Willis ready to meet QB challenge

WASHINGTON - No challenge is too daunting for Trashaun Willis. And he knows challenge.

Most eighth-graders are struggling to shoot a basketball consistently well while Willis is dunking in a game and breaking the internet with the video of it.

Most sophomores are stuck trying to start for the freshmen/sophomore team or maybe the junior varsity while Willis is making third team all-state as a sophomore linebacker.

Playing horse in one's own backyard against NBA star Chris Paul was no problem, although Paul did win.

On a nasty, rainy, slippery night when players had trouble catching the football, a Willis interception single-handedly changed a Washington High School football game. Fort Madison had driven from its own 22 and had third-and-goal at the 6-yard line with a chance to tie. Instead, the Demons go up 22-7 thanks to a 94-yard interception return for a touchdown by their all-state linebacker.

Starting varsity quarterback as a senior for a team that wants to go undefeated and bring Washington a state championship would be a challenge for anyone with two hands. Willis is not daunted by the challenge of playing with one.

'Trashaun Willis is an inspirational human, who makes you aware as a person how all your personal excuses are invalid,” Washington head football coach James Harris said.

Willis was born with amniotic band syndrome, a condition in which amniotic bands entangle the fetus and stunt the growth of parts of the body, Willis' left arm ends short of where his elbow would be. He calls it his ‘little arm.'

There is nothing else little about Willis, though. He has a big smile, an engaging personality and was listed at 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds for his junior season of football.

'He has a disability,” Harris said. 'But he is not disabled. What I've told my coaches, and what I think is important, is that we don't impose our own limitations on him.”

They will not limit him playing quarterback. He brings a different skill set to the position than previous players. They will not limit him catching the snap from center. He has caught things all his life with his right hand, so what challenge could a football impose.

Now a senior, Willis plans to excel on both offense and defense for the Demons, starting as the main man on both sides of the ball.

He was a second team all-state linebacker as a junior, so it's a natural progression to be first team as a senior.

'I don't know that I need so many tackles or interceptions, I just need to be on a solid team and we have that this year,” Willis said.

How solid the team will be may depend on the quarterback but Willis is ready for the challenge of replacing three-year starter Luke Turner.

'Luke had a lot of responsibilities playing quarterback, especially with our offense and all the things you have to know,” Willis said. 'He helped me through a lot of it. He coached me up.”

There is a lot of responsibility for any quarterback in charge of an offense, but Washington's drive to be dynamic brings added duties.

'We want to do something so that other teams just never know what to expect,” Willis said. 'We want to make it a mind game. We have to keep them guessing where we are going.”

In the Demon offense, the QB position is not about taking a snap and throwing the ball downfield or making a read, running the ball or making a handoff. The quarterback is responsible for making sure that people are lined up right, making sure everybody knows what the routes are and he has to know the entire blocking scheme as well.

'We need our quarterback to know all of those things and generally speaking we have to have a kid with an acumen for football that is super athletic,” Washington offensive coordinator Don Miksch said. 'For him to do all of that, he has to have a good mind and be an all-around leader.”

Players want confidence and knowledge from someone they will follow. No player wants to be in the huddle with someone who isn't vocal.

Of course, the Demons don't huddle so that air of confidence has to be obvious to everybody on the field. Willis has a presence about him that makes him noticeable and it's not because he doesn't have a hand.

Growing up, Willis has been told by his parents to be a leader, not a follower.'Being a leader is everything to me,” Willis said. 'Coach Harris throws that on me. He is really big on that.”

Harris challenges Willis because of the inspiration he provides.

'Trashaun is a great young man and Washington is lucky to have him in the athletic department and in the school,” Harris said. 'He practices excellence in all areas of his life. He does it in the classroom. He does it socially. He does it in his religious life. He does it on the athletic fields. He's a pretty special young man.”