of our team leaders here, there’s no question about that. He’s a high character kid who does everything you ask him on and off the field,” Head coach Peter Lofthouse, “When I heard this story at first it was announced on April fools, so I thought it was a complete joke. Once I realized that this actually happened, it didn’t surprise me one bit that he was able to do something like that, he’s very quick thinking and fast reacting on and off the field. He’s going to do whatever he can to help anybody.”

“I worked in law enforcement for 25 years, I’m now retired, and have been in life saving situations. I understand the importance of acting fast and if you don’t it can be the difference of life or death,” said coach Debniak,  “When I first found out what happened I was really proud of him and I didn’t surprise me. I recruited Markus last year and his character really stood out as I was getting to know him. One of the things that struck me is how he looks out for other people.”

Cordova plays for Mesa at outside/inside linebacker and wishes to become a head coach for either football or basketball down the road.