Deante Harley-Hampton extends a hand and flashes a genuine smile before we sit down Tuesday inside Homewood-Flossmoor’s state-of-the-art field house.
He’s wearing shorts and a T-shirt, having just wrapped up a game of dodgeball with his football teammates.
He’s no worse for wear. He’s fully engaged, thoughtful, respectful and, at times, playful.
The only thing more noticeable than his smile throughout our interview are his biceps.
They are pronounced, belying his 5-foot-7, 170-pound frame.
“I help my father do landscaping during the summer,” said Harley-Hampton, a senior running back. “That’s where I got these muscles.”
He slaps each biceps with one hand.
Then he smiles.
Eight months ago, almost to the day in fact, Harley-Hampton wasn’t in the mood to smile.
It was the Class 8A state championship game, and Homewood-Flossmoor faced a fourth-and-1 from Stevenson’s 9-yard line. There were 55 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, and H-F, which trailed 31-16 only 1:26 earlier, closed to within 31-25.
The Vikings were on the verge of completing one of the greatest comebacks in state finals history.
Harley-Hampton remembers breaking from the huddle, just moments from what would turn out to be Homewood-Flossmoor’s final play on offense during the 2014 football season.
He had one thing on his mind.
“I was going to run through whoever was in my way,” he said of reaching the end zone. “My mentality is to score every time I get the ball.”
All the Vikings needed was one yard to get the first down and maintain possession.
Or nine yards to complete the improbable comeback.
Harley-Hampton took the handoff from quarterback Bryce Gray and easily picked up the first down.
“I don’t like first downs,” Harley-Hampton said. “I like touchdowns.”
Which explains why, once he picked up the first down, he continued his pursuit of the end zone. He was stopped by Stevenson’s defense, even though Harley-Hampton kept pumping his legs while fighting for additional yards.
On this particular play, however, that refusal to be tackled resulted in an ill-fated fumble, which a Stevenson player recovered at the 3.
Game over.
A gut-wrenching end to a wonderful season.
Harley-Hampton still can’t believe he fumbled.
“I never fumble in clutch situations,” he said. “I didn’t even know I fumbled until I saw all of the Stevenson players jumping around and celebrating. I was shocked.”
Sports can be cruel. That’s a difficult pill to swallow for any athlete, much less a 17-year-old. Some don’t recover from such a difficult moment, wrongly placing the blame entirely on their shoulders.
Let me say this: Without Harley-Hampton, H-F isn’t playing in the 8A state championship game. Along with his twin Devonte, the duo piled up approximately 4,000 all-purpose yards.
One of the first teammates to approach Harley-Hampton was offensive lineman Desmond Bland.
“I told him I felt his pain,” Bland said. “I didn’t want him to beat himself up. Him and his brother carried us to the state championship game.”
H-F didn’t become the state champion, but Harley-Hampton has handled the adversity like one.
“My father told me to keep my head up and keep working hard,” Harley-Hampton said.
He’s worked harder than ever during the offseason.
He admits to having watched tape of the play a few times — but not for the reasons you might expect.
“I generally watch film only of games we lose,” he said. “It makes me improve my running style and helps me get better. “
The last thing opponents want to see is a more skilled Harley-Hampton.
H-F coach Craig Buzea isn’t the least bit surprised at how well his prized player has handled the adversity.
“He has things in perspective,” Buzea said. “There was 55 seconds left, and all we needed was a first down, but what makes him the athlete he is, is that he wanted to score. He’s never satisfied. That’s who he is.”
Harley-Hampton is aware he’s likely to receive some trash-talking from opponents during the season.
He’s fine with that.
“I’m ready for it,” he said. “Let them talk. I’ll just have to prove them wrong.”
Twitter @disabato
