Dawson Witherspoon’s bedroom isn’t decorated with the rock band and star athlete posters that most high school seniors prefer. Then again, most high school seniors haven’t rushed for 1,343 yards and 17 touchdowns in six games. 

Two flags hang on either side of the bed. The one on the left says, “Jesus is King.” The one on the right gives the definition of discipline. Jacque Bowers, who just poked her head in the room, reads it aloud.

“The practice of doing what needs to be done, even if you do not want to do it,” Bowers recites. “Following one’s conduct and consciously taking control of your own personal choices, decisions, actions and behavior.”

Bowers has known Witherspoon since he and her son, Ryder, began elementary school flag football together. Dawson’s father, David, coached the team and was buddies with Ryder’s father, Bryan. Jacque saw glimpses back then that Dawson was mature for his age. For starters, he played two grades up because he was bigger than most kids. His manners around adults were excellent. But he was also quieter, like more thoughts were swirling through his head than he was ready to let you in on. 

Dawson moved in with the Bowers family at the beginning of his and Ryder’s junior year, and, piece by piece, he has allowed them to enter his world. At first, he was reluctant to ask for basic necessities because he didn’t want to overstep his bounds. He even tried to deny Jacque from buying him new school clothes, saying it wasn’t important what he wore. But from that first night when Ryder slept on a cot next to his best friend’s bed and they drove to school together the next morning, Dawson was part of the family. 

That’s why this senior season, where Dawson is averaging 223.8 yards per game, where every time he touches the ball feels like it could go the distance, is so fun for her. With each touchdown run, she watches the Mount Vernon fans become as invested in Dawson’s story as she is. A select group has begun holding up purple spoons every time Dawson takes a handoff, a play on the team colors and Dawson’s last name. During the pregame flag and tunnel crew duties a couple weeks back, Jacque and Brian noticed an older man wearing a Mount Vernon shirt with “Witherspoon” and the No. 10 on the back of it.

“Who is that?” Jacque asked. “Somebody in his family I don’t know?” 

“No, I think that’s just a random fan,” Bryan said.

The Mount Vernon contingent is getting behind a kid who lost so many in his corner.  

Dawson’s father, David Witherspoon, passed away from a sudden heart attack on December 30, 2023. He left behind a son whose quiet demeanor forced him to ruminate on questions no 16-year-old should have to ask. 

“I was so upset, like, ‘Why me? Why this? Why now?’” Dawson said. “And I just leaned toward the Bible, and it helped me through a lot of situations.”

Because in those moments when the loss of life threatened to overwhelm his own, Dawson sat in his bedroom staring up at the two flags - “Jesus is King” and “Discipline” - which held the answers to all his questions.

“His life gave him every opportunity to go the wrong way, and he chose to go the right way and make the best out of a bad situation,” Mount Vernon assistant coach Tom Kailey said. 

Dawson loves football because his father loved it as well. David introduced him at the age of four and was his first coach, the one who saw his future as a running back. 

“I was a quarterback for a bit, and then they realized I couldn’t throw,” Dawson said. 

When his parents divorced and Dawson moved 15 minutes away from Mount Pleasant to Mount Vernon at 12, football gave David opportunities to connect with his son. He never missed a game or a pregame pump-up text. In fact, David rarely missed a practice, even when Dawson got to high school. 

Dawson made the varsity squad as a freshman and served as the primary backup to Makenzie McGill II, now at North Texas. Heading into his sophomore year, the 2023 season, Dawson and his teammates were acutely aware that fans thought they’d suffer a down year. McGill was off to college, and three sophomores were slated to start on the offensive line. The young crew used that doubt as motivation for a breakout campaign. Dawson rushed for 1,629 yards and 25 touchdowns. Mount Vernon made it to the second round of the playoffs, falling to eventual state champion Malakoff. 

Looking back, Dawson is thankful for that season not for the individual success, but because it was the last one his father saw from the stands. David sees this senior year run, too. He just has a different seat.

“I just know he was a very proud dad,” Dawson said. “I loved how I balled out, and he was able to see it. I know he’s still watching me.” 

After David’s death, Dawson floated between friends' houses, estranged from his mother, who lived with a boyfriend in the Dallas area. That’s when the Bowers family arranged for him to live with them for his junior year. But while they got the house ready, Dawson moved in with the Kailey family for the summer. 

Tom Kailey was first introduced to Dawson on the football team. He was the assistant secondary coach, but he still saw how mature and polite the young running back was. When Dawson first started dating his daughter, Avery, he was terrified to tell Coach. But Tom wasn’t about to give Dawson a hard time. Frankly, he was relieved Avery had found such a good person to be around. 

