Watkins Memorial's Oliver takes pride in family, football
PATASKALA — The Watkins Memorial football team's defense has had three shutouts through the season’s first five games, including back-to-back against Northridge and Johnstown the last two weeks. One of the reasons for the unit’s stellar play in the team’s 4-1 start has been senior outside linebacker Victor Oliver.
The 5-foot-11, 210-pound Oliver had five tackles in the Warriors’ 41-0 win at Johnstown last Friday.
“Victor is an impressive physical player who has a nose for the football,” Watkins coach Darren Waters said. “He’s been on the field for us for three years now, and I think that kind of experience shows. I’ve talked about us being young at times, but we do have some seniors who have experience and some of them new. But that defense has come together as a unit."
The Johnnies' traditionally powerful running game was held to just 45 yards.
“For their energy and effort, guys like Victor and a few others have been catalysts," Waters said. "They do a good job of feeding off each other."
Oliver takes pride in his ability to force plays inside, where fellow linebackers Sean Sheehan and Rocco Paschal have been able to pile up the tackles.
“As an outside linebacker, I’m guarding the outside,” Oliver said. “If somebody comes out to block me, I’m not letting them outside. I’m forcing everything back inside where the rest of our defense is and where they can make plays.”
Being a perfect fit is nothing new for Oliver.
Oliver credits his adopted parents Todd and Brenda Oliver for getting him into sports. Victor moved in with the Olivers and their son Dawson when he was 5 years old.
“What they’ve done for me is out of this world,” Oliver said. “I have to say that. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for those people. The kindness they gave me when I first got there was none other. The things I went through before I got there … yeah.
“There is hope in that situation," Victor Oliver added. "My dad Todd Oliver, he was the one who introduced me to football. They knew I was a physical kid. My first thing was wrestling and then I got into football. It took off from there. I’ve loved every second of it.”
A year ago, Oliver was one of the emerging junior on a senior-dominated defense. He said he now does what he can to bring along the younger players on the Watkins defense.
“I view leadership as a way I can build the way for the younger kids and building a program,” he said. “It’s my job to teach the younger kids how stuff goes. I also have to motivate them and push them every day.”
One of Oliver’s big plays in the season-opening win over Worthington Kilbourne was featured on local TV coverage that night.
“I blocked a punt and Rocco Paschal picked it up out of the air and took it home for the touchdown,” Oliver said. “Everybody was like, ‘Good blocked punt. Did you practice that in practice?’ Coach Waters talks about how special teams can win you two games or lose you two games. They are crucial to the success of your offense and your defense.”
Oliver has been visiting several college football programs in hopes of prolonging his playing career.
“In terms of football, I’m just looking for a good fit,” he said. “In terms of what I would study, I would probably look at business. I’d like to get into real estate or something like that."
Watkins will cover plenty of real estate for its final nonleague game of the season. The Warriors will travel 130 miles east to Wellsburg, West Virginia, to play Brooke (3-1) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
“It’s going to be really fun,” Oliver said. “It’s an out-of-state game and you don’t know what to expect. We’ve never played this team before. You don’t know what they will do. We seem to play pretty good against teams we haven’t seen before.”
The Warriors will open Licking County League-Buckeye Division play on Sept. 29 at home against Licking Valley (3-2). Watkins won a share of the division title last year and will look to repeat.
“That’s been the talk for us since Day One,” Oliver said. “But we set mini goals and take every game one week at a time.”
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Watkins Memorial's Victor Oliver takes pride in family, football
