Few Wilmington-area high school football players will receive scholarship offers from Division I football teams this year, and even fewer will come from Trask High School in Rocky Point.
Sherrod Henderson could be the catalyst that shifts Titans football players into the limelight. The senior defensive end and running back verbally committed to Virginia Tech this summer after receiving two dozen Division I offers.
“It’s a blessing,” Henderson said of the attention. “People like me don’t get the chance to get recruited big like this.”
Henderson is a consensus three-star and is ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 14 prospect in North Carolina’s class of 2025. He stands 6-foot-3 and says he’s put on significant weight to reach 226 pounds.
Trask football coach Lawerence Ches always knew Henderson had potential, even when he was a much smaller basketball player.
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“It’s hard not to see the frame, even when he was 175 pounds,” Ches said. “He’s an awesome young man, and the sky is the limit for him.”
Ches became the Titans’ head coach in Henderson’s sophomore season. The team had gone 0-9 the previous year, leaving Henderson ready to put football behind him. That changed as the new coach instilled instant expectations.
“He walked in, and I thought this white dude was crazy,” Henderson said of Ches. “He was saying the football team was going to be good, I was going to be a Division I football player … I was like, ‘He’s talking crazy.'”
Ches’ predictions, on both ends, turned into reality. This summer the defensive end received offers from Duke, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, and Virginia Tech and is now the highest-rated football player in Trask history.
“Obviously, he thought I was crazy, but everybody thought I was crazy,” Ches said. “As long as you give players something to actually believe in, and you don’t sell a false narrative, and show up every day, they’ll show up.”
Playing for Trask, a 2A school that competes in the Waccamaw Conference, Henderson says he had to work harder than most to attract college scouts.
“At a small school, recruiting is very hard. It’s kind of stressful,” Henderson said. “Most (College) coaches don’t really know about Heide Trask High School. I did everything I could do.”
As a junior, Henderson recorded 75 tackles and 12 sacks while rushing for over 1,200 yards. On the basketball court, he averaged a double-double.
In the age of transfers, Henderson admits there were times he wrestled with changing schools. However, something about being a Titan always reeled him back in.
“I wanted to make a statement that no matter where you go, you can be good enough (for colleges) to find you,” he said. “I wanted all the other cats to see that. Don’t just leave to go find something better, just ball out where you’re at.”
Henderson has over 200 rushing yards and 20 tackles as the Titans have started this fall 4-0. The senior wants his final season of high school football to be a reflection of the relationships he’s built over the years.
“We’ve had ups and downs, but when it comes down to it, we have a brotherhood that can’t be touched,” he said of his teammates. “We just have that bond, and that’s what the game is all about.”
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Virginia Tech football commit Sherrod Henderson soars in senior season
