Football, Track & Field
Favorite athlete: Kobe Bryant.
Favorite team: Philadelphia Eagles.
Favorite memory competing in sports: Putting in the hard work but also having fun with my teammates.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: When my teammates got Gatorade and poured it on our Coach after making the playoffs.
Music on a mobile device: Mainly Kendrick Lamar but a mix with everything else.
Future Plans: Play professional football or become a Physical Therapist
Favorite motto: "Anything is possible, if you put your mind to it."
One goal before turning 30: Attend a Super bowl
One thing people don't know about me: I enjoy watching other people succeed
By Ed Morrone
There really is a first time for everything. If you don’t believe that, just ask David Akinwande.
Prior to the 2017 season, the Harry Truman football team had never made the postseason. As in, never ever. Entering his senior year as a running back and defensive end for the Tigers, Akinwande was having none of it. This year would be different, he said to anyone willing to listen; you’ll see, Truman would make the playoffs, he assured the doubters.
If you didn’t buy into what Akinwande was selling, that’s okay, because the Truman football program hadn’t given anyone much reason to believe over the years. But with new head coach Mike LaPalombara returning to the Truman sidelines (the long-time Pennsbury assistant had been an assistant at the school before) and bringing a respected staff with him, Akinwande just had a feeling. After talking to this kid, you start to believe in what he’s putting down.
“Coming in, I knew it was my senior year, and for a lot of us, it was our last shot,” Akinwande said. “Last year we had a really hard time and couldn’t get it done, but we started looking at things in front of us instead of focusing on the past. We saw one of the best coaching staffs in the state coming in with a new offense, the Wing T.
“We recognized the fact that these coaches were real serious. They knew what they were doing, and they were willing to come here, to Truman, to help us achieve our goal to make history. As seniors especially, we knew what a big opportunity had opened up for us and we started thinking, ‘What can we do if we take advantage of this?’”
Akinwande grew up in a football family of sorts, as both of his older brothers, Israel and Paul, played to some degree. LaPalombara coached Israel in his previous stint at Truman, and Paul played up through middle school, so David was always passing the pigskin around the backyard with his siblings.
David himself didn’t start playing “coordinated football,” as he called it, until middle school. His parents didn’t have the money to sign him up for club sports any earlier, and by his own admission, he was nervous to play with other kids, primarily because he didn’t know the rules or think he was any good.
Even after joining the Bristol Wardogs in seventh grade, Akinwande’s same fears prevented him from playing for Truman as a freshman. But finally, as a sophomore, he took the leap.
“It was hard at first, but I just kept on coming,” he said. “I started playing JV my sophomore year and I saw how much I loved running around and competing with kids at the high school level. Then, I got called up to varsity later in the year and had two or three sacks in the Norristown game. Every time I got to the quarterback, this energy just rushed through me. I knew I loved this feeling and didn’t want it to end, so when the season was over I kept on working and was focused on getting a starting spot.”
Akinwande started out as a linebacker and even played some receiver as a sophomore before ultimately settling into his role as a two-way player at running back and defensive end. Despite the fact that he was playing more his junior year, Akinwande and the Tigers still limped to a 3-7 record.
Then-head coach Jon Craig resigned sometime after the season, and LaPalombara, a math teacher at Truman for the last 25 years who thought his coaching days might be over, tossed his hat into the ring for the job. After he was hired, he brought an experienced and respected staff with him, including former Pennsbury and Truman head coach Galen Snyder and former Hatboro-Horsham head coach and Pennsbury assistant Dave Sanderson.
Akinwande took notice.
“I knew that it couldn’t be like last year,” he said. “We were going to come to practice on time, we were going to work hard every day. We were going to be a lot more focused and finish games, and if we did lose a game, we weren’t going to dwell on it after it was over. I wanted to show the underclassmen that this is how it should be, and the seniors wanted to show the new staff we were going to make an impact and lead this program. I was proud of myself and my senior teammates for the example we set for the underclassmen who are going to be the ones to lead this program for years to come.”
LaPalombara recognized Akinwande’s extra effort immediately, and the other players following his lead helped make it easy for LaPalombara to get his new players to buy in quickly.
