When Sebastopol’s Luke Winstead talks about pancakes, he’s not talking about the kind served at IHOP or Cracker Barrell.
Winstead helped lead the Sebastopol running game last year from his left tackles position and led the team with 52 pancakes. The Bobcats rushed for 3,439 yards and had two 1,000-yard rushers last year in Kari Micheals and David Williams.
“He graded out at 86 percent and had 52 pancakes so he is looking to finish you,” first-year coach Keith Brown said. "And there is a reason why we were run heavy to the left because we are about to run behind him. There’s no secret there and we are going to do it again this year. He will be our left tackle and Trey Wilson will be our left guard so it’s a pretty good one-two combination on that side of the line.”
In the Class 1A ranks, Winstead stands out with a 6-foot-3, 300-pound frame. Last year, he was a Class 1A All-state offensive tackle for the Bobcats.
“The light bulb kind of turned on for him last year,” Brown said. “I don’t think he really knows how strong he really is. And he is the nicest human being you could ever be around but once the lights come on, if it’s practicing football or Friday night lights, he just turns into a mean son of a gun.”
Brown said while Winstead had a good sophomore year, it was good in spurts. But everything came together for the big left tackle last year.
“It kind of all clicked from him last year,” Brown said. “He realized that he’s pretty
good at this good and how strong he is and it all kind of come together for him. That was the first season that it all kind of come together for him and it was really from the first snap of the first game for him. He had a really good year for us his sophomore year but last year was when he got that mean steak and was trying to finish people and the pancake total when sky high.”
Winstead showed off his raw strength this past spring at the state powerlifting meet where won the 308-pound weight class with a total of 1,230 pounds. He had a 500-pound squat, a 280-pound bench press and a 450-pound dead lift.
Winstead is already getting interest and offers from the state’s junior college and a few four-year schools. He has offers from East Mississippi, Hinds, Copiah-Lincoln and Milsaps.
“He has had several offers. Co-Lin, Hinds and some others and has had interest from several others,” Brown said. “And then he has had some interest from some bigger schools. Southern Miss has been by and Central Arkansas has come and looked at him. He could wind up at one of those small four-year schools.”
Winstead realizes that he will likely move to the interior line at the next level.
“After the first offer, a lot more colleges started talking to me and texting me,” Winstead said. “Most of the coaches tell me they want me to play center or guard. I’ve played a little bit of center, but I’ve mostly played tackle. But that would be fine with me. I’ll do whatever they ask me to do.”
Brown said Winstead is a just a few inches from playing on the power 5 level.
“He’s 6-foot-3 and in their eyes, he’s too short to play tackle,” Brown said. “For him to play, he’ll have to play center or guard. We practice him at both so he can get some experience there and try to prepare him. Again, he’s just a great kid who loves to play football. He won the 308-pound weight class in powerlifting this past year so he’s a really strong kid. He probably doesn’t know how really strong he could be.”
While Winstead’s future is on the offensive side of the football, he will also see more time on the defensive line this season.
“He is more of an offensive tackle for us but he’s going to have to play some defense,” Brown said. “He is more of an offensive player but he’s going to have to play both ways. He will play some nose guard for us. He can plug two gaps and played both ways some last year but will have to play more this year. He can really be a force over there.”
Winstead has scored 23 on the ACT and carries a 4.0 GPA. The rising senior said he wants to major in civil engineering win college.
“He’s a straight A kid and a 4.0 student,” Brown said. “Every day he comes in, he gave me a big ole hug. But when he puts the pads on, he turns into an animal. He is a must-have guy. He is always going to do the right thing and isn’t going to get into trouble. He is just a good kid, and he loves playing football and he is a good football player.”
