Wickery develops into anchor of Baker line

By WILL PARCHMAN

Florida Freedom Newspapers
(850) 315-4484 | willp@nwfdailynews.com

BAKER - Ryne Wickery has always had designs of going to Notre Dame.

The Baker starting center's father accepted a football scholarship to play for the Irish years ago but eventually gave up football. Fueled by that unfulfilled task and plans of his own to play in South Bend, Ind., Wickery has been tearing through his senior year to reach that goal.

So far, so good.

Wickery has helped navigate Baker (6-4) through a treacherous conference schedule, a shootout win over Vernon that clinched a playoff berth and now a chance to upset heavily favored Florida High (9-1) of Tallahassee in the Class 2B regional semifinals on Friday.

But Wickery's teammates say it's simply business as usual for the quiet, stoic leader of the offensive line.

"Off the field I guess you would call him the model citizen," quarterback Cameron Domangue said. " ... He's got the grades and he's got it pretty much set for him for whatever he wants to do. It's all out in front of him."

As a precocious underclassman, Wickery struggled to get on the field as he battled a series of knee injuries and bided his time on the bench. But after receiving more playing time midway through his junior year, something clicked that next offseason.

"As a ninth and 10th grader I wasn't sure he would ever play," Baker coach Bob Kellogg said. "He was a great kid and he had all the intangibles, but he was real soft and he was real weak. Then he started to get the strength. He's the type of kid you wish could have one more year."

Wickery certainly has the grades to draw Notre Dame's interest. Despite being a year younger than most of his senior classmates, he's No. 2 academically in his class and has emerged as the cerebral leader in the middle of the Baker offensive line. Leading more by example than through words, Kellogg said that Wickery's maturation since his freshman year has been nothing short of praise-worthy.

"He's everything you want in a high school kid as far as attitude, effort and all those," Kellogg said. "Just really his character and the focus of what he wants to accomplish, those are the things that stand out to me."

At 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, Kellogg said Wickery would seem undersized to make the team if he goes to Notre Dame. But he faced long odds in making the varsity at Baker, so a similar experience with the Irish would be nothing new.

But for now, Wickery's sole focus is on Friday's postseason game.

"This is our last go-round and we finally get a shot at the playoffs," Wickery said. "It's exciting for us."