All They Do Is Winn, Winn, Winn
Editor’s note: This is continued from the Nov. 29 and Dec. 6 editions of The TIMES, the third in a three-part series on the Blackhawk football playing brothers Dayton, Dakota and Drew Winn.
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.
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.
The best one yet?
On the sideline that night in Blackhawks Stadium in 2014, Drew Winn was pacing and wanting to get in the game. The sophomore was a backup to star tailback Zaine Holley, but toward the end of the season, he began to show a knack for getting into the end zone.
“It seemed like the last five or six games, including the playoffs, Drew scored a touchdown in all of them,” Travis said. “He has a nose for the end zone.”
That was just a glimpse of what was to come.
Travis left for Heritage in the offseason of 2016 and was replaced by Stephen Neal, a defensive coach from powerhouse Tulsa (Okla.) Union. Neal hired Crosby Tuck away from Shiloh Christian to be the new offensive coordinator and immediately speculation that Pea Ridge would scrap its power run offense for the wide-open spread.
Neal quickly put those rumors to rest and vowed to stay with the run-heavy offense with two star backs in Winn and Holley. They powered the Blackhawks to the best record in program history, winning 13 games and earning the school’s first state championship game appearance. Holley rushed for 1,500 yards and Winn had 1,300, but averaged 11.2 yards per carry and scored 23 touchdowns.
“Even before I was hired, during the interview process, I got on Hudl (an online video program) and you could just see how he stood out,” Neal said of Drew Winn. “I’m a defensive guy and I noticed him on defense first and the plays he was making. Then I looked at the roster and saw that he was a sophomore and knew he had two big years coming up.”
The numbers have been even better this season for the 6-foot, 180-pound senior who boasts multiple college offers including one Division I program in Washington. He has also been offered as a preferred walk-on at Arkansas, and coaches from a number of other programs have been in contact with him this season and are expected to offer in the coming weeks.
Drew has legitimate 4.5-second speed over 40 yards, Neal said, but the coach added that speed is not what separates his star tailback from other speedy runners.
“He is fast, but he’s got that next gear speed that is noticeable on film,” Neal said. “You see defenders have an angle on him and all the sudden he just accelerates past them. That is just unmatched from what I’ve ever seen.”
Recently, Drew hit a milestone he was unaware of when his third-quarter touchdown run against Hamburg pushed him over the 2,000-yard rushing mark for the season. He is within striking distance of Dayton’s 2012 mark of 2,068. He surpassed that Friday, Nov. 24, against Booneville in a third-round playoff game with he gained 167 yards on 33 carries.
“No one wants to see their records get broken,” said Dayton, who admits the brothers are ultra-competitive in everything they do. “But if anyone breaks it, I hope it’s Drew.”
Drew said it would be an honor to surpass his older brother’s rushing mark.
He has taken his success in stride and, like his dad, credits growing up the youngest of three siblings as a major contributing factor in his early growth as an athlete.
“Just being competitive growing up with them, it kind of gave me an edge on my shoulder,” he said. “When it came to sports, or anything really, I just took it as something to be competitive at.”
Dickie said when the boys were younger, Dayton was always the peacekeeper when his siblings had squabbles, usually over a game of dunk-ball, a basketball game they made up.
“I always had to step in and separate them,” Dayton laughed. “They were always going at it.”
Somewhere in the future, when the Winns are no longer racing past bewildered defenders and celebrating in the end zone, they will have the kind of gridiron glory stories that often get embellished as the years, like yardage markers on the football field, pass by.
The Winn brothers won’t have to embellish their accomplishments. The actual numbers are already remarkable on their own.