William Fleming (Roanoke, VA) safety/running back Dwayne Priest may only go 5-9 or 5-10 and weigh about 180 pounds, but he hits with the force of a linebacker. There’s no doubt that Priest is an intimidating force and he makes his presence known in each and every game.

“I’ve never seen a kid hit with the impact that Priest does,” William Fleming head coach Keith Smith said. “He’s a violent tackler. I’ve had a couple coaches watch his highlight tape and they said they’ve never seen a kid with picture perfect form type tackles. And he does it tackle after tackle after tackle. He hits guys right in the mouth. He runs right through them and knocks them back. He does it all the time. I’ve never seen a kid attack all the time the way he does. I don’t care if you’re 140 or 240.”

A big time competitor, Priest has been one of the most important players for Smith over the past three seasons. And not just in football, where he will be a four-year starter and earned second-team all-state honors at defensive back last season. Priest also excels playing point guard for the basketball team. He is a three-year starter in basketball and helped William Fleming to the regional semifinals last season.

“He does whatever we ask him to do,” Smith said. “We move him around and blitz him from different areas. He can play pass coverage. He’s got great feet so he could play corner, but he’s such a great tackler that we play him at strong safety. He’s an impact player. In the six games or whatever we’ve lost over the past few years, I think he didn’t play in three of them if not four. So when he’s not in there it makes a huge difference in our team.”

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