With his family by his side, Blake (Billy) Weyant signs his letter of intent to play at Bethany College.
Drew Terhall | The Daily Advocate
By Drew Terhall
DailyAdvocate.com
NEW MADISON — The Tri-Village High School football team has another senior signing on to play college football this upcoming fall. Senior Blake (Billy) Weyant signed on to Bethany College on March 31 surrounded by his family, friends, teammates, coaches and teachers.
Weyant said one of the reasons he chose Bethany was because the head coach at Bethany, Brandon Robinson, and Tri-Village head coach Matt Hopkins are similar. It also helps that Hopkins coached Robinson back at Eaton High School.
“I feel like him and coach Hopkins are the same with their coaching. They’re going to be like a father figure,” Weyant said.
Weyant is not only a great player, but a great teammate. Hopkins said Weyant is a physical player on the field and will give his teammates some tough love during games and practices.
Bethany will also be getting a great person off the field as well.
“Coach Slone said it best, the old adage of ‘treat people how you would like to be treated’ Billy encompasses that as a person,” Hopkins said. “He does that to the fullest. He’s like the gold standard for that.”
Weyant is looking forward to help turn around the program after the Bison had a 1-9 season last year. He said the coaching staff is looking for big linemen and big impact players. The team is expecting to have a better year this fall.
“We got a really good class coming in. I’ve met some of the guys so far and they’re expecting us to be really good this season,” Weyant said.
In his senior season, Weyant was named to the All-WOAC First Team and the Southwest Division VI First Team. He was also an All-Ohio Division VI honorable mention.
Hopkins said Robinson described Weyant as a program changer. He’s the type of player that can help turn a program around.
Hopkins said he thinks Bethany will put a lot on Weyant like how they did this season. With the right mindset, Weyant can go up there and start from day one.
“If he can go up there and work, he’s going to start from day one. It’s all up to Billy how high his ceiling wants to go,” Hopkins said. “If he wants to get his body ready and be ready to go, he can be the best lineman that’s been through Bethany if he wants to be.”
Weyant thanked his family, friends, coach Hopkins and Slone along with his teachers for helping him reach the next level athletically and academically. While at Bethany, Weyant plans to major in communication and media arts with a strong interest in working with video.
Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]
