Three Year Veteran Waleszonia Ready to Cap-Off Senior Season

By: Ryan Fletcher

Joseph Waleszonia steps into his final season at Valley View as one of Northeast Arkansas’ most experienced quarterbacks.  Waleszonia assumed the position to begin his sophomore season and never let go.  “Throughout the summer before my sophomore season Coach Cockrell came to me and told me that they were going to turn me into a quarterback,” stated Joseph.  “He told me to start working on it and to be prepared for it.  After that I just continued to work on it all summer and in practice and then they named me the starter.” 

Waleszonia admits that his strength is in his legs and it is his arm that he has had to improve over the course of the last two football seasons.  “That’s what I have tried to improve on the most.  The legs are always going to be there, but I definitely tried to improve in my throwing.  It makes us a more dynamic offense.” 

The Blazers moved up into class 5A two seasons ago.  It was evident that it would not be an easy transition.  Because of that, Blazer Coach Sean Cockrell made changes to the offense that has been known for running the spread.  Instead, Cockrell moved to the wishbone.  “We did run that kind of wishbone offense.  At the time that was the type of offense that we needed to run.  During that time, we had a lot of inexperience and running the football was good at that point because we didn’t really have a quarterback that could throw all that well.”  Cockrell decided to abandon the wishbone offense the following season and return to the spread.  “As the season went along coach realized that we could throw it, and that’s why we moved back to a spread offense.  We are still a run first team. We run it a lot, and we established that last season even when we moved to the spread.  We will take some shots deep to throw teams off guard.  We have definitely settled into this offense.  Coach (Kole) Carpenter has done a great job to make it simple so that everybody knows their jobs.”

Valley View returns multiple starters on offense and will not have to worry about the implementation of a new offensive scheme.  Additionally, Coach Carpenter will return as the team’s offensive coordinator for a second consecutive season.  The role of offensive coordinator changed names three seasons in a row so familiarity will be a nice change of pace for Valley View.  Because of these factors, Waleszonia has his eyes set on a postseason run.  “It is definitely a big deal since we have several seniors returning as most of us already know what to do on offense.  That allows Coach Carpenter to put in a lot of different plays that we can run because we know all the basics of the system.  It just really opens up a lot more options.  For the team we definitely have a goal of a playoff berth.  After you make the playoffs you just never know what could happen.  Upsets can happen but just getting there I think would be great for the program.  You can see our numbers have just gotten bigger after finishing just 5-5 last season.  We want to get as many kids out there to play for the future to build this program up.”  The Blazers picked up their biggest win near the end of the season against cross town conference rival Nettleton.  “It was definitely a big confidence boost for our team.  It showed that we can compete with these types of good teams in the 5A East, and we are capable of playing at that level.”

Joseph has been raised in a family that shares a love for sports particularly football.  “Football is my favorite.  Since I have been a little kid I have always loved football.  My dad and I watched it since I was little.  We are big (Pittsburgh) Steelers fans.  I have looked forward to putting pads on since I was six.”  Joseph’s father won a state championship in boys’ basketball at Trumann High School back in the 1980’s. Both his dad and grandfather played sports at the collegiate level which is an aspiration that Joseph has set for himself.  “My dad was a good athlete at Trumann from what I understand.  I can’t tell it today,” said Joseph with a big laugh.  “He went and played at the Coast Guard Academy.  He loved football and loves the game just like I do.  My grandpa (Joe Waleszonia) played as a receiver at Arkansas State University.  I have always loved playing at the receiver position, and I really look up to him.  My grandmother was a track star in California.  My grandparents moved from California to here so my grandpa could play football at Arkansas State.  Sports is an important part of my family.”

Joseph will be joined by his brother Jacob on this season’s football team.  “It is a great thing that I get to play with him.  As much as we fight, we love each other.  We are going to love getting to play with each other.  He will play at linebacker so he has a big role on this team.  Our defense will be young this year, but I am trying to make sure he walks the line because he is going to have to be a big-time player for us this season as a sophomore.  I am going to love getting to play with him.  He’s a bigger guy so he could see some time in the backfield in short yardage situations.  It will be really cool having him in the backfield with me.”  While Joseph and Jacob are brothers, they are very different both on and off the field.  “We are very different!  Any time anyone ask us who is better, we can’t ever really give an answer because we are so different, and we are both good at different things.  It’s two different aspects of the game.  He is a bigger power guy and I’m the smaller more agile guy.  It’s hard to compare because we are so different.  Oh for sure!  He’s more like my mom.  He’s the nicer sweetheart.  He’s a teddy bear that everyone loves.  I am more of the talker and louder.  I’m like the life of the party more like my dad.”

Partying will definitely be in the plans of the Waleszonia brothers and the Blazers if their dreams of making a deep run into the playoffs come true.  Expect Joseph to cap off his senior high career in style as Valley View could easily find themselves in contention for the 5A East top prize while making a run at a state title.