The Garden City Telegram

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Small in stature, Winfrey earns big role for Busters

Published 8/27/2010 in Sports

By BRETT MARSHALL

bmarshall@gctelegram.com

The program officially lists Wes Winfrey at 6-1, 200 pounds.

Unofficially, he'll confess to standing just 5-11 and tipping the scales at 192 pounds.

But no matter what his size, the starting Garden City Community College freshman quarterback will be playing a big role in the season opening game Saturday night (7 p.m., Memorial Stadium) for the Broncbusters when they take on the Golden Norsemen of Northeastern Oklahoma A&M of Miami, Okla.

Winfrey, who played his senior season of prep football at Southwestern Heights High School, situated halfway between the tiny communities of Plains and Kismet, is more than meets the eye.

He was born and raised in Dallas. As in Texas.

He played football from his seventh grade year through four games of his junior season — in Texas.

During his sophomore and junior seasons at Flower Mound High School in suburban Dallas (north side), Winfrey served as the backup signal caller and then co-shared duties under center through the first four games of his junior campaign.

"I've been really fortunate to have had some phenomenal quarterback coaching since I've been playing," Winfrey said. "The guy (high school quarterback coach Cody Vanderford) knew his stuff."

Flower Mound is a Class 5A school — the biggest class in Texas — and for Winfrey, it was playing quarterback and nothing else.

"When you're in a school that big in Texas, you don't play both ways," Winfrey said. "I've just been a quarterback. That's what I do."

Winfrey earned the starting nod for the Busters during the grueling two-a-day practices in early August, and then clinched the position in the final full week of workouts leading up to the Brown and Gold scrimmage last Saturday.

"Coach (head coach Lucas Aslin) told me that if I hoped to make it as the starter that I'd have to stay in shape all summer, throw the ball every day and that I needed to remember everything that I learned," said Winfrey. "So I came to the June summer camp for two weeks and absorbed as much as I could and then didn't forget it."

The road from Flower Mound High School to Southwestern Heights to Garden City Community College has not necessarily been the smoothest.

Just when things were clicking for him and his team at Flower Mound early in his junior year, he suffered what is called an AC shoulder separation on his throwing arm. The injury came on the joint that is located on top of the shoulder where the clavicle and scapula come together.

"Quite simply, a linebacker picked me up and threw me to the ground," Winfrey said in describing how his injury occurred. "My season was done, and the coaches and others told me I'd never throw again."

Rather than attempting to come back his senior season at Flower Mound where there was doubt to his ability to return to the field, Winfrey volunteered to move to Plains where his father had played basketball and golf for Heights. His grandparents still reside there, as well.

"It just seemed like a natural place for me to be, although I must say it wasn't the easiest," Winfrey said. "It was still culture shock for me in many ways."

When he arrived prior to the start of the 2009 season, he brought along a videotape of his playing days at Flower Mound to show to then Mustangs coach Ken Schoenrock. The head coach virtually handed the starting job to Winfrey and thus began a roller-coaster final year of high school football.

"He (Schoenrock) is a great guy, but I don't even think I should have been handed the ball that soon," Winfrey said. "I wished there had been more communication amongst the coaches and the players about how to make it work."

As a result, what had been projected to be a banner year for the Mustangs turned tumultuous and they finished with a 4-5 record and numerous defections from the team. Schoenrock is no longer coaching at Heights. Winfrey did throw for 1,500 yards (144-of-269 passes) and 14 touchdowns, but also was intercepted 15 times, including six in a season-opening 26-6 loss to Sublette.

"I think he meant well, but it was just unfortunate because we, and I include myself, just hung each other out to dry," Winfrey said.

When he was being courted by several junior colleges and smaller four-year schools, Winfrey knew about Garden City but wasn't totally sold on it until the Buster coaching staff came calling.

"Coach Cox (Jacob) and coach Aslin really worked on me and convinced me that Garden was the right spot for me," Winfrey said. "I felt close to my new home and then they really recruited me hard down the stretch, and anytime you have coaches, especially the head coach, visit you two to three times a week, it's huge for an 18-year-old. It makes you feel loved."

Winfrey said the key to any strong quarterbacking performance is to know your own personnel, know your blocking schemes, who's in the lineup, and what the defense is doing. Not exactly simple arithmetic, but he says hard work has paid off and he's excited about Saturday night's season opener.

"It's been a long way back from the injury," Winfrey said. "I'm still working on strengthening it but I can get the ball where it needs to go. It's knowing when to check off, where the blitzes are coming from, and trying to get us in as many one-on-one situations as possible. Oh, and no turnovers, that's the biggest key."

Winfrey, along with his 54 other teammates, are anxious to see how the start to the season unfolds Saturday night.

"I'm just trying to stay on an even keel, not get too fired up or it messes with your preparation," Winfrey said. "I can't wait to get out there and see how we do."

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