Douglas High’s Brenton Weston stiff-arms an opponent earlier this season. Weston has 471 yards receiving and seven touchdowns for the Tigers this fall, along with 35 tackles on defense.
Photo by Ron Harpin.
Through the first five weeks of the season, there might be a question rummaging its way around the Douglas High School football program.
Is there anything Brenton Weston can’t do?
The Tiger senior captain has been pivotal in Douglas’ 4-1 start this season, doing just about everything for a team making the jump into Northern 5A-Division II league play.
He’s been so dynamic in so many facets on the field it’s hard to label exactly where his impact has been felt the most.
Statistically speaking, Weston has been the team’s favorite weapon in the passing game.
Through five games, he’s racked up 20 catches for 471 yards and seven touchdowns, hauling in nearly 100 yards through the air per game.
His quarterback and fellow captain, Jackson Ovard, expressed how much of a luxury it’s been having someone he grew up with put together such an impressive start to the season.
“He’s been a very big weapon. He’s one of the first guys I look to. Great hands, he’s fast, great route-running. He’s able to burn defenders because of how fast he is,” said Ovard. “He makes my job pretty easy.”
The two grew up together and have been connecting on passes long before they stepped into the varsity spotlight.
CLUTCH KICKING
Arguably, Weston’s most impactful contribution has been in the kicking game.
Weston kicked some last year out of necessity, but was thrust back into the special teams role in August.
Though he grew up playing soccer, Weston doesn’t have your typical approach in practice since he doesn’t have the luxury of specialization.
It’s a matter of feel for the versatile senior.
“His kicking is kind of exceptional because he just winds up and kicks the thing. He doesn’t put a whole lot into it like some kickers typically do, which is also really impressive,” Douglas head coach Kyle Mays said.
Weston credits some of the power in his legs to growing up playing soccer.
“As a little kid I played soccer a lot. I think I have strength in my leg from that. During practice, we just go all over the field kicking field goals from every place possible,” Weston said.
So far this season, Weston is 6-for-8 on field goals and a perfect 18-for-18 on extra points.
Along with the game-winner over Fernley in the season opener, Weston also hit a 50-yard field goal last week at Carson.
The 50-yard field goal was one yard short of tying the program record.
“It’s awesome to be able to have this kicking weapon,” said Ovard. “It’s awesome that no matter what, if we cross the 40-yard line we are going to escape with some kind of points.”
CORE STRENGTH
You can line up all of Weston’s stats and take those at face value, but it’s tougher to quantify how important it is that he doesn’t come off the field.
Along with his offensive and special teams success, Weston is fifth on the team in tackles with 35 and has four tackles for loss.
Playing every snap can be a physical burden, but Weston’s work behind the scenes in the weight room is a testament to his durability on the turf.
He’s been strength training since he was 12 and is a two-time place-winner at national competitions with USA Weightlifting.
The competitions have sent him to Pittsburgh and Colorado Springs to compete in the snatch and the clean and jerk.
“The clean is super-explosive in the hips. The snatch, they call it the whole body workout because everything under the bar gets worked,” said Weston.
Along with capping his senior season with the best possible results on the field, Weston is hoping to break some Tiger weightlifting records while he’s at it, too.
“We have a few records in the weight room that I would like to beat. I want to be on the wall,” Weston said.
His work ethic in the weight room has caught the eye of his head coach.
“It’s probably the number one reason he stays on the field is because of how strong he is. I think it keeps him together because of how hard he hits people. He is a pretty physical player,” said Mays.
For the rest of the season, Weston will undoubtedly be one of the players circled on opposing scouting reports.
“Teams have to account for (No.) 13 anytime he’s on the field — offense or defense. He’s a pretty special player,” said Mays.
(Tiger senior captain Brenton Weston winds up into a game-winning field goal against Fernley in mid-August. Weston, who was forced into the kicker role out of necessity, is 6-of-8 on field goal tries and a perfect 18-for-18 on extra points. / Ron Harpin)
