Nov 28, 2017 5 min read

As practice ended under the lights Monday evening and the Washington High School football team met at midfield, head coach Mike Bosnic passed out “the hammer award.”

Handed out weekly, the award is presented for a big hit or play that might have sparked the Prexies.

Reaching above the kneeling group of his players, Bosnic handed it to one of the newest members of the Prexies, but one who dreamed about dressing in the Columbia blue and white long before late September.

Receiving the award was junior wide receiver and cornerback Dan Walker Jr., now considered a transfer student in the place he was born and raised.

It was a tragedy during the early morning hours of Jan. 18, 2009 that took him away.

His mother, Teirra, 31, was struck by a Port Authority bus on the Homestead Grays Bridge. She was killed at the scene of the accident.

“Before every game I tape my wrist and write the day she passed away on it,” Walker Jr. said. “I then say a little prayer before kickoff. I know she is looking down on me.”

Following Teirra’s death, Dan Walker Sr. decided a move to Georgia, where Walker Jr. would spend the next several years of his life, was the best thing for some of his children after the heartbreak became the talk of the town.

While moving away from friends and teammates, church, counseling and football, helped him through the grieving process.

“I lived in Washington for about the first eight years of my life,” Walker Jr. said. “I had to move for those family reasons, but in May my dad wanted me to move back here. I knew mostly everyone on the team, whether it was playing with or against them in midget football. Everybody’s just big now.”

Big was exactly how Walker Jr. played in the WPIAL Class 2A Championship Saturday night when Washington defeated Steel Valley 37-10 at Joe Walton Stadium to win its first title since 2001, the same year Walker was born.

As the Ironmen entered the red zone on their second possession late in the first quarter, the Prexies defense stood strong on three straight plays inside their six-yard line. On fourth and goal from the two, Walker Jr. read and attacked a Steel Valley sweep play to stop Steel Valley’s Amonte Strothers inches short of the end zone to turn the ball over on downs.

“He set the tone for the entire game with that stop,” Bosnic said.

But for Walker, who started at safety for Brookwood High School in Snellville, Ga., as a sophomore, it was a play he knew he had to make.

“We like to play downhill as an entire defense,” Walker Jr. said. “Our coaches preach that every day. We needed a big stop. I always followed along from Georgia to see how they were doing. They’ve lost in the quarterfinals and semifinals the past couple of years. To be able to help put a smile on their faces Saturday night was pretty special.”

Walker wasn’t finished.

He returned a blocked punt from teammate Isaiah Schoonmaker – one of the players he kept in contact with after moving – 40 yards for what would result in the game-winning score with 8:12 remaining in the third quarter.

Not that Walker Jr. minded playing for a state powerhouse in Georgia, which has had nationally televised games in the recently imploded Georgia Dome. Brookwood, 15 minutes east of Atlanta, frequently sends players to the Division I level, including many to Power 5 conferences.

Walker Jr. has already received interest from South Carolina, Mississippi State, Purdue, Cincinnati, UConn, along with an offer from Louisville earlier this spring.

Those offers didn’t come without having a watchful eye as what his hometown team was doing year after year. He also remained in contact with Myckel Brown, Isaiah Walton and Schoonmaker.

Coming back to Washington was just an opportunity to recapture a youth that escaped him.

“I remember coming to Wash High games when I was younger,” Walker Jr. said. “Whenever my dad asked me to come back to Washington in early May, I was just so excited. I was excited to see my guys again. I was ready to go.”

That eagerness in a new, yet familiar place, turned out to begin with a frustrating first couple of weeks. He had to wait for his transfer to be cleared, something he found out only days before putting on a game jersey he dreamed of wearing as a little kid.

In nine games, since making his debut in Week 5 against Sto-Rox, Walker Jr. has locked down a cornerback spot with four interceptions. He also has 25 receptions for 514 yards and eight touchdowns, adding another threat to the potent Washington offense.

“It just adds another dimension to our offense,” Bosnic said. “And defensively, he is a great player. He adds so much to our team.”

As for Walker Jr., who glanced down at his taped wrist after making those big plays in the WPIAL Championship, it symbolized two messages Saturday evening.

It showed his belief that his mother was still watching him play from above. It also reminded Walker that he is finally home.