Womack thrives on East Alton-Wood River football team's "new attitude"
WOOD RIVER — There is definitely a new spirit and confidence that surrounds the East Alton-Wood River Oilers football program. A once downtrodden team has a new attitude that says they’re going to keep striving for 48 minutes straight from opening whistle to final siren.
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Junior running back/defensive back Zach Womack is a key part to the Oilers’ football revival, and he says it started in the off-season.
“I think that we’re a very improved team.” Womack said after the Oilers game against Taylorville this past Friday night. “We worked hard on our speed, agility and weightlifting.”
And despite losing to the Tornadoes 45-6, Womack sees a team that’s determined to turn things around.
“No one likes to lose, of course, but the spirits are high,’ Womack said. “We used this game as a test to see where we really are.”
And being able to compete with a Tornado team that went 9-0 in the regular season in winning last year’s Apollo Conference title and its first two IHSA playoff games before falling in the quarterfinals gives Womack and his teammates the confidence that the Oilers could go quite a long way in 2016.
“This is a good team,” Womack said, “and now, we enter conference play pretty confident because we competed with a team of this caliber.”
Womack points to a second half that saw the Oilers play on level terms with its opponent in the third quarter before conceding two touchdowns in the final term.
“We kept them scoreless in the third quarter,” Womack said.
As for Womack himself, his hard work in the off-season is starting to pay off. He displayed some nifty moves and equally nifty runs, showing his commitment to improve.
“I’ve always been pretty fast, and I improved my speed and strength in the off-season,” he said.
As for both personal and team goals, Womack keeps it very simple and straightforward.
“I think that we can both win and go unbeaten in the conference this year,” Womack said. “I feel pretty confident we can do that. For me, I want to hang on to the ball and do what I can to help my team win.”
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