WARRICK DUNN FINALIST: Desmond Windon - Baker RB

BAKER, La. (WAFB) - In a game sometimes dominated by big men, Baker running back Desmond Windon used his size to his advantage.

“You’ll lose him for a second,” said head coach Eric Randall. “He’s like a Warrick Dunn. He gets lost behind those big linemen and you think the play is over and all of a sudden, he’ll just break out of there.”

“I would describe my style of running just one cut and just downfield,” said Windon. “That’s basically it.”

Randall says his senior running back is only 5-foot-8 and 165 pounds but he knew it was Windon who had to shoulder the load of his senior-laden Buffaloes team going into the 2019 season.

“He was just electric. Just a little bitty guy, big heart, a heart bigger than his body, I like to say. A lot of courage, I tell him all the time, ‘Bring us home, bring us home. We need you,’” Randall explained.

“It’s hard for linebackers to touch me. Arm tackling is not going to work. Like, nope,” Windon added.

And it didn’t work, not even close. Windon carried the ball 138 times and rushed for more than 1,400 yards, scoring 15 touchdowns while averaging more than 10 yards per carry.

“Each year, I just wanted to improve. That’s all I wanted to do, was improve on what I was doing and that’s what I did,” Windon pointed out.

“When you rush for 1,300 yards, 1,200 yards, and 1,110 yards all consecutively, it says a lot about the kind of football player you are,” Randall noted.

For Windon and the rest of his senior class, this season was especially important in helping to establish a new school winning identity for Baker football and that, they did, winning seven total games, including two upset wins in the playoffs, as a 30-seed, to advance to the quarterfinals.

“Us coming up as seniors, we kind of played with a chip on our shoulder. We knew we were coming together and showing our city that we really could do it and make a run for the championship,” Windon stated.

“They have turned the entire community around, in terms of belief. And he’s one of those leaders in front of that,” said Randall.

As Windon turns his attention to track season, he says the foundation for the next generation is laid and he’ll always remember a very important lesson his head coach taught him.

“They know what they have to play up to now. In the weight room, we were on them because, as freshmen, we really didn’t have that. So, we really wanted to be on them so they could see how it feels to have a good organization. He’s always talking about working on your demeanor. He wants us to be great young men in the world and working on your craft. He really showed us how to be leaders,” Windon explained.

“They really were the backbone to what we were doing, because they showed up. They were vocal leaders. With Desmond, he’s no different. That’s his success, being able to make people around him better,” Randall added.

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