UCA freshman shows he’s up for a challenge

Central Arkansas defensive back Dillion Winfrey (right) strips the ball from Southeastern Louisiana wide receiver Tony McCrea, which resulted in an incomplete pass in the first half of the Bears’ 34-14 victory at Stawberry Stadium in Hammond, La.
Central Arkansas defensive back Dillion Winfrey (right) strips the ball from Southeastern Louisiana wide receiver Tony McCrea, which resulted in an incomplete pass in the first half of the Bears’ 34-14 victory at Stawberry Stadium in Hammond, La.

— Leading up to last Saturday’s game at Southeastern Louisiana, Central Arkansas secondary coach Kenny Wilhite told freshman defensive back Dillion Winfrey that the Lions were going to challenge him.

“You look at him on film, he’s not the biggest,” Wilhite said of Winfrey, who is listed at 5-8 and 174 pounds. “If I’m an offensive coordinator, then I’m going to go at him, test him. I think they did.”

On the first play, Southeastern Louisiana receiver Tony McCrea hit Chris Malott for a 45-yard gain on a reverse pass. Winfrey’s tackle of Malott at the UCA 38 proved to be crucial as Lions placekicker Seth Sebastian missed a 51-yard field-goal attempt, leading to the Bears’ first touchdown in a 34-14 victory to gain sole possession of first place in the Southland Conference.

UCA (7-2, 5-1) can clinch the conference championship and an automatic Football Championship Subdivision postseason berth with a victory Saturday against Northwestern (La.) State (4-4, 2-2) at Estes Stadium.

Winfrey finished the Southeastern Louisiana game with nine tackles, and the Bears defense forced three turnovers.

“He’s a kid who’s not going to shy away from a challenge,” Wilhite said. “He’s got great athletic ability. He’s got a huge heart. With that, that’s going to take him a long way.”

Winfrey played at Bryant High School, where he had 68 tackles, including 40 unassisted, and 3 interceptions last season to earn a spot on the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s All-Arkansas team. He arrived at UCA this fall with the mind-set of playing this season instead of redshirting.

“They told me there was no favoritism,” Winfrey said. “If you come in ready to work, the best guy gets the job.”

UCA Coach Clint Conque decided to put Winfrey in the starting lineup before the Bears’ game Oct. 13 at McNeese State. Winfrey has 30 tackles, including 23 unassisted, and 1 interception in 9 games.

“He’s genuinely excited to be at the University of Central Arkansas and the opportunity to play FCS Division I football,” Conque said. “He’s extremely coachable. He’s a very good person. He’s obviously a fast learner. You could just see his improvement in practice coming out of practice to Week 1 to Week 2 to Week 3 and then finally getting into the lineup.

“We’ve struggled at corner a little bit, particularly that field corner. He certainly hasn’t disappointed us when we made that move.”

Wilhite, who played defensive back at Nebraska in 1990-1991, said he is “lucky” to have Winfrey.

“He plays with a lot of fight, a lot of athleticism,” Wilhite said. “Once he learned our scheme, he felt more comfortable in our scheme. From Week 1 to now, he’s gotten a lot better.”

Winfrey is the only true freshman in UCA’s starting defensive lineup, and he said he is appreciative of the opportunity to play for a team that is on the verge of making its second consecutive FCS postseason appearance.

“They’re constantly helping me, patting me on my back,” Winfrey said. “When I do something wrong, they’re picking me up, [telling me] not to get my head down. Someone is always saying something. If I get a ball caught on me, they’re saying, ‘Hey, don’t worry about it. Short memory.’

“This is a great team to play with. I’m just honored to play with these guys.”

Sports, Pages 17 on 11/01/2012

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