Water Valley's Canon Wiese named All-West Texas Six-Man MVP

It wasn’t exactly what he wanted for his senior season, but the 2021 Standard-Times All-West Texas Six-Man Football Most Valuable Player isn’t dwelling on what could have been.

More: 2021 All-West Texas Six-Man Football Team

After his impressive season was cut short with an injury in the Wildcats’ next-to-last playoff game, Water Valley High School’s Canon Wiese is focused on helping his basketball team return to the playoffs. He recently came back from the collarbone injury to join the lineup.

"It felt amazing," said Wiese about getting back into action. "I didn’t feel any pain. I've just got to get back in shape. Because I was gassed."

He plans to run track. There’s no senior-itis for the college degree-bound farm kid who will have already earned 33 credit hours when he starts at Angelo State University in the fall.

But as the postseason awards have come his way, it has given Wiese time to reflect on a season that was Water Valley’s best since 2012.

“I’m satisfied with the effort I put in, but I’m not satisfied with the way it turned out,” said Wiese, whose absence from the lineup against May changed the complexion of the game pitting the No. 4 Wildcats against the No. 1 May Tigers. “I’d do anything to get that back.”

Canon blasted for 1,931 yards and 47 touchdowns on 165 carries in helping Water Valley to the third round of the playoffs before the Wildcats fell to two-time state finalist May. He also completed 16-of-21 passes for 353 yards and nine TDs and caught six passes for 85 yards and a score.

At linebacker and defensive end, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Wiese tallied 60 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 18 tackles for loss and had three interceptions.

“He works so hard,” said Water Valley head coach Nathan Hayes, who watched as Wiese gradually climbed into the starting lineup by the end of his sophomore year. “So we knew right then and there, coming into his junior year he was going to be a great kid.”

Behind a powerful offensive line and the hard-running capabilities of Wiese, Hayes committed to a more ground-oriented offensive attack in 2020.

That was a change for the coach, who had led teams at his previous stops to state titles with a more pass-oriented strategy. Coming into his junior year in 2020, Wiese was going to be the focal point for the next two years.

“He has been Water Valley football for us,” Hayes said. “We built everything around him. I was an air-it out-guy, throw first and run later coach. The first year here, halfway through the season, it was just not working, so we said let’s run the football. Let’s run the football and keep running it. It was a good philosophy for us and it worked.”

Even though the Wildcats started the 2020 season with two canceled games due to COVID issues, Wiese rushed for 2,077 yards and 36 TDs, leading the team to a 4-0 district championship and a first-round playoff win.

He did not hit the 2,000-yard mark as a senior. Partly because of missing his final game but also because the Wildcats were so dominant in the second year of the offensive system, there were a lot of games over by halftime or shortly after.

Even though there were high hopes and high expectations going into 2021, Wiese said the momentum didn’t really start going until Week 3 against Garden City.

“The first couple of games, it wasn’t as good as we wanted to play,” Wiese said. “But with Garden City, we picked it up and followed through with Westbrook and kept progressing over the season.”

The win over Westbrook – the team that ended up winning it all in December – combined with the wins over Garden City and Borden County, forced Water Valley into the conversation of potential state champs.

After winning a second consecutive undefeated district championship, the Wildcats opened the playoffs with mercy-rule shortened wins over Gorman and Lometa. Wiese injured his collarbone when being tackled on a sweep against Lometa. The defender twisted him around and landed on his shoulder.

Wiese knew it was hurt but didn't realize how badly. He even threw a TD and ran for another after the injury because it didn't hurt all that badly in the moment. By the next week, he couldn't suit up without pain.

Typically, coaches don't openly speculate about how the outcome of a game could have changed because of an injury. But in the case of the Wildcat running back, it was not difficult for Hayes to verbalize, "What if?"

"Not very often does a coach look back like that. But if he played in that football game, I think it’s a different story. And I think it's a different story the next week, and maybe we're playing in the state championship.

"Canon breaks a lot of tackles," Hayes continued. "It's hard to single out one player, but in all my years of coaching, Canon Wiese is the best running back I ever coached. What Canon brings to the table, we missed him offensively a lot. We knew we were going to miss him there, but he did a lot on defense for us, and he was a great lead blocker. I'd like to see it played with both teams healthy."

Is football truly over for Wiese, whose size makes some observers think the athlete could have a shot at competing in 11-man football at the collegiate level?

"I’ve thought about it a little," Wiese said. "All my friends and peers told me I need to try, but I'm just not sure about it. I honestly would really like to do it, but I just don't know. Football is just so much fun. I don't know if I can get away from it."

He has been picked to play in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes All-Star game, which is an 11-man game, as well as two six-man all-star games. He could opt to play in the FCA game and one of the six-man games, the coach said.

"Not every kid you coach every year has got size and strength and ability to play at that next level, but in looking at Canon, he has that capability. He just needs an opportunity. It's hard to find that kind of heart and work ethic."

Amy McDaniel is a multimedia sports journalist. Send news tips to amy.mcdaniel@gosanangelo.com. Consider supporting West Texas journalism with a subscription to GoSanAngelo.com.

This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Water Valley's Canon Wiese named All-West Texas Six-Man MVP