With UW-Whitewater football starting up and thousands of excited fans, high expectations come from the players. Junior running back Brian Stanton has been a consistent presence in the Warhawks’ backfield since his freshman year. In this year’s season opener, Stanton made a statement, racking up 201 rushing yards, including a 75-yard touchdown, which was one of his two touchdowns on the day. That total already accounts for more than half of his entire rushing yardage from last season.
Now stepping into a larger role on the team, Stanton looks more focused and determined than ever. Head coach Jace Rindahl is excited to see Stanton thrive this year and continue to help the Warhawks win.
“Brian took a lot of strides from his sophomore to junior year, you could tell in just the first game… I’m excited to see him continue to do that this season.” Rindahl said.
With the coach’s support, among many others, Stanton has his sights set on a strong season, and he took some time to talk with Royal Purple about his journey and experience.
Q: What drew you in to attend UW-Whitewater?
A: Really the winning culture. In high school, we weren’t too good of a team, and had a lot of things going wrong. When I got here, it was really the complete opposite. Everybody’s bought in, not one person is playing for themselves. It’s all a team effort. The coaches are really trying to help the players out, so that was really attractive to me coming in here.
Q: What do you want people to know about you?
A: I just like to play football. It’s fun for me, so I’m gonna keep doing it, and giving the team my all. It’s something I’ve been doing ever since I was five years old.
Q: In what ways have you improved compared to previous years?
A: I think my mental game. I didn’t realize how important having a strong mental foundation was until this year. And whether that’s trying to keep other anxieties away, making sure school is in order, anything like that, I do so I can have a clear mental head space once it’s time to get to football.
Q: Through your football career, who are some people who have helped you the most?
A: I would really say my parents and grandparents. They’re the type of people to support me through literally everything. My parents have never missed a game, they’re always showing up, always the person I can lean on whenever I’m going through anything football wise, school wise, working, anything. I could always lean on my parents. They bought me everything to help me get up to this point, and help me be able to even be in college in the first place. I really owe it to them.
Q: What are some of your goals for this upcoming season?
A: First of all, to win the conference. I haven’t done that since I’ve been here. Freshman year we did pretty good, we tied with La Crosse. And then last year, we didn’t end the season how we wanted to. So for this season, win conference, make a really good playoff run, and see what happens from there.
Stanton is ecstatic for this season, his love for football along with his drive for success results in a game-changing presence on the field. The support from teammates, coaches, and family will be substantial methods of fuel for him and his team this season.
