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TCA offensive lineman battles cancer, kicks field goal, wins championship

Cobey Bixler was 17 this summer when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. The diagnosis sidelined him from his senior year on the football team...until the final game.

Football is more than a hobby for Cobey Bixler.

"It's the ultimate team sport," the high school senior said. "So every time you play, you create a family, and I definitely found that out this year."

As Bixler was gearing up for summer practice this past July, he noticed a change.

"I lost 32 pounds in two weeks and so I knew something was up," Bixler said. "We went to the doctor and they diagnosed me with testicular cancer."

He was just 17 years old.

"I was upset about it. No one wants to hear that," Bixler said.

"Your heart goes out to him and his family, for a young guy, 17 years old to hear that news," said Joe Hamstra, his coach at Trinity Christian Academy in Willow Park.

Hamstra knew that'd mean Bixler wouldn't get to play his senior year. He also knew what Bixler's battle was about to be.

"Yeah, we all have our stories," Hamstra said as he shared his own: He recently had cancer, too.

"He was always there next to me. He sat with me during the chemo treatment one day," Bixler​​​​​​​ said of his coach.

But there was good news. The chemo was working. Bixler​​​​​​​ was healing. And his team kept winning.

"I said, 'Hey look, we're going to state, I think we might be able to get Cobey on the field as a kicker,'" Hamstra said, referencing that it was a "safe" position that wouldn't likely draw any physical contact.

"I remember hearing the plan, I just thought it was the coolest idea," Bixler's friend and teammate Cody Athey said.

Bixler was nervous. He's not a kicker, he's an offensive lineman.

"I practiced for about a week before and I wasn’t doing too well at first but then I started making a bunch of them," Bixler said.

The team even had to cut a hole in his shoulder pads so there wouldn't be pressure on the port in his chest.

It was a risk, but Bixler​​​​​​​ was ready. So Friday night, down 7-0 in the TAPPS Division III state championship, they went for it.

"We decided to kick a field goal and try to cut into their lead and we sent Cobey out there and he made that son of a gun," Hamstra said, laughing.

"Crowd went crazy," Bixler​​​​​​​ said. "I thought it was pretty funny. The other team had to be confused because it was just a field goal but everyone was super happy."

The TCA Eagles ended up winning the game by just one point, 15 to 14.

"Cobey's three points won us the game," Hamstra said.

"God was definitely there for all of it. Never once did I feel like I was alone," Bixler​​​​​​​ said.

Perhaps an even bigger victory? Bixler​​​​​​​ is now cancer-free, too.

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