Williston's Evans running for scholarship

<p>All the receiver had to do was make the correct block and the play would have worked correctly.</p><p> Instead, he slipped and the linebacker headed straight toward the 5-foot-10, 167-pound frame of Travis Evans.</p><p>Instead of hesitating or trying to make a cut, Evans did the only thing could. He jumped.</p><p> “The linebacker was coming in low and I just jumped over him and ran in for the touchdown,” Evans said. “It just got my whole team excited.”</p><p> Despite pulling off his best Knowshon Moreno impression at practice last week, there will be no shirts that read Air Evans. </p><p> The Williston running back lit up the football field as a junior with 1,207 yards on the ground off 191 carries and had nine touchdowns.</p><p> He’s had some impressive games this season as well. He has 656 yards rushing off 63 carries through four games. He’s eclipsed the 200-yard mark twice this season – including 303 yards against P.K. Yonge in the season opener. Against Ocala, Trinity Catholic, Evans ran the ball 17 times for 224 yards and two touchdowns of 55 yards.</p><p> To even have a chance at stopping him, teams are throwing everything they have at the running back who said he has the desire of Vikings running back Adrian Peterson and the running style of Barry Sanders.</p><p> “They are putting six and seven men in the box to try to stop me,” Evans said. “It’s actually opening up our offense because when they are keying in on me, it’s leaving someone wide open. When I don’t have the ball there’s a lot of misdirection and they are just making it hard on themselves.”</p><p> When Evans does get the ball, he said he feels like he’s all alone at times. Most of his movements are based on instinct and it’s hard to break his concentration.</p><p> “When I get the ball, I can’t hear anything but myself breathing,” he said. “After I run or I score a touchdown I just hear the crowd yelling and my offensive line comes running to me saying, ‘Good run, good run.’ I see the receivers and I say, ‘Good block.’ I don’t know what happened. It’s like I blacked out or something.</p><p> “I don’t really think when I play because thinking gets you hit and I don’t like to get hit.”</p><p>Evans is hoping that his hard work pays off for him with a college scholarship at the end of his season. He’s garnered interest from Georgia Tech, Maryland, Florida Atlantic, Western Kentucky, Florida A&M, Samford, among others. None have offered yet, but he said he’s trying not to focus on that right now.</p><p> “It’s hard not to think about it,” he said. “I’m trying not to think about it. I’ve tried to keep my mindset on my grades this year and I’m graduating. After football season, then I’ll think about it. During the football season, I have to think about the team and keep my mind on what we have to do and not on individual things. It’s a team effort.”</p><p> Georgia Tech currently stands out for Evans. He camped there over the summer and came away even more impressed than he was before he arrived. The one thing that stuck out to him was how the Yellow Jacket staff pushed academics over football. </p><p> Evans said he would love to spend next year in Atlanta, but knows he has to get an offer first. </p><p> “If it happens, I’ll be really excited,” he said of getting an offer from Georgia Tech. “If it doesn’t, well, it was a good experience to go up there.”</p>