When Shiloh Wickliffe was walking around the Cleveland High campus last fall, everyone knew he could be a football ringer if he ever went out for the sport. He was the starting second baseman for the baseball team, but football coach Mario Guzman and classmates were well aware he once played football as a freshman at Sierra Canyon.
Wickliffe had shoulder surgery last November, so he had pretty much closed the football chapter in his life — until he was rehabbing and started looking at his “old clips.”
“I kind of missed it,” he said. “And all my friends are telling me, ‘Come out and join the football team.’”
Cleveland’s football season had already started when Wickliffe, a junior, decided to ask Guzman if he could join the team. It’s rare when a varsity coach decides to add a player in the middle of a season. Guzman agreed to make an exception because he felt Wickliffe’s positive attitude and team-oriented philosophy would fit his team’s culture.
Wickliffe did his mandatory 10 days of practice and made his debut in the third game against Castaic. By the 10th game, he had become a key Cleveland player because of a season-ending injury to standout running back Moyo Odebunmi.
He’s had games of 121 yards rushing and four touchdowns against Taft; 80 yards rushing and one touchdown against Chatsworth; five receptions for 62 yards against Crenshaw. He also had a 94-yard touchdown nullified against the Cougars.
“It’s a blessing,” Guzman said. “We thought he’d just play baseball.”
Cleveland is 10-0 for the first time in school history going into its City Section Open Division playoff opener on Friday night at home in a rematch against Crenshaw.
At 5 feet 8 and 165 pounds, Wickliffe still considers himself a baseball player first but has gotten into football shape and looks ready to be an important contributor in the playoffs.
“I have not played for more than a year,” he said. “I was definitely nervous coming out because I thought I wouldn’t be the same, but I kind of always believed in what I had.”
The first practice back was an opportunity to regain his bearings.
“The coach had set up a specific hitting drill for me to like get my feet wet,” he said. “And once they hit me, it kind of woke me up what I’m coming back into.”
The muscle memory and instincts have returned. He started out as a receiver, but now the Cavaliers need him to use his speed at running back.
“Their scheme is pretty good,” he said. “We just have to have discipline and do what our coaches taught us and that’s what leads us to the promised land.”
He’sgoing back to baseball when football is completed. He batted .302 last season in 16 games while not at full strength after surgery, so beware come February.
Wickliffe has become Cleveland’s version of the Rams’ Aaron Donald as far as deciding to return to the football field at the last minute and test himself.
“I found my love for football again,” he said.
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