The humble hitter

Linebacker Spencer Woods may lead Washington in tackles this season, but the humble senior is the first to point out that his statistics have just as much to do with his teammates as himself.

?If the linemen hadn?t done so well, then I wouldn?t have gotten any tackles,? Woods said. ?It?s not all me.?

That?s the kind of player Woods is, Washington head coach Randy Schrader said. He puts the team first.

?He?s not going to pound his chest and be a ?look at me? type of guy,? Schrader said of Woods. ?He?s just going to do his job. You?ve got to love kids like that. It?s not about them. It?s about the team.?

And the team has been playing well defensively this season. Led by Woods? 46 tackles, which ranks second in the district, the Demon defense is allowing just 10.5 points and 47.8 rushing yards per game.

Woods said there?s no secret to what he does as an inside linebacker. He just swarms to the football.

?You look for where the ball goes and see if a guard pulls,? said Woods, who said he looks up to Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher. ?You just run toward where the ball goes, pretty much.?

Schrader said that the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Woods has a knack for getting to the football.

?He?s around the ball a lot,? Schrader said. ?He?s got a pretty good nose for the ball. He?ll get after you. He?s not afraid of contact.?

But Woods, the son of Chris and Carmen Woods, hasn?t always been a linebacker. In fact, he was an offensive lineman until his freshman season, when he began learning how to play defense.

Woods was the starting linebacker on the junior varsity team last year, but saw very little varsity playing time. He played mainly special teams for the Demons? varsity squad last year.

But he dedicated himself in the weight room and made himself a starter on the varsity team.

?I hit the weight room really hard this summer,? Woods said. ?I got way stronger this summer. It helps a lot.?

?Woody had played special teams for us, but he?d never been a starter, so he?s done a nice job of preparing himself to step in and do some stuff. He just earned his spot,? Schrader said.

In Woods? first varsity start, he made a team-high 12 tackles and recovered a fumble in Washington?s season-opening win over Mid-Prairie. Woods made a team-high 13 tackles in last week?s 13-10 Homecoming loss to Marion.

His goals for the rest of the season are simple. Woods, who plans to enlist in the Air Force after graduation, hopes to help the Demons reach the state playoffs.

Would you expect anything different from a team-first player?