Wink defeated Sundown during the high school football playoffs in Texas but the final score is not what what matters. It was a last-second touchdown by Kolt McDaniel that will be remembered for a lifetime.
He was the hero!
In a world where high school football brawls and controversies most often grab headlines, it is this kind of gesture that serves as a reminder of what really matters. Kindness.
Wink beat Sundown in the Texas high school football playoffs.
Wink High School serves both small towns of Wink and Mentone in Loving County, Texas. It enrolls only ~210 students in Grades 7-12. Sundown High School serves only Sundown, Texas with a total enrollment of ~175 students in Grades 9-12. They are separated by about 150 miles in the northwestern corner of the Lone Star State, not too far outside of Lubbock and Odessa.
The Wildcats and Roughnecks both compete on the Class 2A, Division 2 level of Texas high school football. Wink finished the regular season at 8-2. Sundown finished at 4-6.
They met during the first round of the playoffs on the third weekend of November. The former defeated the latter by a final score of 40-12. The final touchdown of the game was scored on an intentional fumble in the closing moments of the fourth quarter. It could not have been more special.
Kolt McDaniel scored his first-career touchdown!
McDaniel, a junior, was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. HLHS is a rare congenital heart defect where the left side of the heart does not form properly. It leaves the left ventricle, mitral valve, and aortic valve too small to pump blood to the body, which means he essentially has half a heart.
McDaniel serves as an inspiration for the entire community, and now the world. Although he is not medically cleared to play full-contact football, he is one of the most important leaders on the team. His teammates could not be more proud to stand by his side. His coaches get him into the game as often as possible.
For example, Kolt McDaniel was able convert a two-point conversion at running back in the seventh grade.
He also ran for a touchdown in the eighth grade.
Sundown’s JH faced Tahoka last night
— Pete Christy (@pchristy11) November 2, 2022
Through mutual agreement they let Sundown’s Kolt McDaniel run it in for a courtesy touchdown.
This was a blessing to the 8th grader and his family.
Kolt has hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
great sportsmanship and kindness among the teams pic.twitter.com/W0bUQvGZI7
McDaniel scored the first and only touchdown of his high school football career in the playoffs!
Wink took a knee in victory formation with only 31 seconds left on the clock against Sundown, up by 34 points. And then it called a timeout.
There was some confusion at first as Wildcats head coach Brian Gibson ran over to chat with the officials. He noticed the crowd cheer when the Roughnecks put a very specific player in the game and wanted to speak with opposing head coach Brannon Rogers. That player was McDaniel. They talked it over together and then with their players.
Both teams eventually returned to the field to run one last play.
Wink’s quarterback took the snap and fumbled the ball into the end zone. Kolt McDaniel recovered for the touchdown. His teammates mobbed him as soon as he picked up the loose ball. Wink players celebrated as if he was one of their own.
Here is how it looked from the field:
This kind of moment is what makes sports so special. The final score is not important when a player like Kolt McDaniel gets a chance to be the hero.