Gullo Athlete of the Month -- The Woodlands' Tyler Patrick

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GULLO | TYLER PATRICK              

The Woodlands Football

By Austin Staton

As the largest school in District 14-5A, The Woodlands has quite an enormous talent pool to fill 22 positions on the gridiron. However, when a student-athlete comes around that has a diverse skillset in all phases of the game, it’s crucial to capitalize on those set of skills.

Enter junior Tyler Patrick — a two-way standout on the football field and the baseball diamond.

Whether he’s playing defensive back, split wide on a passing route, or back deep to return punts — it’s hard not to find his No. 4 jersey swarming around the ball.

“I just want to do my job,” he says. “I trust that my teammates next to me will do their jobs too, so I just want to play as hard as I can for the team.”

So far this season, Patrick has done his job and taken his game to the next level for the Highlanders.

On the offensive end, he’s accounted for an explosive 83-yard touchdown grab while averaging nearly 20 yards per punt return, including a season-long of 56-yards against Hightower, for the Highlanders special teams unit.

For Patrick, he just enjoys the thrill of making 11 members of the opposing team miss.

“The first return of the game is always nerve-wracking but as soon as you touch the ball, all of the nerves go away,” says Patrick. “As long as you don’t make it more than it is and try to do too much, you should be fine.”

As the starting safety in the Highlanders’ secondary, Patrick just has a knack for the ball and making plays and his stats prove it.

Through the Highlanders first five games, he has posted 49 tackles, good for second-best on the team, one pick, one fumble recovery, and a pass breakup.

The junior is simply a playmaker.