LOS GATOS, CA -- Joey Wood suddenly appeared in the foyer outside the Los Gatos High locker room, sounding apologetic.
"I heard you were looking for me," Wood said. "Sorry I'm late. I had physical therapy."
Wood wasn't really late -- that wouldn't be him. He's like a mature-looking version of Frank Merriwell, the humble, dime novel football hero of the early 1900s.
Stout at 5-foot-10, 225 pounds and with blond hair and a reddish beard, Wood could easily be mistaken for a college sophomore. He's certainly a man among boys on the field, with 552 yards rushing in five games (he missed two games with a sprained ankle) and eight touchdowns. Los Gatos will depend heavily on him when the Wildcats travel to Milpitas at 7 p.m. Friday for a huge SCVAL-De Anza game.
Tweeted Wood last week: "Los Gatos vs. Milpitas is bigger than any other game in CCS this year."
Wood is a big-game guy. In Los Gatos' season-opening victory against CCS Open finalist Mitty, he rushed for 167 yards on 22 carries and scored two touchdowns. Against St. Francis in last season's CCS Division II title game, he rambled for 159 yards and one touchdown in a 31-14 victory.
“There is not a better feeling in the world," Wood told Prep2Prep after the game. "Especially losing to them in the championship (in 2012) and then coming back and winning by 17? I can’t even explain the feeling."
Wood finished the season with 1,986 yards and 28 touchdowns. In his two-plus seasons on varsity he has rushed for 3,531 yards and 49 touchdowns. He hopes to surpass the career school rushing record of Nick Kalpin, who ran for 2,553 yards and 40 touchdowns in his senior year (2007) alone and had 4,194 yards for his career.
Kalpin's jersey now decorates the wall of Los Gatos' Double D's Sports Grille. As for Wood, a neighbor who owns the Boulevard Tavern already is eyeing his No. 4 jersey.
"That's what I love about this place," Wood said of Los Gatos. "A lot of the restaurants are family-owned and it's nice to go in there and get recognized. And when we go on the field kids scream your name and want to high-five you. The day of the Santa Clara game a couple of us went over to Fisher Middle School in full gear and got the kids pumped up. They were yelling our names. It was pretty cool."
Wood moved with his family from San Jose to Los Gatos in the eighth grade. He wrestled in his new town that year and his mature looks caused parents to think he was a high school kid demonstrating to the youngsters how to grapple.
He doesn't wrestle any more but was a quick study in football for the Wildcats, having played as a youth for the Mountain View Marauders Pop Warner team.
He also fit in nicely in Los Gatos, the place with the quaint downtown and picturesque high school campus.
"He's pretty good," understated Los Gatos assistant coach James Sullivan with a smile. "He doesn't get taken down by the first guy. He loves to break tackles. That's what he's all about."
Said Los Gatos lineman Trevor Taormina: "He's just a hard-working kid. He always goes full speed in practice. He never takes a day off. He's always trying to do his best and help other people do their best."
Star Wildcat receiver Matt Wilcox described a run Wood made in last week's 28-0 victory against Wilcox High where he hit a wall of bodies at the scrimmage line, backpedaled and then broke off a long-gainer.
"It was a really big scrum and I don't know how he got out of it," Wilcox said.
Wood is also a regular guy, everyone interviewed agreed. Polite and easy-going off the field, he's a terror on it.
"We all hang out together," Taormina said. "He's funny. One time we were all in my room and we were watching TV and we all fell asleep on my bed and he curled up like a dog on the end of my bed and that's how he slept."
Given all the yards gained, touchdowns scored and the glory attached to winning a section title, one can imagine Wood getting a bit full of himself. But he's too smart (3.3 GPA) and aware for that.
"I don't like to see people brag, so I don't act that way myself," he said. "I'm just trying to stay grounded and focused on the season."
John Murphy is the Web Content Manager of Prep2Prep. Follow him on Twitter @PrepCat
