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Willard’s Tommy Tapia is bilingual, but you could also say he is fluent in football.
“My first language is Spanish. I really take pride in that,” Tapia said.
Entering his senior season, Tommy has done the unprecedented at Willard by starting varsity all four years.
“Tommy Tapia is the only four-year starter I have ever had. We knew we had a special talent. He couldn’t practice with the young kids at that point. He was just too much,” Willard head coach Brock Roweton said.
Friday night lights were a bit of shock at first, but it helped Tapia develop into one of the area’s best linemen.
“It was different from the beginning of my freshman year playing against much older kids; people with beards,” Tapis said. “I enjoyed it. It made me better.”
Now Tapia stands at five-feet-eight-inches tall and weighs 300 pounds.
“He is as wide as he is tall,” Roweton said.
Tapia squats over 600 pounds and benches over 400 pounds.
“He is a really tough kid to move as a defensive tackle,” Roweton said.
Tapia has no intention of tapping on the breaks in his senior season.
“Whoever I go against I don’t care who it is,” Tapia said.
He plans to lay on the gas and run offensive linemen over.
“What sets me apart from everybody is that I really work for it. I am out there trying to get it,” Tapia said.
