FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) – In his final three years at Wayne, HJ Dillard focused solely on basketball until something changed.
“It just popped into my head and I just wanted to do it and try it,” Dillard said.
“It” was that he was playing football his senior year for the first time since eighth grade. It was a big change that he had to get used to.
“It feels weird because I don’t have the same people around me that I have on the basketball court,” Dillard said. “It’s just not the same.”
Getting back on the field after a four-year absence is hard enough, but when Dillard returned and took on the most difficult position in the sport: starting quarterback, it was perhaps even more difficult.
“I just woke up and thought, I might as well play quarterback because I know I can do it,” Dillard said. “I know I can push the team to be better because I’m a leader on the basketball court, and I think I can lead here, too.”
The thought of a freshman taking the lead in high school football might be intimidating to some, but head coach Sherwood Haydock felt this quarterback met all of his criteria.
“You have to be a great athlete, and he is. You have to be well-liked by your teammates, and he is. And you have to have a strong desire to be a quarterback,” Haydock said. “All of those things happened and now we’re reaping the rewards.”
Haydock believes these qualities will soon become apparent on Friday evening.
Even though he has secured the new position, Dillard still wants to achieve a goal that began with his decision many months ago.
“I can prove to myself that I can play football and basketball,” Dillard said. “Some people say I haven’t played in a long time or I lack experience.”
The generals have no problem with this lack of experience.
“They believe in me,” Dillard said. “That’s all it takes.”
Dillard will take the field with Wayne for the first time on Friday, August 23, when the Generals travel to Indy to face Crispus Attucks.
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