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Luke Hudson building a Warrior legacy

By: Brian Duval, WOL Sports Director
| Published 09/18/2013

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THE WOODLANDS - This year marks the 20th anniversary of the opening of The Woodlands Christian Academy. In a relative short time period, the school has built a strong reputation for academic success, however the Warriors are beginning to build the athletic reputation as well. One athlete that is beginning to build his legacy for future Warriors to come is Sophomore running back/defensive back Luke Hudson.

One of the best high school athletes in The Woodlands area plays for The Woodlands Christian Academy and even though he’s just a Sophomore, Luke is already becoming one of the most versatile and best athletes in the young history of Warrior athletics.

“Luke has a lot of intangibles, he’s tough, strong, fast, hard-nosed is the word that comes to mind, he’s humble but hard-working, tenacious, it’s always a team first deal with Luke,” says Warrior Head Coach Nate Sanford.

Like so many youths in the south, the sport of football was shown to Hudson early, as he began playing youth football with friends at Magnolia Youth Football Association, when he was in first grade. Hudson played at MYFA for four years growing his tough mentality and developing his team-first mentality from his youth football experience when he began playing at the center position as well as the defensive line. When he transferred in fourth grade to The Woodlands Christian Academy, Luke was moved to running back and quarterback through his Junior High years, however he started his varsity freshman season as a wide receiver.

In football, sometimes an injury to one player turns into an opportunity for another. During the third game last season Warrior running back Raul Giorgi suffered an injury that necessitated moving Hudson to running back. Since his freshman season that saw him average better than 160 yards per game on the ground, Hudson has continued to show his explosiveness when he carries the ball as through three games of the 2013 season, Luke is averaging better than 5.6 yards per carry and has scored two rushing touchdowns. Hudson has added another element to his game for opposing teams to worry about this season, in special teams. Luke scored the first kickoff return for a touchdown in his career last Friday at Shepherd when he scored on a 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Luke was called upon to start at quarterback for the Warriors season opener this year at Austin Regents when starting quarterback Jack Bento was out due to injury.

On a football team that has just three seniors, the leadership will have to develop from juniors and underclassmen. Hudson is doing his leading on the field and doing whatever it takes to help his team win.

Luke also has the honor of being the only private school player in the greater Houston area to be named to the USA Football team. “You get to represent your country, which is a pretty big deal,” says Hudson. As a member of the U16 USA Football team, Hudson played outside linebacker during the the teams’ camp in Austin last year playing in three scrimmages before playing Canada’s U16 team. Hudson will continue to show his versatility on the 2014 USA U17 team as he’ll be moved to safety, a position that Hudson enjoy’s the most.

“You have to flow to the ball and there are a lot of reads, and if I’m going to play in college somewhere, I’d definitely want to play safety because that’s where I envision myself,” said Hudson.

As talented as Hudson is on the field, he understands the balance of academic requirements as well as his on-field performance, “It’s a lot of time management, school comes first. You’re not going to do anything with the talent that you have if you cannot make the grades,” says Hudson. Luke’s favorite subjects are science and math and wants to pursue an engineering degree in college and is already being recruited by the University of Minnesota, Purdue, and Cal-Berkley.

Leaving a legacy is a pretty tall order for any high school student or athlete, in that one has to help shape or change perception as well. Luke is doing his best to change the perception of Warrior athletics in being a small school and the level of competition. “People think that we are just a small school, we’re not serious about football and not a lot of school spirit, when it’s the exact opposite,” says Hudson. “They’re are plenty of guys on our team that I trust with my life because I know that if I have them on my team, we’re going to be successful.”

Hudson is just one of hundreds of high school students in The Woodlands area that plays sports, however to see how his academic and athletic experiences have shaped him at the tender age of a Sophomore, Hudson truly is an emerging superstar as a young man and as a student-athlete.



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