FERGUSON • Never play poker with .
You'll lose.
The senior quarterback for the football team, Willis is calm and collected even when he has every right not to be.
Like that time he broke his foot.
In the biggest game of the year.
And didn't tell anybody.
The Bulldogs advanced to the Class 3 state semifinals last fall. Their unbeaten season came to an abrupt end with a 42-0 loss to eventual champion Monett. Willis was not great that day —Ìýhe completed two of his 10 pass attempts for 19 yards.
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It was the worst game of the season by the first-year varsity starter as the Bulldogs ran into a buzz saw and never recovered. Willis battled through that game and swallowed the pain of his injured foot. He never showed signs of injury. It just looked like the opponent and the moment might have gotten the best of him.
“He played with a broken foot. We didn't even know it,†Berkeley coach Howard Brown said. “When he didn't make a throw it was, 'I didn't make the throw.' He didn't make excuses. No one knows about that. He'll never volunteer this information.â€
Much of his first season at the helm of the varsity, Willis was unflappable. He completed 112 of 174 passes for 1,968 yards, 21 touchdowns and three interceptions. He guided the Bulldogs to wins over Orchard Farm, Lutheran St. Charles, St. Charles West and Blair Oaks. His first varsity start was a 32-13 win over McCluer North.
Willis checks in at No. 30 on the Post-Dispatch Super 30 Countdown of the area's top senior college football prospects.
A Berkeley graduate now in his 14th season as coach, Brown has never had a quarterback like Willis. In his mind, it has been more than a generation since the Bulldogs had this type of player under center.
“Tavian is by far the best we've had,†Brown said. “We haven't had a first-team all-state quarterback in 20-30 years. He's stepped up and done things no one else has done.â€
Berkeley has its share of college programs contact it regularly. They check in on defensive linemen, wide receivers, running backs, defensive backs and linebackers. The Bulldogs have a reputation for producing rock-solid football players and athletes.
But quarterbacks? That's a new one.
It's been hard for Willis to get any recruiting traction. At 6-foot and 195 pounds, he's not overwhelmingly large, but he is only 16, young to be a senior.
He's attended camps at Arkansas State, Louisville and Southern Illinois. He hopes he can turn some heads with a strong senior campaign and latch on somewhere. Willis would like more schools to believe he has the tools and abilities to help their program, but he's also not stressing over it. Instead, he's putting his focus on what he can control.
“(Recruiting has) been both good and bad. It could be better,†he said. “It's been all right for me.â€
Several NCAA Division III schools have offered him and some Division II programs are circling. Brown has no doubts Willis will have an opportunity to get a significant part of his college education paid for with a scholarship.
“I believe this year God is going to bless him to get some amazing looks,†Brown said. “With Tavian leading the way, our offensive line and defensive line, people will come. You have to win for people to come.â€
Berkeley should do plenty of winning.
The Bulldogs return a significant core of experienced players and have their sights set on taking the next step in the postseason. A year after coming so close to playing for the championship, Willis wants to be in Columbia and take his chances.
“We have a bunch of returners and it basically made us think we were that close,†Willis said. “I don't want to have that feeling of being that close any more.â€