That’s why the family didn’t think twice about letting Dawson live with them. It didn’t just feel like the right thing to do; it felt like the obvious thing to do. Plus, it gave Tom a chance to show off his secret talent - he can grill a mean steak. But the camaraderie around the table nourished Dawson more than the food.

“Family meals were great,” Dawson said. “I just love eating there. It was so good. The steak, all the salads, it was delicious, man.”

Tom’s favorite part of having Dawson stay over was having a front-row seat to see how respectfully he treated Avery. 

“They’d go out to the truck and he’s opening her door,” Tom said. “When he’s at our house, he’s always willing to take our dogs out for a walk. Before we know it, he’s taking out the trash. He does a lot of things without being asked.” 

After an offseason dealing with the toughest off-field adversity, Dawson was ecstatic to start his junior football season. But tough luck invaded his sanctuary, too. Dawson tore his PCL in a preseason practice and missed the first four games of the season. When he returned, he ran with a clunky knee brace and a shoulder injury that would require surgery. He finished that season with 650 yards, a solid season for most, but less than half of what he’d put up as a sophomore. His struggles mirrored those of the Mount Vernon team, which finished 2-8, marking the first losing season since 2015. 

Life had once again placed a challenge at his feet that, combined with the loss of his father, could’ve broken him. But his father’s death had forced Dawson to turn to God. The valley was so deep he had to dive deeper into the Bible. Had these injuries happened in his freshman or sophomore year, he might not have had the tools to climb out. Now, staring at the two flags above his bed, he did. 

“No matter what situation you’re going through, there’s always something greater to hold yourself accountable to,” Dawson said. “Keep rocking out and playing what you want to. If it’s football, basketball, track or whatever. Just keep doing what you want to do.” 

Mount Vernon head coach Clayton George resigned after the season, and Travis McClain was hired from Bogota Rivercrest in January. After coaches like Kailey filled him in on what Mount Vernon’s star running back had been through, McClain called Dawson into his office for the first of many one-on-one meetings. They rarely talked about football.

“He kept it real,” Dawson said. “He sat me down in his office and asked me all of these questions, like, ‘What do you need? What can I do to help you?” That just shows me how good of a guy he is outside of football.”

It’s not fair to say Dawson has developed trust issues over his high school career. He has a difficult time trusting people because those he has trusted have left him. But over the offseason, McClain was able to break down the walls Dawson rightfully erected. Now, Dawson is running through brick walls for him. 

“As a pure-vision, God-given ability in terms of patience and explosivity, Dawson’s the best running back that I’ve ever coached on a team,” McClain said.

Which should translate to colleges banging down his door with scholarship offers. But Dawson has none yet. He has put himself in a position to achieve his dream of playing college football, but forces outside his control are affecting him, as they have so much of his life.

Junior year is the most vital for a high school kid’s recruitment. The college calendar has shifted to a December Signing Day. Now, more kids enroll early for spring semester, which speeds up the commitment process. By this time, many colleges have filled their spots. And even if they have openings, they don’t have nearly as much time to evaluate senior tape during the season as they did junior tape during the offseason. The addition of the transfer portal and redshirt rules, which allow college athletes to preserve a year of eligibility after playing four games, has created a roster glut, making it more challenging for high school players to sign on. 

The junior year injuries didn’t put Dawson a step behind; they put him 30 steps behind.

Still, his dynamic senior season has colleges paying increasing attention. Multiple have DM’d him on social media and invited him out for a gameday visit. But schools look to each other’s offer sheets for confirmation, and offering a 5-foot-10 running back from a Class 3A school who doesn’t have any is putting their necks on the line. 

“There’s a dance floor, and Dawson is the belle of the ball, but everybody is afraid to be first,” McClain said. 

This recruiting world, where a text doesn’t mean a visit invite and a visit doesn’t always mean an offer and an offer doesn’t always mean it’s commitable, is difficult for any high school senior to navigate, much less one who’s been through what Dawson has. He doesn’t know which schools are sending a generic message to reach out, and which actually want him. It all can feel so murky, but Dawson has a clear vision through it.

“God has a plan for me wherever I play,” Dawson said. “Wherever I do choose to go play, I’m going to ball out. They’re going to come to me eventually, right?”

He poses it as a question, but there is no doubt in his mind. Because when he tells his story, he sometimes can’t believe how far he’s come. God brought him out of the darkest valley, and the only place to go is up. 

“I think Dawson’s a superstar in the making, fill in the blank of whatever it is,” McClain said. “Is it football? Is it entrepreneurial? Is it academics? Is it business? I think Dawson is so goal-oriented that he’s a superstar in the making.”