All they do is Winn, Winn, Winn
Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series on the Blackhawks football playing brothers Dayton, Dakota and Drew Winn. The second part of the series will be published Dec. 6.
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Drew Winn was barely out of diapers when he slung his chubby, toddler leg over the seat of a tiny dirt bike for the first time.
Not quite 3 years old, Drew grabbed hold of the handlebars, gave it the gas and took off, trying his best to keep up with his older brothers.
He’s been going full throttle ever since.
“People don’t believe me when I tell them Drew was riding a bicycle with no training wheels when he was 2 years and two months old,” said his dad, Harvey “Dickie” Winn. “He was riding a dirt bike with no training wheels when he was 2-anda-half. I’ve got video of him doing 6-foot jumps when he was 3 on a motorcycle, and no one ever believes me until I show them old VHS tapes.”
Drew Winn, youngest of the Winn brothers —Dayton, who graduated in 2013, and Dakota, who graduated in 2015. All three have been star players for the Blackhawks football team and helped elevate the program into a Class 4A power.
Two years before Dayton Winn’s arrival on the varsity team, Pea Ridge was a combined 3-17 under then-coach Tony Travis. In his junior season, the Blackhawks were 4-6 and took Shiloh Christian to the wire in a close loss that Travis called “a program-changing moment.”
“Before that year, the kids were just glad to get the Shiloh game over with,” Travis, who now is the head coach at Rogers Heritage, said. “That night the kids had their heads down after the game because not only did they know they could compete with them, they felt like they should have won the game.”
Since 2012, Pea Ridge has been one of the elite programs
in the 4A-1 Conference, not counting the 2013 season when the Blackhawks were “Winn-less” as Dakota Winn and another key player missed the entire season with injuries.
Dakota Winn returned for his senior season in 2014 and helped the team post its first perfect 10-0 season that included the first win over Shiloh Christian in many years and a conference championship. From 2006-09, Pea Ridge was 10-30. From 2010 to this season, the program is 60-24 with a Winn on the roster, excluding the 2013 season that Dakota Winn did not play.
“We had a lot of good players that helped build the program, but the Winn boys certainly had a big impact,” Travis said. “I don’t think it’s any coincidence that we were a better team with them on the roster.”