CONWAY — Vital to the success of the Arkansas High School Coaches Association All-Star games are the players who perform on a moment’s notice due to players electing not to participate at the last minute.
Roger High’s Nick Wary and Springdale High’s Wyatt Whatley each answered the call.
Neither were originally selected to the All-Star team, and neither were even called in the weeks leading up to the game.
Whatley didn’t get called until Monday afternoon after the players had already reported.
“I’ve always wanted to get in this game,” Whatley said. “I didn’t get picked at fi rst, but then I got that call. It was unbelievable.”
Whatley was enrolling at Arkansas Tech for regular classes when he got the call.
“I was at Tech just signing up for classes,” Whatley said. “I had to skip out and fill in. It kind of threw me off .”
That call, though, set off a long drive Monday.
“I had to drive back to Springdale, get my stuff, drive back down here, check in and get my room,” Whatley said. “All in one day. It was crazy.”
It also gave Whatley a long time to think about playing in the All-Star game with the best players in the state and put on his helmet one last time as a Springdale Bulldog.
“I was shaking the entire time down here,” Whatley said. “It’s still unbelievable to me.”
Whatley caught one pass for 3 yards in the game, but playing in the All-Star game is about more than stats.
“It was a blast,” Whatley said. “I had fun. I met a lot of great guys. I’m going to walk on at Tech, and I met a bunch of them going there so that really helped.”
Wary had a little more advance notice than Whatley did, but not much. He, too, was going about his normal routine as the All-Stars were preparing to report.
“I was at work, and my football coach said a guy from the West defense had dropped out and he wanted to know if I wanted to come take his spot,” Wary said. “At first, I was concerned if I could get off work because it was such short notice, but I got it done. I had a lot of fun.”
Wary started at linebacker for the victorious West team. Wary played quarterback for the Mountaineers the last three seasons, but knew he would be playing defense in the All-Star game.
“I played linebacker when I was little, and I always liked it,” Wary said. “Since I was playing quarterback, they wouldn’t let me play both. I was excited to get to try it out again.”
Wary had an assist on a key tackle when the East had second-and-goal from the 2 late in the game on a West goal-line stand late in the game.
Wary didn’t take long to get his linebacker mentality back.
“Not too long,” Wary said. “I played it a little last spring ball just in case they needed me in some situations, but I never did go in so I had an idea of what to do.”