STEPPING UP
Henson thriving at WR, DB
Gavin Henson knows his future as an athlete will be on a baseball diamond, but right now he’s having fun as a two-way starter for the Siloam Springs football team.
Henson — a 5-foot-11, 145-pound senior wide receiver/ cornerback — is coming off the best game of his high school football career during last Friday’s 43-42 homecoming win over Van Buren in overtime at Panther Stadium.
Henson caught four passes for a career-high 88 yards and a touchdown, and he also intercepted a pass on defense.
Henson’s been a valuable piece to the Panthers’ offensive and defensive schemes through the first four weeks as Siloam Springs (3-1, 1-0) travels to defending 6AWest Conference champion Benton (2-2, 1-0) this Friday.
But going into the year, it was up in the air about whether Henson would even play football his senior season.
“He’s a kid that I didn’t know if he was going to stick with it or not, because he does have a big baseball future ahead of him,” said Siloam Springs coach Brandon Craig. “He’s another guy that’s shown that a multisport athlete can be valuable for us playing multiple sports.”
Henson, who worked at quarterback some early on in his career before moving to wide receiver, has done a great job of learning the Panthers’ offense, his coach said.
“He probably knows it as well as our quarterback does,” Craig said. “He knows how to get open and is starting to see how to run routes and get himself open. Then he’s flipped over on defense and played some corner for us. He’s just done a great job there as well. We’re just excited about everything he’s been able to contribute to the team this year and he just continues to get better each week.”
Henson leads the team with 15 receptions for 294 yards — a big jump from his role in 2019 when he caught six passes for 55 yards. But because of graduation, Henson was the Panthers’ leading returning receiver heading into the 2020 season.
“For me it’s been a lot of understanding that there’s a lot of maturing I’ve had to do especially since last year and a lot of trying to absorb every little thing I can absorb in practice and games,” Henson said. “I try and learn with every rep. When I do make a mistake I have to come back and make sure I do better on the next rep.”
Henson battled some adversity early too, as he fumbled the opening kickoff of the season against Rogers, which the Mounties recovered and eventually led to a score.
But even in that game he shook it off and went on to catch four passes for 85 yards.
“I was pretty upset about it, but I tried to do my best to get up and get back on the field and get to work,” Henson said.
Part of that short memory and being able to put the negative play behind him is a big part of playing baseball.
Henson has been one of the Panthers’ conference starting pitchers for the last two seasons and is projected to be a pitcher in college.
“You know it really prepares you to deal with failure, because you have to be prepared to fail in baseball about 70 percent of the time, and that’s a really successful outcome if you fail 70 percent of the time,” Henson said. “It’s helped to be ready to fail mentally. I still have my issues, and I still have a long way to go on that, but it’s made the whole process a lot easier. It’s made it easier for me to be a better role model to a lot of the younger kids.”
His coach has noticed that growth as well.
“This year, ever since last spring when he became our lead receiver-type guy, he’s just taken off,” Craig said.
“He coaches the younger kids. He goes back and communicates with the quarterback. He does a really good job of talking about what he sees in coverages. He’s one of those few kids you get that actually can start to read the coverages on the run, which is really special. The guy’s got great hands, and he’s really smart. The fact that he understands our offense as well as he does is making a big impact.”
He’s also had to help the Panthers on defense.
When covid-19 quarantines knocked out a defensive secondary starter for Pea Ridge game on Sept. 4, Henson had to help fill a starting role in the secondary.
“He’s really stepped up for us defensively,” said Cole Harriman, defensive coordinator and secondary coach. “He went from being an emergency backup on defense to a starter within a week.”
Harriman said Henson’s baseball skills are a big plus to his football set.
“His baseball skills transfer easily — hand/eye coordination, tracking the ball in the air,” Harriman said. “He’s a competitor who will do what it takes to win.”
Henson won two conference games and pitched 34 2/3 innings for the Panthers as a sophomore on the baseball team in 2019, but his 2020 baseball season was cut short after seven games because of covid-19.
Henson, who throws between 83-85 mph, was able to play in the Perfect Timing
College League based in Springdale during the summer.
“I feel like I did pretty well,” he said. “I had a pretty good summer. I had some schools reach out to me.”
Henson said he plans on announcing his college baseball plans soon, but right now he’s enjoying his many roles playing football.
“I love football,” Henson said. “There was definitely a thought in my mind once baseball stuff starting picking up with communication with colleges. I was tempted to not play. I thought about it and I had almost set my mind on it for a little bit. I’ve loved playing football since I was a little kid. I’ve always watched football with my dad, my grandparents. I felt like I would regret it a lot if I decided not to play this fall.”