No stopping Tustin's Wilkerson

The play was called to the offense.

When Tustin broke huddle, Anthony Wilkerson and Dakota Lambert had switched positions in the Tillers backfield.

Coach Myron Miller was wondering why.

"They were keying on the right side and blitzing the corner," Wilkerson said. "I knew I could get the guy. The plays before I had beat him real bad. I told Dakota to take this one."

Taylor Richardson  took the snap, handed off to Lambert, who walked in for the score while Wilkerson sealed his block.

"Anthony doesn't care about touchdowns," teammate, linebacker and long-time friend Wade Minshew said. "He's a really caring guy. He's happy to see other guys score."

Wilkerson's dad, William, starts to describe a play from a Pop Warner game.

The opposing running back comes free and heads toward the end zone.

The young linebacker, playing with a frame that hardly resembles the one now, was lined up on the opposite side of the line of scrimmage and broke in pursuit.

"Anthony ran him down from 30 yards and tackled him out of bounds," his father said. "It was just the determination on his part.

"Back then he was kind of chubby and I had no inkling that football would be in his future. But, I applauded the play at the time."

Now 6-foot and 210 pounds, the junior is chasing another target - a CIF championship. The Tillers take on La Habra in the CIF-SS Southwest Division final Saturday at 2 p.m. at Angel Stadium.

Tustin is playing in its first championship game since 1997. The Tillers' only CIF title was in 1948.

"You would like every player to be like Anthony," Miller said. "He's good at everything he does. He gets good grades and he's highly motivated. He's almost too perfect to be true."

Wilkerson hadn't played running back before his freshman season. Wilkerson's mom, Melanie, wanted her son to wait and experience freshman football, though Miller wanted to play him at varsity.

Wilkerson was called up at the end of that year for the playoffs. Last season, Wilkerson rushed for 1,211 yards on 234 carries and nine touchdowns, but the Tillers missed the playoffs for the first time in 13 seasons under Miller when they lost to Brea in the final game of the regular season.

Wilkerson used to be a waterboy for the Tillers when he was 8 and understood the Tustin way before arriving as a student. Wilkerson's brother, Ricky Miller, played for Tustin from 1998-02.

"I remember the look on his face when they lost to Brea," Ricky Miller said. "I was down on the field with him watching Brea celebrate. I told him to remember what it feels like."

Wilkerson listened, working harder than ever, including in the weight room. His coach noticed and in August predicted a breakout season from Wilkerson, who enters Saturday's contest with 2,095 yards on 234 carries and 34 touchdowns.

"Don't ask me how to stop him because I have no answer to that question," said Canyon coach Brent McKee, whose team lost to Tustin twice. "He's the complete package. He has speed, size and vision. He's a special kind of running back."

Wilkerson has a chance Saturday to deliver the school's first CIF title in football in 60 years, but it wouldn't be the first time his family was involved in history.

Wilkerson's uncle, Mike Davis, was on second base ahead of Kirk Gibson's walkoff homer in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. Wilkerson wasn't born yet and first learned of it when he was 7.

He said they don't talk about it, but that his uncle comes to every game and will attend Saturday's final, once again hoping to enjoy the ride home.

"It's a great accomplishment," Wilkerson said of reaching the final. "We knew we had the potential to get here."

Contact the writer: ctobolski@ocregister.com