Winn earns preseason honors

Two Benton County football players are playing football on the college level at Hendrix and both have made a name for themselves.

Former Blackhawk Dayton Winn was named the conference newcomer of the year last season and Rogers High School graduate Casey Caton led the league in receiving yards and yards per catch last season.

Hendrix competes in the All-Southern Athletic Association and Caton led the league in receiving yards and yards per catch last season. He was also second in touchdown receptions and third in catches.

Former Pea Ridge running back and Hendrix sophomore Dayton Winn was named to the preseason second team offense. He rushed 167 times for 821 yards and caught 49 passes for 421 yards his freshman season. Winn was named the conference newcomer of the year last season after having 1,971 all-purpose yards, which was third best in NCAA Division III.

Pea Ridge coach Tony Travis said Winn has great vision on the field and is one of the best players he has coached.

"I've been around football most of my life, as a player and a coach, and I have only come across a handful of players that have his talent," Travis said. "The Hendrix coach came through here in the spring, and he said, and these are his exact words, 'We got a steal.' They couldn't believe that they were able to pick him up. A lot of people were worried about Dayton being a 160 pounds and they were out recruiting running backs that were a 190.

"Dayton can play football and go with it. I don't know that you can find a tougher player," Travis said.

Caton played receiver for two seasons at Harding but playing time in the future looked bleak in the Bisons' run-oriented offense.

Down south of Searcy in Conway, Hendrix was restarting its football program last season after a 52-year break and the Warriors gave Caton a call. Caton decided to make a leap of faith and the former Mounties player is now a preseason first team USA College Football All-American.

Caton was the only member of last year's team that had any college playing experience and he caught 56 passes for 805 yards and eight touchdowns as Hendrix went 3-7.