The Throwback

The sheer vastness of Sheridan High School's glorious football past is unique, if not downright imposing. Most programs in Indiana utilize names and numbers on which to hang their memories. The Blackhawks' background requires mile markers.

Mike Shelburne attended his first Blackhawks game as a first-grader in fall of 1965, the season prior to the arrival of coach Bud Wright, who since 1980 has led Sheridan and its fervent community following to nine Class A state championships.

Images tend to be a bit fuzzy at this juncture, but Shelburne remembers Dave Keeling at quarterback. Remembers how those 'Hawks sported red helmets, white jerseys and red pants for home games, a far cry from the all-black attire of today (not counting the decal-free white helmets).
And Shelburne remembers pretty much everything that's happened since.

Able to differentiate between the great Sheridan players and the merely good, Shelburne, himself an outstanding SHS running back in the mid-1970s, is asked to place a number next to current Blackhawks' quarterback Nick Zachery.

Silence. Briefly, at least.

"You look at Brett Law. And in the late-1960s, you had Brett's dad, Don Law," responds Shelburne, 49, who is now Sheridan's athletic director. "Rolli Greer was another great athlete who had good speed and was just a bull. Brad Maynard. I would put Nick in the top five. Probably the top three. He has a lot of God-given ability, but a good work ethic, too."

The same question is pitched to Wright, albeit smack dab in the middle of one of Sheridan's preseason practices. His eyes, barely visible beneath the black visor he's wearing, never once leave the action on the practice field. "He's one of the better ones we've had. Nick knows the game and he has good speed," he said. "He's a competitor and he's a player, but we have to get on him every once in awhile."

Turns out the middle of Brian and Kim Zachery's three boys entered the world 18 years ago, possessing not so much a competitive streak as he did a competitive six-lane highway.
Zachery, to put it midly, detests losing. Cannot stand coming in second and doesn't even want to discuss anything lower than that. This has more than a little to do with the fact Sheridan sits on three consecutive 1A titles for the first time in its glorious gridiron history and is putting everything it has into the possibility of a fourth this November.

"Nick played fifth-grade tackle football as a second-grader because in flag football he was just too rough. It wasn't pretty," remembers Brian, a starting receiver/defensive back for the 1980 Sheridan squad that kicked off all this state championship stuff. "He was just very competitive and he always has been."

Brian adds that his son inherited his competitiveness from dad, but that Nick's inner fire comes more from Kim, a 1983 graduate of Eastern High School (Greentown) who participated in volleyball, basketball and softball..

"From what I've heard about my mom, yeah, that's probably true," laughs Nick. "She's a very good person, but, just like me more things come out in sports."

Continuing the story of Zachery's impressive athletic bloodlines, he's nephew to Derry and Shelly Zachery, Brian's younger brothers who quarterbacked Sheridan to state titles in 1984 and 1992, respectively. Derry and Shelly are also former Phil N. Eskew Mental Attitude Award recipients.

Great teams they were, but when it comes to Blackhawk football, the present doesn't exactly pale in comparison to the past.

Wright's program entered this season having won 43 of its last 45 games, the most recent stumbling block being a 28-6 home loss to West Lafayette on Oct. 14...of 2005. Among the common denominators during this run is the 6-foot-1, 202-pound young man with keen football instincts and sprinter's speed, taking snaps from center.

And in typical Sheridan fashion, the motor in Zachery's legs plays a larger role in the program's success than how far or accurately he throws the football.

In three 1A championship contests, Zachery has rushed 55 times for 444 yards and five visits to the end zone. The Blackhawks' hard-earned 34-28 conquest of Rockville inside the RCA Dome in 2007 proved particularly impressive as Zachery called his own number on 24 occasions for 215 yards and three touchdowns.

Zachery also plays basketball and runs track for Sheridan (he was seventh at the 2008 state meet in the 100-meter dash in 10.84 seconds).

In a school of approximately 400 students, Zachery oozes "Big Man On Campus" potential. The fact his reputation and accomplishments dwarf his laid-back off-the-field persona is refreshing.

"The one thing I hate most is being singled out," says Nick. "There are 10 other people out there who have to do their jobs so you can do the things you do."

"We used to talk to him that it's important to talk about your teammates," adds Brian. "But, really, Nick just thinks of himself as a regular guy."

Asked if his son really does fall into such a category, Brian offers up an interesting response: "He's a hippie."

Getting to know Nick Zachery merely from an athletic standpoint is to know only a fraction of what makes him tick.

While Brian and Kim's oldest boy, Brett, 21, himself a former Blackhawks quarterback, is the quietest of the three and 13-year-old Sam is, as Brian puts it, "the town know-it-all," Nick away from athletics is a walking billboard for the Woodstock generation.

Cherished items in Zachery's wardrobe include flip-flops, tie-dyed T-shirts, four headbands and six or seven political buttons, the best being one that boldly states, "Drop Bush, Not Bombs." Musical tastes range from John Lennon to Bob Dylan to Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead.

So into Lennon is Zachery that last year, he submitted an entire English class paper devoted to the December, 8, 1980 death of the former Beatles founder.

"I'm more into that stuff, more of a peaceful person away from sports," says Nick. "I know there's a time to be funny, but I know when you put that helmet on that it's time to be serious."

So serious is Zachery about football that he's steered his talents to a full-ride scholarship at Indiana University beginning in the fall of 2009. Also in the mix prior to Hoosiers coach Bill Lynch nabbing him were Purdue, Central Michigan and Western Kentucky, among others.

At the moment, Zachery is leaning toward majoring in sports management and possibly minoring in communications. Where he'll line up while donning the cream and crimson is anybody's guess.

Free safety and receiver are the likeliest destinations. Or maybe Lynch redshirts Zachery and bulks him up in an attempt to make him a college linebacker.

Given his high football IQ, range, blazing speed and knack for coming out on top when a scoreboard hits nothing but zeros, rest assured Zachery is going to bloom even more in Bloomington.

"You can't project what's going to happen four years from now," says Brian. "Nick has been very happy with his trips to IU. He feels he can contribute and I think the feeling is mutual. Nick's biggest thing is he doesn't like to get beat."

Largely because, like every Sheridan football legend preceding him, Zachery hasn't had much experience at it. And hopes he never will. -