'I Owed It to Her': 2017 QB Willie Cherry Has Big Night Following Mother's Death

There was no doubt in Willie Cherry Jr.'s mind. He was going to score Rider High School's game-winning touchdown Friday night against Amarillo High in the panhandle of the state of Texas.

Call it fate. Call it a vital obligation to fulfill. Call it being at the right place at the right time. Just know that when it came down to making one of the biggest plays of his life—even with his body in pain after taking a jarring hit earlier—nothing was going to stop Cherry from achieving.

It was one of Cherry's mother's final wishes. "Achieve."

Cherry rushed for 158 yards and three touchdowns, the last coming on the final play of the game, to lift Rider to a 27-24 win against Amarillo. He also played the game a little more than 24 hours after losing his mother, Tieshia Youngberg, to colon cancer. Youngberg was days away from celebrating her 34th birthday.

For Cherry, winning on Friday was beyond personal. It was the only option.

"My whole right arm was hurting, and I was having a problem with my thumbnail," Cherry said. "But this was for my mom. I had to do it. There wasn't a choice. I owed it to her."

"One family, one team"

A 2017 quarterback for Rider High School in Wichita Falls, Texas, Cherry is a 6'2", 191-pound athlete who has been a varsity player since his sophomore season. As Rider's quarterback, he's hoping to follow in the footsteps of another former Rider signal-caller, Ohio State's J.T. Barrett.

Cherry's described by teammates as someone who is soft-spoken off the field, a playmaker and a leader on it. He's also described as someone who is all about family.

And Thursday's news was beyond devastating—not only to him, but also to his extended family at Rider.

"The day we all found out, it was a sad time for everybody," said Rider 4-star wide receiver T.J. Vasher, a Texas Tech commit. "He was real down about it. The day of the game, I sat next to him on the bus. He slept a lot and just listened to music, but as teammates, we knew we had to be there for him."

"We just wanted to be there for support, because that's a tough deal for anyone to go through," Rider head coach Marc Bindel added. "Any time you lose a parent, it's tough. Not a lot of people have gone through it, especially high school kids. We just wanted to support him any way we could."

Rider's team motto is, "One family, one team." The news of Youngberg hit the entire locker room hard, but when Cherry decided to play Friday night, it served as motivation for the entire team.

And the last thing they wanted to do was let Cherry down.

"I didn't think he was going to play," Bindel said. "I thought it'd be too emotional for him. There's more important things in this world than football, but he said he wanted to play, and we supported that decision. He said he wanted to honor his mom. His teammates wanted to help."

So when it was time for Rider—on the 1-yard line and down by three to Amarillo with 1.2 seconds remaining—to make its final move, Bindel said he didn't have a doubt who the playmaker would be.

Cherry, however, was surprised to get his number called. But when the ball was snapped, he raced to the right side of the field, used his blockers and dove into the end zone for the winning score.

"I thought the ball was going to T.J.," Cherry said, "but Coach [Bindel] said he dreamed of this [Thursday] night. He told me to run a zone right, to run outside and run hard."

"Willie is electrifying," Vasher added. "He showed how good he was on that play. And he did it for his mom."

Credit: Willie Cherry

Saying goodbye

Cherry lives with his father, Willie Sr., in Wichita Falls. His mother lived in nearby Vernon, Texas, but he was very close with her.

Cherry said Youngberg had stage IV colon cancer—where cancer has spread from the colon to multiple organs—but she didn't want the majority of the public to know because she didn't want anyone worrying about her.

Her funeral is still pending and will be determined after Monday.

"Thursday morning, I checked him out of school," Cherry Sr. said. "His mother had a real low blood pressure. From that experience, he knew she was going to go at any time."

Cherry Sr. said he checked his son out to get the chance to speak with his mother. She was in sound mind, and Cherry Sr. described the time between Youngberg and their son as "their special moment."

"When I was there, I talked to her about two-and-a-half hours," Cherry said. "We talked about life and being successful. She wanted me to lead others. She told me to always work hard and told me that nothing would be given to you."

The hours of conversation were just enough motivation for Cherry. Sadly, he said the situation wasn't a first-time event. He said he had an aunt with cancer in 2008—which may have helped him prepare for his mother's death.

"I think this time," Cherry Sr. said, "what made him feel better about it all was that he had an opportunity to say goodbye."

Cherry received the final word about his mother while assisting with Rider's junior varsity game. The next day, emotions ran high, but football served as a much-needed distraction.

It helped having teammates who were more than sympathetic about Cherry's loss.

"All week, we would finish practice with a prayer. We prayed for him every day," Vasher said. "Before we hit the tunnel [in Amarillo], a lot of us said, 'Let's do this for Willie.' We just tried to lift him up and get him ready to play."

When the night ended, Cherry delivered. Not just for himself or his teammates, but for his mother.

And after Cherry scored the game-winning touchdown, he was hugged by Bindel, then teammates, and then made a beeline to the Rider crowd.

"I was looking for my dad," he said. "I just wanted to hug him."

Leading by example

The multiple pieces of advice Youngberg gave Cherry before she passed included aspiring for greatness. On the field, Cherry has a goal of being just as well-known of a quarterback as Barrett one day.

Currently, Cherry has early interest from Nebraska, but both Bindel and Vasher believe the offers will come very soon because of Cherry's athleticism and leadership skills.

"He is definitely a Division I athlete," Bindel said of Cherry, who started as a sophomore wide receiver last season. "He's just a great athlete, and we needed him on the field."

"He's a complete athlete," Vasher added. "You can put him anywhere on the field, and he'll make plays. He's a strong, fast, smart player. I know he'll be great at the next level."

Cherry said his mother's death gives him one more reason to be nonstop in his quest to be the best quarterback possible. He currently bench-presses 250 pounds and squats 345. He's run the 40-yard dash in 4.64 seconds.

Expect bigger and better numbers. And expect him to keep his mother's words close with every minute of improvement.

"Lead by example. That's what she'd tell me," he said. "That, and show my team that even in a bad situation, you can come out positive."

The grieving process has been made easier with the help of his teammates, but the support from classmates and friends via social media has been overwhelming. It's something Cherry isn't taking for granted.

And after Friday's performance, it's something his father feels he can handle with the help of a strong support crew.

"I feel more comfortable now because I know she wanted him to play for her," Cherry Sr. said. "At first, I was nervous. I mean, he lost his mother; I haven't even lost mine yet. I didn't know what the outcome was going to be, with him being a teenager. But now I know he's up for this."

Cherry added, "This whole year, our coaches taught us to tell our parents we love them every day. I texted my mom and told her I love her every day. She knows I love her, and now, I have to do everything to honor her."

Damon Sayles is a National Recruiting Analyst for Bleacher Report. All quotes and statistics were obtained firsthand. Follow Damon via Twitter: @DamonSayles