Riley Wormley, Southlake Carroll running back, makes 'surreal' debut after regaining eligibility
The moment took a lot longer than he planned, but Riley Wormley finally found the end zone in a Southlake green-and-white uniform.
The transfer from neighboring Colleyville Heritage got to play in his first game after UIL overturned a previous ruling in August that deemed him ineligible and rushed for more than 100 yards and a score in a 56-10 win over Keller on Thursday.
The news broke last week — though that was the Dragons’ bye week — and he made his debut.
He had a seven-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that made it 49-0 and pointed his finger toward the sky after hitting the end zone. On the drive, he accounted for all 91 yards for the Dragons, which included a 64-yard run that got the ball in the red zone.
Then, head coach Riley Dodge came down near the sideline to hug the running back,
“It was great to be able to talk with him right after that,” said the three-star recruit. “He was talking to me and saying ‘I love you, man’ He’s just great. It felt great.”
DELAYED START
It has been a roller-coaster ride of emotions this year for Wormley. He transferred school districts in the spring and learned in August his transfer was blocked by Heritage and that UIL agreed with the decision.
After a lengthy discussion between the school districts and UIL, a rare reversal was granted to meet his Section 504 accommodations.
“When they changed the ruling it felt great,” he said. “We’ve been working on it for a while. I was talking with my parents when I found out. It was surreal. I finally get to play my junior season, it feels great.”
INTEREST STILL THERE
Despite not playing for the first six weeks of the season, Wormley has still gotten the attention of many schools. He has 10 listed offers on 247Sports and this fall he has made plenty of visits.
Since Aug. 26, he’s been at USC, SMU, TCU, Baylor and Texas and will make another visit to the Longhorns on Saturday.
“It would be a live game for sure,” Wormley said of the Red River Showdown, where teammate Jack Van Dorselaer will be as well on the Texas sideline. “I'm kind of go through to see the process how they do things, the traditions and how the coaches, how it is a family.”
With game film to showcase now, Wormley hopes the interest from other schools — who may have backed off after the initial UIL ruling — will come back.
“I think it will help a little, but I got to keep performing so … expect that a lot.”
He holds offers from OU, TCU, Texas, Arkansas, Charlotte, Kansas, Miami (Ohio), SMU, Texas Tech and UTSA.
Wormley ran 486 yards and seven touchdowns and had 212 receiving yards last year for the Panthers.
His addition will be another weapon for the Dragons, who started with Davis Penn as the leadback this year.
“He’s a great, excellent player,” Van Dorselaer said of Wormley. “I feel our offense is really good and our defense is playing good too. To add him to the mix will really help out the team out for sure. He’s a player that loves the game and it’s really good to have him here.”
-- Cody Thorn | codythorn1981@gmail.com | @sblivetx