“All of the seniors accepted us immediately when we took the program over, and David was influential in that,” LaPalombara said. “With him on board, others followed, and that was really important. David was always out there on time ready to go. He practiced hard all the time and doesn’t take any time or downs off. He represented what we were hoping to bring to the program and was the player we hoped all the guys would eventually become.
“He was our lead captain, our number one vote-getter. He’s a quality student and all of his teachers speak very highly of him, and above all, David is just a genuinely nice kid. He shows leadership on and off the field and nobody ever says anything negative about him.”
With their confidence soaring heading into the season, the Tigers came out of the gate roaring, winning their first four games running away, outscoring their opponents 166-12. Three of those first four wins were shutouts.
“All of this new stuff was happening in front of us and we weren’t sure how it was going to turn out,” Akinwande said. “Week one we beat Methacton, then we won again, and we kept winning to the point where it became, ‘We can actually do this.’ At that point, we didn’t have doubt. It went from, ‘We think we can make the playoffs’ to ‘We know we can make the playoffs.’ Personally, I felt like we wanted it more than a lot of teams.”
But then, just like that, Akinwande and the Tigers came upon their first road block. First came a 56-7 thrashing at the hands of Neshaminy that served as a splash of freezing cold water on Truman’s collective faces. They rebounded by beating Council Rock North 56-28, but followed that up with consecutive home losses to Pennsbury and Abington.
“After the Neshaminy game especially, we were shocked,” Akinwande said. “But any time we lost a game, we didn’t let it get to us, whereas last year we would doubt ourselves more with each loss. We just didn’t want one loss to feel like it was going to affect the outcome of our season. So after each one, we put it in the past. When we lost to Pennsbury we were a little shaken up, but we didn’t lay down thinking we were going to lose the rest of our games. We just told ourselves that a loss is a loss and we made it about fixing our previous mistakes so it didn’t happen in the next one.”
Around this time, Akinwande began to see less carries as LaPalombara and his staff began experimenting with different formations. Fellow senior Sayyid Saunders started seeing more touches, and Akinwande saw his role transition to more of a blocker whose job it was to free up space for Saunders and other players to gain the yards that previously had gone to him.
Never, not once, LaPalombara said, did Akinwande complain or question any of the coaching staff’s decisions.
“There was never a facial expression, never a negative comment about the situation,” LaPalombara said. “We took the ball out of his hands, made him more of a blocker, and now he’s blocking for guys who are getting the carries and yards that were going to him. It says a lot about his unselfish character.”
Akinwande recognized what was happening, and even though he hadn’t done anything wrong to lose touches, he never bristled or thought about quitting when Saunders or Javeer Peterson started running the ball more.
“I did notice when that happened and I didn’t look at it like I was getting less carries,” he said. “I saw it more as my teammates getting more opportunities to shine, and I didn’t take it as a personal offense. The coaches knew what I could do running the ball, they just decided to put me in other spots to block for my team, and I was willing to do that. Whatever helps the team the most.
“If I block all day and don’t get any carries and that’s our best opportunity to win the football game, then that’s what I’ll do. In our last (regular season) game against Bensalem, we put up 49 points and I was mostly blocking. There’s no reason to start acting selfish. If the team is winning, then what’s the reason to act that way?”
Following the 14-0 loss to Abington on Oct. 14, the Tigers came out and shellacked Souderton, 33-7, setting up a titanic clash at Bensalem on Oct. 27. The winner would head to the district playoffs while the loser would be done for the season. Akinwande, remembering the goal he and his teammates set back in August, knew this game would define the his legacy. Either he and his team would break through to the playoffs for the first time, or, like every other team that came before them, they would wilt and go home early.
Truman was up by just a touchdown at halftime before exploding in the second half and eventually winning handily, 49-20.
It was official: the impossible was now reality. The Truman Tigers were headed to the district playoffs.
“We all knew going in, we had one shot to make the playoffs and we were focused on that one particular thing,” Akinwande said. “We weren’t nervous only being up a touchdown. We knew we were getting the ball after halftime, so we said ‘Let’s keep it rolling, let’s not stop.’ First play of the second half, we come out and score a touchdown. The goal wasn’t for anyone to get 300 yards, or a certain amount of tackles; we didn’t care about ourselves … we cared about getting a good team win.”
