SMHS FOOTBALL
Seniors Nick Henry, Darius ‘Diggy’ Davis and I’Zayah Young all signed their letters of intent to play college football at the Divison One level for their respective schools.
It was a proud moment for defensive coordinator and San Marcos coach Josh Allen who saw the development all three players went through from their freshman to senior year.
“They stayed the course, trusted the process and all the trials they have been through, they still kept their mind on finishing the goal,” Allen said. “Once they get done with [high school] ball, to go play college ball, they accomplish all their goals. I couldn’t be happier.”
Senior offensive lineman Nick Harris signed his letter of intent to play for the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks.
Signing his letter of intent to play for SFA still doesn’t feel real for Harris.
“It means a lot of things,” Harris said. “My heart rate and the second guessing that I had, is all lifted away. And after all that, I just don’t know if it’s real or not, but I’m ready.”
On playing for SFA, Harris developed a great relationship with offensive line coach Garrett Graff.
“The relationship I got with Coach [Garrett] Graff, they have been coming out here for a couple of games, and bringing us down,” Harris said. “That’s all I need to see. It was just everything that sounded good to me.”
In his journey to signing with SFA, Harris battled not only physical obstacles in injuries but mental obstacles as well.
“There’s been a lot of ups and downs like injuries and stuff,” Harris said. “It’s like second guessing myself that I almost wanted to stop playing. But I had to keep pushing because I knew that’s all I could do. It was just a lot of hard work.”
Knowing the course Harris had to overcome to get to this point, Allen couldn’t be more proud of what the senior accomplished.
“For Nick, it was more of a personal journey and a personal image from coming to middle school,” Allen said. “He always had size, but he still had to put the work in. Once he was able to start believing in himself, college coaches came and talked to him, which moved him even more to become the player he is today. So for him, he’s more of a personal journey, from where he started, coming out of middle school till now. The biggest thing I am very proud of is he learned, matured and grew up.”
Senior linebacker Darius Davis signed his letter of intent to stay in San Marcos and play for the Texas State Bobcats.
On signing his letter of intent, the moment was special for Davis knowing he is a first genera- tion college student and being close to home.
It means a lot to me and my family because I’m the first generation to go to college and to be able to go to college for free and then as an athlete,” Davis said. “I think it means a lot, especially going down the road to where my family can come to every game, come to every practice if they wanted to. I think it means a lot.”
Davis chose Texas State because San Marcos is a community which he holds in high regard.
“I fell in love [with San Marcos] since the first day I came to high school,” Davis said. “Not only from the community, but from the coaches and the parents I’ve been around. It takes a whole village to really get you to this point. They got me here, so I feel like they will take me to the next level and to the NFL.”
One of the obstacles Davis had to overcome in his high school career was overcoming a slow start in freshman year.
“Coming into San Marcos High School, I wasn’t really one of the best players,” Davis said. “I wasn’t one of the best players in my position, wasn’t the best player of my team and I definitely wasn’t one of the best players in my class. So going into my first midyear of spring ball, I decided I’m going to be one of the best, no matter what anybody has to say about it. I went out there and I did it.”
Another obstacle Davis faced was making his own choice on where to attend college, though Texas State linebacker coach Bradley Dale Peveto helped make his decision simple.
“Definitely the fear of making their own decision,” Davis said. “Every college athlete, their goal is to make it to the next level. With Coach Peve, he made it really easy to realize this is the right decision for me. He has sent multiple linebackers to the league and made it really easy for me to say ‘Yeah, this is a place for me.’” Senior I’Zayah Young signed his letter of intent to play for the SMU Mustangs of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“Signing today, it’s a great feeling,” Young said. ”It’s like a dream come true as a young kid. I never thought I’d be in this moment, but God has a way for me. So I’m truly blessed to be here right now.”
One of the personal obstacles Young faced in his journey to signing with SMU was the fact he wasn’t able to play varsity football until his senior year, unlike many of his senior classmates.
“Getting here, I really thought after freshman year, sophomore year, I was going to play on varsity, but that didn’t happen,” Young said. “I always tell other people, we are just getting through adversity, and it was hard because we all dreamed of just being on varsity but that didn’t happen.
“But, like I said, God has a plan for us, and we all stayed here and stayed down. We all stayed together, we stayed as a family, trusted in these coaches and coaches trusted us.”
Another challenge Young had to overcome was tearing his achilles during his sophomore year and the recovery process that followed.
For Young, the injury nearly ended his football career before it got started. He thanked the training staff for helping him in his recovery process.
“Getting over that Achilles, that was my biggest [obstacle],” Young said. “I really thought it was over for me and thought football was going to be over for me. But I had a big support system here. They let me know it’s just my sophomore year, I got time and I’m going to get back as long as I keep going to physical therapy. Take things seriously, going to class, and everything’s all going to work.
“So I trusted in everyone, trusting the coaching staff and trusting the trainers.Especially the trainers because I think of them highly. They’re very good to me, especially Mrs. Roper, Mrs. Pierson and all of them. … Without them, I wouldn’t be standing up here right now.”
Of the duo of Davis and Young, Allen was also proud of their accomplishments and seeing them go on to the next step of their football career.
“They did an amazing job,” Allen said. ”Everything they put in is what they worked for. They earned everything they worked for. … They set out and conquered challenges before them. I could not be more proud of those two.”
