‘I THINK I CAN DO IT’
Adisa makes an impact for Wolves in 2nd year in the sport
Last season, a novice with a road map in his hand was running the football in a junior varsity game at Morton. He was a junior too.
His chances for success seemed slim as he ran the ball so upright that he looked like a rake stuck in the ground.
But Monsoor Adisa showed signs of something. Even the Governors’ coaching staff was making good comments and patting him on top of his blue Boone Grove helmet.
“My mom wouldn’t let me play (before),” Adisa said after Friday night’s 41-26 win at Hanover Central in a big Greater South Shore Conference matchup.
In front of a packed homecoming crowd in Cedar Lake, the Wolves (4-1, 2-1) received two touchdowns in the first half from Adisa en route to defeating the Wildcats (3-2, 2-1). Adisa scored on runs of 8 and 19 yards as the Wolves grabbed a 28-6 lead.
“Oh no, there goes our secret weapon,” Boone Grove coach Dan Kukulski said when talking about Adisa.
The parents of the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Adisa moved to the United States from Nigeria in 1995. American football was as foreign to them as a cheeseburger and not nearly as tasty.
So the young man who today is called “Monty” by his teammates dreamed from afar of playing under the Friday night lights.
“I got over it for a while,” said Adisa, a senior. “Then I finally told (my mom) I was going to play last year.”
With no experience whatsoever, Adisa was put on the junior varsity and ended up with 17 carries. The coaches worked hard with Adisa on running lower to the ground.
And there was one other thing that helped him prepare for this season.
“I watched (teammate Brae’ton Vann) all last year to learn how to do this,” Adisa said.
With less than a year of football under Adisa’s belt, college seems a long way off as well. But he would love to have a chance to play at the next level, where he wants to follow his parents into physical therapy.
“To see what he’s done in just one year, I absolutely believe he can play college football,” Kukulski said. “If he wants it.
“I know his parents don’t like him playing, but I know Monty loves it. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s playing somewhere next year at all.”
A year ago, he was an 11thgrader playing in JV games. But not anymore.
“I think I can do it,” Adisa said.