GILMER, Texas — Last Friday's game between Center and Gilmer was highly anticipated. The Roughriders were ranked nine, while the Buckeyes sat at five. Both teams were known for their explosive offensive and both teams had the same record of 7-3. One team had to come out on top, but which team that would be was in a coin toss.
However, Gilmer played above the competition and ultimately came out on top 69-42. Will Henderson moves at the speed of light as soon as he gets the football, scoring three touchdowns in the first quarter alone then proceeded to score twice in the second half of the game before being pulled.
His speed on the field is from the success he's had on the track field. Henderson is the 2023 UIL track and field State Champion with an impressive 10.28 winning time. Henderson's passion is football and uses the track to benefit him on the field.
"I think I started with summer track when I was 13, and I used to be slow," Henderson said. "Not too slow, but I did get humbled because I thought I'd be able to go out there and beat everybody."
He recalled being beaten by Dylan Bennett from Mount Pleasant.
"He smoked me," Henderson said. "So I worked for like a year or so and got fast. I run track for football because for football you have to have speed."
Head Coach Alan Metzel has been coaching at Gilmer for over 20 years and is honored to be coaching Will.
"There's not many people who can go to a state track meet and run 10.2," Coach Metzel said. "I'd love to say I'd coach somebody like that again, and I hope we have a bunch of them but I'm not going to hold my breath."
Will has been described as explosive, shifty, fast on the field selfless, and a great leader. He was honored to be this week's Player of the Week but he insisted on being joined by his offensive line.
"This is 'Jer', he's the Center, this is Shawn and this is 'Spenc'," Will explained why he chose each teammate for the interview. "They're my lineman, and they're here because they helped me get five touchdowns, so I wanted to show everybody why I'm successful." This form of selflessness came naturally from Will as he explained to them why they had to be on TV along with him. "Because you'll are the reason I'm getting this," Henderson explained while the cameras weren't rolling.
Furthermore, when asked what his goals for his future are, the answer came easily to him.
"I want to buy a house for my parents," Henderson said. "They provided for me since I was born, and I don't want them to have to worry about bills."
Along with his goals for his family, he also has his mindset on how he wants the next game and the rest of the season to go. "We plan to win, we don't want to lose right now and have our season cut short so we plan to win and blow them out," Henderson said.
Gilmer will face Sunnyvale on Thursday at 7 p.m.