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Looking for a happy ending
Published November 16, 2007
HARPER — Sammy Winters will be running scared tonight, and Cody White will be right behind him.
Not because of anything Thorndale (6-4) will do, but because unless Harper (9-1) can pull off a win in its Region IV-A (Division II) playoff game, it will signal the end of Winters’ career with the Longhorns.
That dose of harsh reality makes the four-year starter nervous, nearly as much as the idea of a football season without the two-way star bothers his coach.
“It’s a scary thought,” said Winters, who heads into the 7:30 p.m. showdown at Dripping Springs High School one touchdown short of single-season school record of 28. “Growing up in Harper, you’re taught that football isn’t a game, it’s a way of life. I hate the idea that it’s going to end.”
A sentiment White echoed for admittedly selfish reasons.
“It happens every year,” the Longhorns coach said. “You know it’s coming and you hate to lose any of them. But you really hate to lose the leaders, and that’s what Sammy is — a leader. You hope that by the time they are a senior, players have grown into a leader. He’s been one since the first day he started playing here.”
And that started a while ago.
Winters, who holds the school record with 27 career interceptions, has been a two-way performer since he was a freshman. He was a first team All-State and All-District 28-A selection as a defensive back as a sophomore. Last season, when he had nine interceptions, Winters was named the district’s Defensive Player of the Year, as well as earning first-team honors as a running back.
This season, he has piled up 1,427 yards in total offense — 875 yards rushing and 552 yards receiving — while rarely coming off the field. As well as playing running back and safety, he plays on each of the Longhorns’ special teams squads.
And he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Being on the sidelines means I have to rely on others, which I can do because I am a part of a team and I trust all my teammates” said Winters said, who has six interceptions this season. “But, I feel more responsible for what happens when I am out on the field.
“I sleep a lot. When I go home, I try to get eight hours every night. That helps. Physically, we work a lot on conditioning, and our coaches work us hard to prepare us physically and mentally.”
As a four-year starter, Winters, too, bears added leadership responsibilities, but said he had great examples as a young player.
“I had some buddies when I first started playing — Chris Fritz, Reuben Johnson and Cade Tatsch,” Winters said. “They took me under their wing and showed me how to do things, how to work and how to prepare. I still talk to them before every game. I call them and they tell me, ‘This is your season — go out there and take charge.’
“Being a four-year starter on varsity, younger guys watch what I do, and they ask me for advice or look to me to help them get their heads back up when they make a mistake. It’s pressure, but it’s the kind of pressure that makes me strive to do things better, to be an example and to know that if I mess up, I’ll have teammates there who can help me.”
White said Winters’ style is leading by example, and that it’s his heart and drive that help him succeed.
“He’ll get vocal when he has to,” White said, “but it’s more by example, by how hard he plays. He makes everyone around him want to play better.
“There was a run against Johnson City — his first or second touchdown — when he spun off one tackle, then he hit a pile and bounced off, then he broke another tackle and finally ran over a guy at the goal line. It was only about a 15-yard run, but it was pure Sammy. No quit.”
With that drive, Winters has helped the Longhorns reach the playoffs during his four seasons and accumulate a 35-8 record.
Part of that mark, though, is three straight losses in the bi-district round of the playoffs, and both Winters and White hunger to not only extend this season, but end that streak, as well.
“From the past three seasons, the frustration of how things ended has pushed me to strive, work harder and do better,” Winter said. “Every year, when football starts in August, it’s something that drives all of us.
“I can tell you, once we get that win, I’ll be out on that field and my eyes will be watering and I’ll be jumping for joy — and we’re going to have one big party to celebrate.”
What Winters wants most, though, is to keep the party going.
“I truly have loved every minute of my time playing here, and for me to think that it could be over is downright scary,” he said. “But, that just motivates me to do everything I can to help make this season last that much longer.”
A truly scary thought.
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