The Tigers were the No. 13 seed out of 16 in the District 1 Class 6A playoff bracket. They drew No. 4 Coatesville in the first round, a team many argued was the top 6A squad in all of District 1. Truman ended up falling, 51-22, in a game that was never really close. That being said, the result certainly didn’t diminish what the team accomplished in its most memorable season in school history.
Akinwande finished his senior season with 831 yards on 130 carries (6.4 yards per carry) and nine touchdowns.
“Just knowing we were able to get over that hump and participate in a playoff game, that was an amazing experience,” Akinwande said. “It was literally a once in a lifetime experience. We may have been down by a lot at halftime, but we didn’t lie down and give up because of what the scoreboard said. We had so much support from everyone at school and everyone in the community. We’ll be known in the community for this season for years to come.
“The program has a bright future despite the fact that myself, Sayyid and other seniors will be graduating. The junior class, guys like Javeer and (quarterback) Dylan Snelling, there’s a lot of talent there. I’m not a predictor, but I have a lot of confidence in those guys and they’ll have the support of a lot of people.”
LaPalombara credited Akinwande for the Tigers’ 48-minute effort against a talented Red Raiders squad.
“It’s 34 or 35-8 at halftime, and we came out and continued to fight or else it would have been a 70-point game,” the Tigers’ coach said. “David was one of the people who kept our players fighting in that game. Anyone who watched it knows we gave a great effort against a great team. The most important thing David did was he reiterated our theme we had all season to finish games and how hard we have to practice every day. He repeated those words and the rest of the team bought into the concept.”
And although the finest Truman football season in history has come and gone, Akinwande still isn’t done competing for his high school. He also runs track, and for the first time last year, tried shotput. He and Saunders will again be counted on as two of the most important leaders on another Truman team.
“Seeing Sayyid run, it truly is an amazing thing,” Akinwande said. “He’s an amazing track athlete and I’m looking forward to doing another sport with him before we graduate. I’m so happy to have another sport left. I was new to shotput last year, but I did OK with it.”
Akinwande said it’s been his goal to play college football since his sophomore season, and he’s hoping that dream comes to fruition, much like his last one of taking Truman to the playoffs did. LaPalombara believes it will happen, and said there has already been some interest that will continue to simmer.
LaPalombara said he could see Akinwande playing at the Division II level, although it’s not entirely impossible for him to play or walk on to a smaller Division I program.
“He’s one of the strongest kids in the league, just a very fast, smart, explosive player,” the head coach said. “He was the number one stalwart on the team … our rock.”
If Akinwande’s success story doesn’t ultimately take him to the NFL (like all kids who play football, he’s still got hope), he expressed an interest in a career in sports medicine, particularly as an athletic trainer or physical therapist. He’s a dedicated student, a fact LaPalombara backed up, and said he takes the ‘student’ part of ‘student-athlete’ very seriously.
“When I see a ‘C’ in my grades, I get a little shaken up,” he said. “Then I make sure I work that up to a ‘B’ or an ‘A.’ I care about the student part as much as the athlete side. The systems of the body really interest me, how the body works and how it’s all connected. Something like physical therapy really interests me, and it has to do with sports.”
Akinwande is going to enjoy the remaining glow of his senior year, and he’s basking in the glory and support from the surrounding community that resulted from the football season. Make no mistake about it: he will miss it dearly.
He’ll miss it all, but especially football. How could he not after what just transpired?
“Just the fact that we made the playoffs, the journey itself is what I’ll really miss,” he said. “That and being able to play with my teammates and classmates. It’s the last time I’ll play with most of them, and they’re my closest friends. The football team, that’s a second family to me.
“I know people say that all the time, and it’s just a sport, but you develop such a connection. Slowly at first, then you become a family throughout the years and just get closer and closer. Just knowing that the Coatesville game was the last game and I wouldn’t be playing with them again anymore, especially after what we just accomplished, it hit me hard inside. What we did, I’m going to remember that for a long time as I continue to grow up.”
