The wide receiver caught a quick screen pass and turned upfield, but was met full speed by a pair of hard-hitting shoulder pads. Alex Wilson, a freshman at the time, leveled the wideout behind the line of scrimmage during his first play as a safety.

Since then, Wilson, who is now a junior, has taken most of his reps at safety and become one of the best safeties in MCAL as a result. He has demonstrated his abilities on the field by intercepting four passes in five games.

Wilson began his high school football career as a quarterback, but constantly badgered his coaches for a shot to play defense. When they finally obliged, he made the most of his opportunity.

“Since I was playing quarterback when I was a freshman, they didn’t want want me to play defense because they were afraid that I would get hurt,” Wilson said. “After I nagged them a lot they finally let me play safety on defense. Since then, it is where I have spent most of my time.”

Wilson aims to play football at the next level, but acknowledges that competing with other college football prospects is a daunting task that isn’t going to be easy.

“I wake up every day at 5:30 a.m. to go to the gym and workout,” Wilson said. “After school, I even try to get a workout in before practice.”

During the football offseason, Wilson doubles down as a basketball player, and will run track later this year as well.

“I try to keep myself busy with sports so that I can stay in top shape,” Wilson said.

According to Wilson, his initial inspiration was the consistent positive reinforcement of his mom, but watching Alex Kosinski and Jake Curhan work to get recruited pushed him to work even harder.

“[Curhan] has played a big role in helping me get recruited,” Wilson said. “He has introduced me to multiple coaches, such as Jacob Peeler at Cal and one of the coaches at Duke. He even took me to the Cal game against San Diego State and I got to talk to the players and coaches before the game.”

Curhan said he resonated with Wilson’s situation as a junior attempting to get recruited.

“I felt the same way he did when I was a junior,” Curhan said. “Every time a coach would come by to talk to [Kosinski] I would make sure to introduce myself. Now that he is in the same position I want to help him get as much attention as possible.”

Wilson said that seeing Curhan get recruited and ultimately choose Cal has made his goals seem attainable.

However, Wilson remains set on turning around the Redwood football program so that they can end their postseason drought and finally have a winning record.

“I’m willing to put in whatever it takes to have a winning season,” Wilson said. “This year we need to play as a team rather than a bunch of individuals. We need every player going 100 percent on every play, even if they aren’t the one who will make the tackle.”

According to Curhan, Wilson has stepped up and become one of the best safeties in MCAL.

“[Wilson] has really focused on his ball skills and reading the quarterback’s eyes,” Curhan said. “That’s why he has four picks this year through five games, which is incredible.”

Wilson added that he wants to break the MCAL record for interceptions.

“I had two [interceptions] against Terra Linda, as well as one each against Maria Carrillo and Mission,” Wilson said. “It would be cool to go down in the record books in MCAL even though it will be a difficult task.”

Along with his prominence at the safety position, Wilson contributes on the offensive side of the ball as a wide receiver.

Alex poses a unique threat as someone who can catch the ball deep down the field, according to junior quarterback Trevor Foehr.

“Whenever the play breaks down, I can always look down the field and find [Wilson],” Foehr said. “He is always open down the field and he is a big target with very good hands.”

Jesse Petersen, a junior offensive lineman, noted that Wilson’s motivation has helped him develop into a skilled safety.

“It seems like he is always in the right spot to make a play and usually does,” Petersen said. “He is really motivated to contribute to the team so that we can come out with a win.”

Curhan added that he hopes Wilson will be one of many more high school players from Marin to play college football.

“It’s nice to see a pipeline develop out of Marin,” Curhan said. “Obviously it started with guys like Jared Goff, Morgan Mahalak, Manny Wilkins, and Andrew Celis. Now that guys like me and [Kosinski] are going to play Division-1 football, I hope that college coaches will pay more attention to MCAL football, because it is a high-level conference.”

Wilson has the potential to be a very good player, according to Curhan.

“If he continues to put in the work that he has been, he could definitely make it at the next level,” Curhan said. “If he keeps putting together highlight reel plays, his tape could definitely jump out to a number of college coaches.”

The football team has put up back-to-back wins by large margins, amassing a total of 93 points in their last two games en route to a 3-2 record. They will look to get one step closer to the postseason this Saturday in their homecoming game against a sturdy San Marin squad.

Wilson attributed their recent three-game winning streak to the increased chemistry.

“A lot of us have been playing together for a number of years,” Wilson said. “Now that all of us are on varsity, we are starting to piece it together.”

According to Wilson, expectations for their season are at an all-time high.

“Our players are much more motivated this year,” Wilson said. “Now that guys like Nick [Calzaretta] and Enzo [Tallerico] are healthy, this team could be the best team Redwood has had in awhile, and hopefully it will show on the field. I think we have the potential to win out.”