Copyright Chicago Tribune
It has been quite a transformation for West Side senior Antonio Davis. Exclusively a basketball player through middle school, Davis went from insisting he would never play football to all but assuring he will play the sport in college. “It’s crazy,” he said. “You say you’re never going to do something, and that’s what I said. ‘I’m never going to play football. I’m never going to play football.’ Then I ended up quitting basketball and focusing on football.” Davis, a 6-foot-3, 280-pound offensive lineman with four offers and interest from other colleges, is in his third season starting for the Cougars (4-4), who will play Kankakee Valley (1-8) at home in a Class 4A sectional opener on Friday. “Once I started playing it and understanding it, I fell in love with it,” he said. Davis recalls attending an informational meeting in eighth grade highlighted by star offensive tackle De’Eric Mister, a 2023 West Side graduate who began his college career at Minnesota and is playing at Howard. Davis’ interest was piqued, and he joined the team for summer workouts. As a freshman, Davis was a backup in a position group headed by then-senior Mister. Davis said he learned a lot that season. “Ninth grade year, after basketball season, I really sat down with my dad and said, ‘You know what, I want to take football seriously,’” Davis said. “I really got into it.” Since then, Davis has been a mainstay on the Cougars’ offensive line, going wherever he is most needed. He is noted for his ability to pull as a guard, and this season he has increasingly shown his athleticism against faster players and an ability to play in space and pass-protect as a tackle. “He’s a Swiss Army knife,” West Side coach Alger Boswell III said. “He can do it all, even center. He can play all five spots on the line. “He’s big, physical, aggressive, cares about his technique. He does research on his own, watches a lot of videos. He’s really a technician. He’s just a big, physical kid who has gotten better over the years.” Boswell reflected on Davis’ development. “This has been his best year,” Boswell said. “He continues to progress and work hard. He wasn’t the strongest kid as a sophomore, but he really committed to the weights. He and his father work out on their own. He really committed to the weights, and that made a huge difference between his sophomore year and junior years. Then junior year and this year, he’s just been dominant. He’s just a dominant lineman.” Junior running back/linebacker Kamari Loggins has been one of the prime beneficiaries of Davis’ performance. “He’s a great lineman,” Loggins said. “I love following behind him, his pulls. He always cleans up messes. Whenever you need him, he’s going to be there.” That concept applies both on and off the field. Davis is a team captain this season. “He’s quiet, soft-spoken,” Boswell said. “He’s not a rah-rah leader, but he leads by example.” Davis has been making a concerted effort to get out of his comfort zone. “This year, I took on being even more of a leader of the whole team, not just the offensive line,” he said. “I’m more of a leader in the program, and I’ve really been pushing myself to be more vocal because I’m usually not really a talker. I’m getting more used to talking and leading the younger guys and the ones who come after me. “When I leave, I want to inspire them, and they can go to the next level coming from Gary too. I really put it on myself to be that guy and help out the team and really lead on and off the field.” Davis intends to study computer engineering in college. “I like to build computers,” he said. “I want to get more into the software part of things. But hardware things, I know a lot about it.” Davis discovered that interest during the coronavirus pandemic. “I basically got bored,” he said. “I saw a computer in the room, and I was like, ‘You know what, let me try to build a computer.’ I started looking at YouTube, and I was self-taught how to build a computer. That was a crazy part. I figured it out myself. YouTube videos, you can learn a lot. “It also sparked responsibility that I had to make the money. I had a whole lawn care business to make the money to get a computer. You know computers get expensive. But it made me more responsible with my money, saving, and really having a goal in mind and doing it. I took that back to football, having a goal in mind to go to college for football. I really put my head down and worked.” Davis’ work has paid dividends. “His freshman year, he didn’t do as well in the classroom as he needed to,” Boswell said. “But the last two years, he’s really turned it on. He’s had three or four straight semesters of 4.0 GPA. He’s really picked it up and really boosted that GPA, which is going to give him a lot more opportunities to play because he is a good student as well. “He’s a great kid. Great mom and dad, comes from a great family. I’m excited for his future.” Davis and the Cougars, who are coming off a 36-0 Greater South Shore Conference South Division win against Calumet last week, also are excited for their present. They haven’t hosted a postseason game since 2015 and haven’t won a postseason game since 2014. Davis was quick to point out that West Side lost at Kankakee Valley when he was a sophomore in 2023. This week is shaping up as something of a “revenge” game, he said. “We had a big-time win over our rival last week,” Davis said. “I feel like every week we’re just getting better and better. It’s exciting. Seeing the progress in our team, we can really go and do something this week. First home playoff game in I don’t know how long, 10 years, so I’m really glad to do it in front of our fans and be able to go out to perform. I can’t wait for that. “Our senior class, we’re going to try to go out with success. We’re hungry. We’re trying to do something that hasn’t been done in a long time. That’s really been a goal we’ve had in mind for a long time now.” With goals in mind, Davis also believes in speaking about them. “I’m a big guy on saying stuff and having it come true,” he said. “I kept telling myself, playing in college, I could do it and it will happen. Talk it into existence. “My family is my biggest supporters. They always have my back. Even when there are times when you think you might not make it, they kept on pushing me. I really love them for that.”
