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Vidor's Layne Wilhelm is the 409Sports Athlete of The Week!

Senior fullback Layne Wilhelm's team first mentality earns him the title of 409Sports Athlete of The Week

VIDOR, Texas — It's a play Vidor fans will remember forever. Trailing by six in the fourth quarter, Layne Wilhelm exploded for a 33-yard touchdown run that helped Vidor win their fourth district title in program history.

Coach Jeff Mathews broke down the play.

"We really harp on our kids carrying their fakes out. The tailback did a good job of carrying his fake out. He brought his safety and one of the corners out with him. The halfback brought a corner with him, which made it open for Layne. You know Layne carries his fakes out when the ball is outside and the halfback and tailback do when he gets the ball. He hit it smoking. He ran through an arm tackle. We talk about breaking through arm tackles. He ran through one and I knew there was no way the guy was going to catch him. He saw the end zone and I knew he was going to get in."

And Wilhelm gives all the credit to his team mates. 

"Unselfish people carrying out their fakes, willing to get tackled for me. They do their job very well. They know what their job is and they execute very well."

Coach Mathews says his senior fullback is the ultimate team player.

"You know the thing about Layne that nobody knows, Layne was an unbelievable fullback his sophomore year. His junior year we needed him to play linebacker. He said absolutely coach without hesitation. This year he has had to play tailback, he's had to play halfback, he's had to learn every position. He's a natural fullback, he's pretty good at that. He's real good at it. The fact that he can play all those positions and give us a chance to be successful makes him special. The fact that he doesn't care about the credit, he doesn't care about how many yards he gets, he doesn't care about how many touches he gets. He just wants to win. That's what makes him the guy that we love at fullback. And he's a big reason why he's a team captain and a big reason why we're successful."

Still, Wilhelm makes it clear he can't do it without his team. 

"I think it's very hard to overcome things and just be successful period without thinking of others and your team mates. Running touchdowns for yourself don't mean nothing if you don't have people to make you happy."

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