David Wilson thrilled to be playing for his country

David Wilson compared what he is doing in the inaugural International Federation of American Football Junior World Championship tournament to what he did in his senior season at George Washington.

And it’s hard not to argue with the Virginia Tech signee when it comes to the number of yards and touchdowns he has racked up heading into today’s championship game against Canada at Fawcett Stadium in Canton at 1 p.m.

“It’s indescribable,” Wilson said in a phone interview with the Register & Bee on Friday. “It’s not too many times you get to represent your country playing the game you love. Any time you get to display your talent in a world arena, it’s great.”

The 5-foot-10, 192-pound running back has rushed for 327 yards and seven touchdowns on 23 carries in USA’s two victories over France and Mexico.

This comes after a senior season that Wilson and fellow running back Tahron Goods carried GW to a 7-5 record and a second consecutive trip to the Northwest Region championship game.

The 2008 Gatorade State Player of the Year rushed for school records of 2,291 yards and 33 touchdowns and added a receiving touchdown in the team’s NW Region semifinal victory over Brooke Point. Wilson also returned a fumble for a touchdown against Matoaca in the Eagles’ third game of the season.

It was also in that game that Wilson broke Haylen Murphy’s record for most yards rushing in a game, accumulating 331 yards and scoring seven touchdowns in the Eagles’ 48-34 victory.

In GW’s second game against Franklin County, Wilson broke his own record with 349 yards and three touchdowns in the Eagles’ victory, earning U.S. Army All-American Bowl Player of the Week honors.

Wilson did his damage in the Wing-T offense under GW coach Dan Newell and has had very little problems getting adjusted to the I-Formation.

“It’s been a lot of times where I had to reverse field and break tackles. It’s almost identical to high school,” Wilson said, referencing to the many times he would escape defenders in the backfield and break off long runs.

“I use my God-given abilities to find the hole or seam to get to the end, versus the Wing-T where you have to find a certain hole.”

Wilson has been in conversation with Virginia Tech offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Bryan Stinespring and the word from Tech is that Wilson is “doing everything they expect of (him) to do.”

“We’ve got a stacked team. The adrenaline of playing on the Hall of Fame field makes you play better,” Wilson said. “We want to make our country proud and come home with the gold.”

- Contact Sordelett at or (434) 791-7998.