When Hillcrest’s Devan Watson tells people he learned a lot from his older brother, Deshawn, they can be excused for being a little bit confused.
His older brother, who played cornerback in high school for Eisenhower, has the same sounding name as Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson. But Deshawn helped Devan out a lot.
Especially at the beginning.
“Eight years ago, I was outside playing around and then my brother came home and asked if I wanted to play football someday,” Devan said. “I said, ‘Sure, I’ll give it a shot.’
“At first, I was a little shaky and nervous because all of the other players were bigger than me and stronger than me. Once I was 10 or 11, I said, ‘Ah, I can hang with these boys.’”
Now, it’s hard for opponents to keep with Watson. The junior running back touched the ball only three times on offense but scored three touchdowns Friday night for the Hawks in a 63-0 win over Johnson in a Class 4A opening-round playoff game in Country Club Hills.
Watson tallied TD runs of 29, 9 and 19 yards and a 2-point conversion to lead 12th-seeded Hillcrest (6-4), while senior quarterback LaDell Ross threw a pair of TD passes to Jameil Adams. Amari Mathews
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added a 50-yard TD run and Andrew Bowen had a 46-yard TD run.On defense, Anthony Toliver Jr. returned a fumbel recovery 20 yards for a TD in the first quarter and Mathews came up with a 75-yard interception return in the third quarter to help the Hawks score the most points in a game since a 64-7 win over Tinley Park on Oct. 7, 2022.
“That felt amazing,” Toliver said of his recovery. “It’s the first time I was in the end zone this year. Last year against Eisenhower, I had the same kind of play.
“I had a strip and took it to the crib, Nothing but daylight.”
Terrell Sharp led 21st-seeded Johnson (3-7) with 68 yards on nine carries.
The Hawks hope to keep their success against Public League teams going next weekend when they visit fifth-seeded Phoenix (7-2) in the first round. The time and date are to be determined.
Hillcrest didn’t look like the same team that opened the season 0-3 while suffering shutouts in the first two games. The Hawks entered the playoffs, however, with momentum by going 5-1 in their last six games.
“This feels great to put together this many points in a game,” Watson said. “It’s such a great feeling to do it in the playoffs. After that start, I knew we had to come back and play stronger.
“We needed to get that first game on board to feed off of it the rest of the year.”
That win was a 16-0 victory against his brother’s alma mater, Eisenhower.
Watson entered Friday’s game leading the Hawks with 829 yards and seven TDs.
Hillcrest coach Kyran Weaver pointed out that Watson scored 20 TDs last season on the sophomore team and has put forth a strong effort this fall as well.
“You can see he has a chance to be electric on his level,” Weaver said of Watson. “He’s shifty, and as he continues to mature, the sky is the limit for him.
“He steps in on defense when we’ve needed him. From Week 2 on, he’s been able to do whatever is needed for us. He a critical guy. He’s one of our top guys,”
Watson, meanwhile, feels he owes a lot of his success to his brother.
“He taught me everything,” Devan said of Deshawn. “He’s the big reason I’m playing right now. He trained me hard. He would take me everywhere I needed to go.
“He’s been a big, big leader for me.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.