Kickoff 2023: Wilkerson emerges as force at running back for Comanche football team
COMANCHE — Whatever doubts Jake Escobar had about Sawyer Wilkerson playing on the varsity his freshman year didn’t last long. The first time Wilkerson touched the ball playing in a scrimmage with the junior varsity team, he got Escobar’s attention.
“Our JV coach called the bubble first play,” Escobar said. “He kind of swims out and catches it, and he goes down the sideline for a touchdown the first play. I’m thinking, ‘Maybe he does need to be on the varsity.’ You don’t need to be a genius to know that. I’m like, ‘Wow.’ He’s an explosive back.”
Two years later, the 6-foot, 166-pound Wilkerson begins his junior year as one of the Big Country’s best running backs. He ran for 2,601 yards and 29 TDs on 259 carries in leading Comanche to a 10-2 record and its first district title since 2018. All after the team went 1-9 in 2021. Wilkerson, the District 5-3A Division II offensive MVP, averaged 10 yards a carry.
Yet the road to Wilkerson’s success took a detour his freshman year. A week after that first scrimmage, to be exact. Wilkerson, playing for the varsity, was hurt trying to recover his own fumble.
No one, not even Escobar, knew about the extent of his injury until the season opener a week later against Mason.
“I could see he was kind of hobbling,” said Escobar, Comanche’s first-year coach at the time. “So, I told him, ‘No, you don’t need to play.’ He was adamant that he wanted to play.”
Escobar relented and let Wilkerson field the opening kickoff, but he could tell Wilkerson’s injury was serious. So, he benched him for the rest of the game.
It turned out Wilkerson had fractured his hip in that last scrimmage. He didn’t play again until the final two games of the season — all in a limited role.
“It was sad,” Wilkerson said. “I didn’t want to miss any football. Obviously, I wanted to get right into it.”
Bouncing back
Ironically, the injury might have made Wilkerson better.
“It was disappointing, but now I’m stronger in my hip, and I run lower," Wilkerson said. "I’m a lot better than I used to be.”
Escobar agrees, though Wilkerson’s breakout season last year even caught him by surprise.
“I knew he was going to be pretty good,” Escobar said. “I just didn’t know he would have 2,600 yards rushing last year. We kind of figured he had the ability, but he just grew and got stronger.”
Wilkerson had faith in his ability from the beginning.
“I always knew I could do it,” he said. “I always had that mindset of knowing what I could do. Not everyone knew about me, because my freshman year I got hurt. I really didn’t play that much. This year, I believed in myself. My coaches believed in me, and we just got it done.”
It didn’t take Wilkerson long to impress. He ran for 273 yards and four TDs in a 42-18 victory over Bangs in Week 2.
“There was one play against Bangs where he broke six tackles,” Escobar said. “They couldn’t take him down. They pushed him out of bounds. A couple of plays later, he goes 70 without anybody touching him. I was watching it the other day on film. He was just blowing through everyone.”
He would break 250 yards rushing in seven games last season, including a 310-yard effort and four TDs on 11 carries in a little more than a half in a 77-7 victory against Dublin. That’s an average of 28.2 yards a carry.
Wearing the bull’s-eye
Wilkerson is no longer an unknown commodity. All eyes will be on him when Comanche opens the season at Brady on Aug. 25.
“Our expectations are he’s going to have another breakout season,” Escobar said. “The kid is tough on himself as much as we are. He’s a kid who’s going to show up every day. He wants to play at the next level. That’s his goal. His favorite school is Texas Tech. That’s where his family went to school.”
Comanche went 5-0 in district play last year and even knocked off eventual 2A D-II state champion Albany 31-28 on the Lions’ home turf before the league opener.
It took a 10-win Bells team to end Comanche’s season in the second round of the playoffs.
It left Wilkerson wanting more.
“The wins are way more important to me,” he said “I’d love to go deeper in the playoffs. Every high school football team wants to make it to Jerry World. We’re all striving for that. That’s our biggest goal.”
Comanche isn’t a one-guy show, either. Layden Welch returns at quarterback, after throwing for 1,751 yards and 22 TDs as a junior last year, while Kyler Beaty showed signs of greatness at receiver late in the season.
But there’s no doubt that Wilkerson is the guy who makes Comanche go.
“They feel like they can win when he competes,” Escobar said. “Our kids believe in him. They have a nickname for him. They call him 'The Machine', but they say it in Spanish – 'La Machina'.”
That’s a lot of pressure for a one guy, but Wilkerson is OK with that.
“Good players have to deal with pressure,” Wilkerson said. “That’s always going to come. You just have to deal with it, and I’ve gotten used to it. So, I’m ready for it this next season. We’ve been working hard in summer workouts, and we’re striving to have a better season.”
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This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Sawyer Wilkerson emerges as go-to guy at RB for Comanche football
