Football: Willits important piece to Purple'Dogs' puzzle

Fayetteville senior defensive tackle Daniel Willits has developed into an anchor for the Bulldogs’ defense while playing alongside lauded defensive tackle Akial Byers.
Fayetteville senior defensive tackle Daniel Willits has developed into an anchor for the Bulldogs’ defense while playing alongside lauded defensive tackle Akial Byers.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Championship teams are not built with just star players.

It takes players willing to sacrifice, and to accept their role to benefit the good of the team.

At A Glance

Daniel Willits

SCHOOL Fayetteville

CLASS Senior

HEIGHT 5-10

WEIGHT 260

POSITION Defensive Tackle

NOTABLE First-year starter for the Purple’Dogs. … Receiving interest from several colleges. … Brother Jon Willits also played football at Fayetteville.

Those players -- the role players -- often go unnoticed by the average fan. But they are as necessary as the 1,000-yard rusher or 2,000-yard passer.

It's a role Daniel Willits embraces for Fayetteville.

"Over my years of coaching when we've had championship runs and good runs through the playoffs, you have to have guys that as seniors really step up," Fayetteville coach Bill Blankenship said. "And they become not just functional, but really good players.

"And I think Daniel Willits is an all-everything kind of player this year, and it's kind of come out of nowhere."

Willits, a 5-foot-10, 260-pound senior defensive tackle, is a prime example of how hard work, commitment and strong team-first attitude pays off. He primarily watched and waited his turn his first two seasons, as Damani Carter, Eli Hale and Akial Byers took care of the work on the defensive line and garnered most of the attention.

Byers, a 6-2, 260-pound Alabama commit, returned as the one big experienced talent up front on defense this year for the Purple'Dogs. But coaches were concerned early in the season as to who would join him in the trenches.

Willits quickly answered those defensive line question marks.

"I just put in reps when I can, I do workouts and I do what I can to help the team," Willits said. "I've definitely seen myself gain a lot of experience and skill from this year to last year especially."

Willits hasn't just broken into the lineup because a spot had to be filled. His development on the interior defensive line has helped Byers avoid double teams, and as a result has made the Bulldogs' defense even stronger as a whole.

"What's really made me so proud with Willits is the way he comes every day to work," Fayetteville defensive line coach Scott Davenport said. "A lot of guys might get discouraged with the accolades that Akial gets. But Daniel is just a great teammate and what's developed over the season is guys can't just key on Akial. It allows Akial to make plays and Willits can win those one-on-one battles with Akial in there, and that's really helped us out defensively."

The Bulldogs (9-1) host Conway in the quarterfinals of the Class 7A playoffs at 7 p.m. tonight at Harmon Stadium.

The Purple'Dogs' defense, which shut out Springdale Har-Ber and held five other conference opponents to 17 points or less, is a big part of the success as well.

"We have stars on the team and I get that," Willits said. "I just do my job and do it the best I can."

Sports on 11/18/2016

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