Senior Profile: Yellowjackets' Boites leads by example

Williams High senior Tony Boites is a quiet leader and the focal point on offense and defense for the Yellowjackets football team.

"He's very quiet and he leads by example, there's not two ways about it, that's Tony," Williams coach Dan McDonald said.

Despite his 5-foot-7, 165-pound frame, Boites is unafraid of playing power football, and his most electric runs often slash through the heart of opposing defenses.

"He has a very strong lower and upper body and he's worked out very hard in the weight room since his freshman year. He has the will and desire to never give up," McDonald said.

Boites began playing football in seventh grade on the Colusa Cowboys junior midgets team and excelled. He earned a spot on the varsity roster as a sophomore just three years after playing organized football for the first time.

Between his freshman and sophomore football season, Boites spent as much time in the weight room as he could. Even now, he often drives to Colusa to work out at Colusa Fitness Center when the weight room at Williams High isn't open.

Boites arrived on the football field for his sophomore season a transformed young man, 30 pounds heavier. No longer a lanky 130-pound kid, he was the only sophomore to make the varsity roster.

He joined his older brother Pedro Boites, who was a senior, in the Yellowjackets backfield and helped the team to a 7-4 record and a playoff berth in 2010.

Playing on a successful varsity team as a sophomore opened Boites' eyes to the kind of work ethic it takes to be competitive and play at a high level.

"I saw how it was for my brother, he won a lot. I just act as if it was like that, I just try hard every day like my brother did," Boites said.

The Yellowjackets struggled last year and were in danger of not having enough players to field a team at times, but Boites remained on the field, holding the team together.

Now a senior, Boites has more help this year. An influx of soccer players, a strong freshman class and a new assistant coach renewed the excitement and motivation inside the program.

Boites rushed for 117 yards and three touchdowns in the Yellowjackets' 48-0 homecoming victory against Esparto.

Six games into the season the team's record is 2-4, and though Williams struggled at times, the mood on the sideline is different, Boites said.

"I thought after being down so much everybody would just want to give up and it's different, we don't give up," he said. "This year we're just a little bit closer as a team."

Having so many players who didn't play last season leaves the Yellowjackets with little margin for error, but now that they have more game experience, everything is running more smoothly, according to Boites.

"It's pretty cool to watch them develop into playing like this because it's a lot different, they didn't really get it at first but they're really starting to pick it up," Boites said.

In the spring, Boites is a sprinter for the Yellowjackets track and field team and he works at Straw Hat Pizza during his down time.

Boites still isn't sure what he is going to do after high school but is considering going to Butte College to pursue a career in law enforcement or fire fighting.

CONTACT Kirk Barron at 458-2121 or kbarron@tcnpress.com.