FALLS TOWNSHIP — Pound for pound, Carter Winland might have been the best player on West Muskingum’s football roster last season.
As a 5-foot-9, 205-pound middle linebacker and running back, he combined hard-charging interior running with more than 150 career tackles. He earned second-team All-Ohio honors in Division V.
Like many nationwide, however, he fell victim to the roster fallout of the NCAA transfer portal when it came to finding a college.
Specifically, he was another who slipped into the Division III ranks, where he pondered opportunities with Ohio Athletic Conference schools Baldwin-Wallace, Marietta and Mount Union.
In the end, it was the persistence of the Yellow Jackets, located in suburban Cleveland, that won out.
“The coaches, they wanted me at B-W,” Winland said. “They just wanted me there. The players wanted me there. I got that feeling when I went. Their coaches will want to coach me when I get there in the fall. At Mount, there are 250 guys and I am just some random freshman. That was my thing. The connection with the coaches was a big deal to me.”
Winland ran 139 times for 1,234 yards — an 8.9-yard average — with 20 touchdowns as a senior. He is the third player from the senior class to commit to playing in college, joining two-way starters Jake Anton (Ashland) and Wes Houston (West Liberty).
Harley Hopkins and Rashid SeSay, first-team All-Ohioans under Brownrigg in previous years, will also be on rosters. Winland started five games alongside Hopkins, a Division III All-American at Marietta, at linebacker as a freshman.
“I’ve always referred to Carter as a throwback player,” West coach Nathan Brownrigg said. “Toughness, grit, attitude and work ethic that high school football should be about. He played both ways, most special teams and was always about doing everything he could to help the…
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Publish date : 2025-04-13 13:10:00
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