Wyoming running back CJ Hester leads the Cowboys by example

As Wyoming was on the point of run onto the sector previous to its regional closing sport in opposition to Taft final Saturday evening, operating again CJ Hester was standing in entrance of his teammates yelling out closing directions and encouragement.

That’s nothing new for Hester, who together with being top-of-the-line gamers in Ohio, can be an awesome chief.

“CJ Hester will not be solely an amazing soccer participant, however he’s an amazing teammate, captain and excessive character particular person,” Wyoming head coach Aaron Hancock mentioned.

The Cowboys knew they would wish to depend on their star operating again much more than regular as soon as they took the sector, because the wind was steadily blowing and throwing the ball was going to be practically not possible. Taft’s protection additionally knew this and stacked the field all evening with eight or extra defenders.

The Western Michigan commit didn’t bat an eye fixed, he simply went to work, carrying the ball 25 instances for 137 yards and scored the sport’s solely landing in a 7-0 win.

It didn’t come simple for Hester that evening, although.

There have been loads of runs that netted just some yards and even destructive yardage. Hester, who entered the sport averaging 9.2 yards per keep on the season, averaged a season-low 5.5 yards a pop within the win over Taft.

However as a substitute of being discouraged, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound senior felt like they might have the ability to get one thing occurring offense finally, as did his teammates.

“It’s not at all times going to occur fast, so we simply need to be affected person,” Hester mentioned. “Endurance is vital in life. The road was simply telling me ‘we’re going to get one CJ, we want you.’ We simply adopted the gameplan.”

And get one, they did.

With the sport nonetheless scoreless a bit previous the halfway level of the third quarter, Hester took a handoff from quarterback Quaid Hauer and headed towards what a gap in the course of the road of scrimmage. When the Taft protection converged to shut the outlet, it regarded just like the play can be over for a minimal achieve.

However Hester by no means stopped shifting his toes, the officers didn’t blow a whistle, and Hester someway emerged from the pile with nothing however inexperienced turf forward of him and raced 59 yards for what turned out to be the game-winning landing.

“I regarded round and no whistle blew and I noticed open discipline and I mentioned, ‘oh yeah, that is it’,” Hester mentioned. “As soon as I took off out of the pile, I used to be like ‘yeah, I’m taking off, I’ve to attain.’”

It was simply one other in a line of nice moments for Hester over his 4 years at Wyoming, the place he has now rushed for six,972 yards and has scored 110 complete touchdowns and has been named the District’s Offensive Participant of the 12 months every of the previous three seasons.

And whereas his numbers on the sector are eye-popping, probably the most spectacular factor about Hester simply may be the best way he handles himself. When speaking to him, one can simply neglect they’re speaking to a highschool soccer participant and suppose they’re speaking to a coach as Hester simply has a demeanor and maturity about him that makes him stand out.

When he was requested about the way it felt to beat Taft Saturday evening, most gamers would merely say one thing prefer it was ‘nice’ or ‘superior.’

Hester, nevertheless, mirrored on the truth that the Cowboys have been dealing with the Senators for the second time this season after beating them 20-0 in Week 2. His reply seemed like one thing the pinnacle coach would say.

“It’s onerous to beat a group twice,” Hester mentioned. “That’s a great group. They’ve nice athletes and an awesome teaching workers. I used to be simply pondering it’s going be a tough one.”

His maturity additionally shines by way of when requested how tough it’s to indicate the endurance that he confirmed Saturday evening because the protection continues to make it more and more tougher to run the ball successfully.

“You need to have a optimistic mindset in that side of the sport,” Hester mentioned. “When you’ve got destructive ideas, that’s when the plan goes south. When you comply with the gameplan and the coaches consider in you and your teammates consider in you, every thing will fall in line. You need to have a optimistic mindset all through the entire sport.”

Hester doesn’t have to fret about his teammates and coaches having a perception in him, as coaches, teammates and even directors mild up when speaking concerning the operating again. His head coach has such a perception in him that Hancock went out of his method to e-mail media members with Hester’s achievements in order that his star might get the popularity he deserves.

Among the many issues Hester has carried out is step onto the opposite aspect of the ball and play a bit protection when wanted for the Cowboys. In restricted snaps defensively this season, Hester has recorded 15 tackles, a sack, a compelled fumble and returned an interception for a landing.

“He does no matter he has to do to assist his group achieve success,” Hancock mentioned. “That’s what you need in a group chief is no matter it takes. He does an awesome job.”

And whereas he spends most of his time on the offensive aspect of the ball, Hester is aware of that protection could be the important thing to profitable so long as the offense does its job.

“Protection wins championships, everyone is aware of that,” Hester mentioned. “That’s simply the sport of soccer.”

However on the aspect of the ball the place he excels, Hester has now run the ball 331 instances for two,967 yards and 46 touchdowns this season in serving to lead Wyoming to a 14-0 document, their seventh consecutive undefeated common season and seventh straight Cincinnati Hills League championship.

These accomplishments have his coach placing him up for the best honor within the state, alongside gamers like Lamar Sperling of Archbishop Hoban, Jordan Marshall of Archbishop Moeller and Bryce Schondelmyer of Springfield.

Hancock, who has identified Hester because the operating again was in second grade, calls his participant ‘the toughest employee within the room and on the sector’ and that he enjoys ‘being a optimistic function mannequin.’ All of that goes into the coach’s emotions about Hester.

“In my view, (Hester) is Ohio Mr. Soccer,” Hancock mentioned. “In my coronary heart, I’ve seen this child. Not solely his soccer play, however his intangibles are off the chart.”

Heading into their state semifinal matchup with Steubenville this week, the Wyoming senior class is 52-3 of their 4 seasons however the one factor this class hasn’t carried out is hoist the trophy at seasons’ finish. And that’s what Hester desires greater than something.

“He’s properly deserving of all of the accolades he’ll get,” Hancock mentioned. “And the one he desires probably the most is the state title.”

Identical to a real chief.