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Show Austin Heder Racks Up Over 100 Tackles This Year ; yiir-TT" EWS ' ;. . s .i i h . , ' -. -. i, .:V-'.'-'.''.''."::"'.'l i4'i'i,'v Austin Heder will continue his education and football career at Brigham Young University next year. Photo courtesy ofPicMyKid.com by Danica Baird While the high school football season has drawn to a close, it is just the beginning for BYU-bound Austin Heder. Next year Heder will play middle linebacker dressed in Cougar blue. For Austin, this excitement started the summer prior to his junior year. While Austin was attending a BYU sports camp, a coach approached him and said Coach Mendenhall wanted to meet with him and his parents in an hour. Since Austin's dad was out of town on a Boy Scout camp, Austin and his mother met with Coach Mendenhall. At that time Austin was offered a full scholarship to play for the BYU Cougars. Austin said, "1 was shocked. I was only a junior and I was coming off a broken arm with four plates and twelve screws. I couldn't believe it." Austin wanted his dad to be with him when he committed, and so he waited until his dad had returned before verbally committing to play for BYU. Austin and his dad had always dreamed of him playing for BYU, and on that day their dream became one step closer to reality. A year and a half later, Austin's high school football career at Pleasant Grove has come to an end. This past season Heder served as captain of the team and played both middle linebacker and running back. During this past season, Austin has been a defensive force providing over 100 tackles. Austin said, "It's always been a goal set at the beginning of the season. It's a fun number to look at, but I'm just happy to help the team." His highlight of the season was ' beating Alta. Growing up, he watched Alta dominate in sports. They always seemed more than high school athletes to him. Actually beating them during this season was an incredible experience for Heder. For Austin, serving as captain was both an honor and a humbling responsibility. He said, "It was great to be in a position to be a positive influence for the younger classmen. It's important that a captain be able to interact with the players, befriend them on and off the field, and be an example of a good student and a good person. I've tried to live up to that image." Co-Captain Jason West said, "He's a great leader on and off the field. He leads by example and knows how to get the team motivated." Austin has always been a studious student and planned on getting an academic scholarship all of his life. He said, "Maintaining straight A's has been tough and it definitely required a lot of hard work, balancing of my time, and prioritizing my life. It can be busy, but is can and has been very fulfilling." Austin has received offers from other colleges, but has his heart set on playing for BYU. He looks forward to signing day where he can officially commit to play for the Cougars. Austin plans on finishing his pre-meds pre-meds at BYU before going on to medical school. Austin's high school career has finished and he looks forward to starting the next phase in his life as a BYU Cougar dressed in blue. |