The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Western Christian has quite the jewel in WR/DB Booker
Western Christian football coach Donald Martin II has been coaching football in the area for nearly three decades and has to go back more than 20 years to find players he could compare to his current senior star Darryl Booker.
Those players are Alta Loma products Eric Wilson and Eric Weddle, who went on to play NCAA Division I football while Weddle went on to play in the NFL.
“His (Booker’s) versatility is very Weddle-esque,” Martin said. “He’s got similar athletic attributes.”
Booker will play his final regular-season game at home tonight against Trinity Classical Academy. The Fighting Lancers (5-4, 1-3 in Mesquite League) can’t earn an automatic spot for the CIF Southern Section playoffs, but they hope to extend their season next week with an at-large playoff berth.
The 5-foot-10, 160-pound Booker primarily plays wide receiver on offense, safety on defense and returns kicks on special teams.
And does so at a high level. Between punt and kickoff returns, Booker has 629 total yards this season, which ranks him third in the Southern Section in that category, seventh in the state and 40th in the country. Not included in those stats are the 52 yards Booker has on four interception returns and 52 yards on one fumble return.
“I’ve always been a kick returner. Because I’m one of the fastest everywhere I’ve played,” Booker said.
Booker realizes that returning kicks is not for the faint of heart.
“Sometimes I think about it (being challenging),” Booker said. “But I just believe my teammates that they’ll block the guy. They’ll do what they can to protect me so I can at least get some yards.”
He says the key for him is to plan out before the kick how he’s going to go, then adjust as the play develops.
“It all starts with the hand-eye coordination to catch the ball,” he said. “I predetermine where I’m going to go. If that’s not open, I’ll go a different direction. (On kickoffs) usually I start out in the middle, but if it gets too crowded and I see a hole, I just break out to either the right or left.”
Martin said he has had to learn to trust Booker when he’s returning kicks.
“He’s fearless and he’s good at using his blocks,” Martin said. “And his field vision is great.”
Booker has two punt returns for touchdowns, two kickoff returns for touchdowns and one fumble-return touchdown this year. But you won’t see him celebrating.
He learned his lesson early when he was playing for the Upland Hurricanes at the age of 7.
“I remember scoring my first touchdown and I got in trouble for celebrating. I just jumped up and threw my hands up. After that, I’ve always handed the ball to the ref when I scored. Act like I’ve been there before,” he said.
But unlike Wilson and Weddle, Booker is still searching for a Division I offer, even though he has gotten some interest from schools such as Colorado State and Oregon State.
“At the end of the day he can play at the Division I level,” Martin said. “He’s a sponge soaking up information. I could see him being a slot receiver.”
But of course, returning kicks, too.
“I would love to play kick returner and special teams in college,” Booker said. “I’d love to do it. I’ll play defense or offense.”