By Derrick Smith

Throughout everyone’s life, there is someone or even multiple people that make an impact on them. They help shape them into the person who they are and will become. Will Mattocks, who is an athlete at Heritage Hall, says that he has a couple of people in his life that falls into that category. 

“My biggest role model has to be my dad, Larry Mattocks,” Will said. “He is a great person and a great father. I hope I can be like him with my children someday. He is always there whenever I need him. Also, my cousin, Dustin Truman, introduced me to soccer and pushed me to try to become better than him.”

Mattocks is finishing his junior year at Heritage Hall and plays soccer for the Chargers. During his time playing soccer, he has had a lot of memorable moments on the field, but he says that there is one that stands out as his favorite.

“I think the highlight of my career was the header that I made that decision if we went to the playoffs or not.”

When Will and his teammates step out on the field, they are ready to take on whoever the opponent is. But out of all the teams they face, Mattocks has one that he enjoys beating the most. 

“I would say Oklahoma Christian School is my favorite team to beat,” he said. “Mainly because of the many friends I have that go to school there. We all compete really hard to win so when we win it just feels so much better.”

Those teammates that he competes alongside every game are a group of guys that he appreciates. He says that while they all work hard and compete at a high level, he says that there are a couple that stand out for different reasons.

“A teammate I enjoy going against in practice has to be Carter Counts,” Mattocks said. “He never holds back in practices and never has off days when it comes to working hard. We enjoyed friendly battles in practice. The least appreciated player on our team, without a doubt, is Landon Gasty. He might not play in a lot of games but he has a love for the sport that you would never know unless you went to a practice with him. He is a super caring and friendly guy, very easy to talk to, and very trusting. He also will work hard and do the extra stuff no one else will do like get the ball that was kicked down the hill from a player and he will say, “It’s okay, I’ll grab it.”

Outside of playing varsity soccer for the Chargers, Will also plays for OEFC ‘05 White competitive soccer team. He helps with Cleats 4 Kids and is a member of his church’s youth group.