Granger Battles Through Setbacks to Keep College Football Career Going
Davonn Granger’s start in the Texas Wesleyan University football program was anything but easy.
The junior defensive lineman out of Schulenburg High School was still recovering from elbow surgery when he transferred to the school for spring 2020.
He underwent surgery shortly after playing in Blinn College’s last game of the 2019 season. He said he played the whole season with six fractures in his elbow after injuring it trying to make a tackle during a fall camp practice. “I grabbed a running back, and another guy hit me,” he said. “I hyperextended it.”
By the time he reported to Texas Wesleyan, he said he didn’t have as much mobility as he hoped. “I was still kind of behind in my therapy,” he said, noting that he had not regained full strength in the affected arm.
Medically cleared by summer, he started at defensive tackle in both of Texas Wesleyan’s fall games and said he wore a brace on the elbow. He made one solo tackle and assisted on one against Southwestern Assemblies of God University.
He has been playing in a three-man front after playing in a four-man front at Blinn. With fewer linemen on the line of scrimmage, he has adjusted his technique to help him defend his area. “They (the coaches) added an extra step or two to be in a different spot,” he said. “It added time for me to read the blockers.”
Texas Wesleyan associate head coach and defensive coordinator Paul Duckworth said the team’s focus is to stop the run. “You can’t try to do everything. If we can do one thing well, everything else will be right,” he said. “He’s very strong at the point of run.”
Granger said he has been getting double-teamed. “If you’re getting doubled, you’re being disruptive,” Duckworth said. “It’s an honor to be doubled. He’s been doing his job.”
The elbow still bothers Granger. “I try not to think about it,” he said. “Sometimes it’ll be swollen. It kind of limits my workouts. I try to modify the workouts.”
He has been home for winter break. He tested positive for COVID-19 yet has recovered. “That was terrible,” he said about the virus.
Women’s basketball
Fayetteville High product Amber Canik is a freshman guard for Texas Wesleyan.
Send updates about area athletes to Barbara Boxleitner at jdanddoc@gmail.com.