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Hanover Central senior Collin Foy is a fierce two-way lineman.
The 6-foot-4, 280-pounder is nearing the team’s career record for tackles and has Division I potential.
“Obviously, Collin is an impactful player on both sides of the ball for us,” Hanover Central coach Brian Parker said. “He’s big, explosive, finishes through the whistle. He plays hard, with a great motor.”
At the same time, Foy has a dramatically different personality off the field — and, well, sometimes even on it.
“He showed up at our doorstep the summer of COVID, and obviously the first thing when you see Collin that jumps out at you is he’s a big kid,” Parker said. “We were excited to get that. But the thing about him, what you see on the outside isn’t really what you get on the inside. He really is just a kind person. He’s very likable. He has a good heart.”
Making a motion akin to tossing another person like a rag doll, Parker added, “The ongoing joke in the coaches’ office is, you see him, if he’s on offense, he’ll pancake somebody, but he’ll be the first to grab him and pick him back up and put him on his feet. It’s just the person he is, on top of being a very good football player for us.”
Junior lineman Ian Padilla expressed similar sentiments about Foy.
“He’s a really good player, a really good teammate and a really good friend,” Padilla said. “He’s one of our captains, and he’s a really good leader. He’s always stepping up in practice, always helping out people.
“He’s really a cheerful man, always happy. I never see him down. Even when he is down, he always has a smile on his face. Both aspects — in football and in life.”
Foy insisted he’s a competitive person. He mentioned his girlfriend, Hailey Vanderhye, a forward/center who led the Hanover Central girls basketball team in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots as a senior last season and is a freshman on Calumet College’s team.
“As much as I’m nice, I’m also very competitive,” Foy said. “Even with my girlfriend, I never let her win in basketball. When we play, I foul a lot.”
But he quickly added in a hushed tone, “If she sees this, she might be a little mad at me.”
Foy is anything but upset about how the Wildcats (11-0), who are ranked No. 2 in Class 3A by The Associated Press and No. 4 by the coaches, have played. He had a simple goal for his third season as a starter, and he and his teammates have delivered.
“Going into this season, my whole mindset was, ‘I don’t want to lose. I don’t want to lose,'” Foy said. “Senior year, I wanted to win. I wanted to win by a lot no matter what. I wanted to do everything I could to beat everybody in our way.”
A familiar opponent stands in Hanover Central’s way in a sectional final on Friday. The Wildcats will travel to play West Lafayette (8-3), which won this matchup 44-17 last year.
The Wildcats head into the game with increased confidence, however, and it has additional meaning for Foy. He missed the sectional final last season after suffering a broken left fibula against Griffith in the semifinals.
“Our senior defensive lineman Ryan Hildeman threw a kid across the play, and he landed straight into the side of my leg, and it broke,” Foy said. “The doctor ended up saying I had so much meat on my leg that it ended up setting the bone straight. So I didn’t have to get surgery, and it healed pretty nicely.
“It was heartbreaking that I couldn’t play in the game last year. This year, fingers crossed. To be playing the team we’re facing this week, it’s exciting, to say the least.”
Foy missed about six weeks with the injury, which affected his wrestling season. He said he has been involved in both sports since he was 3 years old, and he joined Hanover Central’s track team as a thrower in the spring.
Foy has a scholarship offer in football from Western Illinois, among several others.
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“I’m exploring my options,” he said. “Overall, I love playing football. But I want to go somewhere that best fits who I am and what I want to do with my life. I just want to go on visits, explore these different colleges and see where I feel like home.”
Foy has made himself at home with the Wildcats. A defensive lineman and right tackle, Foy is in his first season as a full-time player on offense. He has 54 tackles, with 5.5 for loss and three sacks.
“He’s an amazing defensive player,” Padilla said. “You notice the size on him. But he moves. He hits hard.”
Foy also had a big 2022 season. He had a team-high 76 tackles, with 15 for loss and a team-high 4.5 sacks, and was a Class 3A Junior All-State selection by the Indiana Football Coaches Association.
Foy broke out during his sophomore season, when he had 64 tackles, including 8.5 for loss.
His freshman season was one of transition after moving from Bourbonnais, Illinois.
“I didn’t really have a good mindset for it,” he said. “I wasn’t in the best headspace, and that’s how it went.”
But Foy has come a long way.
“I just love having him around,” Parker said.