WOODSTOCK — Hunain Khawaja had never stepped onto a football field until his freshman season at Central. Luckily for the Falcons, he’s a quick learner.
After just three seasons of organized football, Khawaja has emerged as one of the key components on Central’s offensive and defensive lines.
“Over the years, the coaching staff has really helped me,” Khawaja said. “They taught me how to block properly and how to tackle.”
Prior to arriving at Central, Khawaja had only competed in karate and soccer, two sports he learned while living in Japan and Pakistan. The well-traveled lineman says he’s happy to be in Woodstock.
“When I lived in Japan, I lived in Tokyo,” Khawaja said. “It was always very busy and it was always very dark for some reason. Here it’s nice and quiet. It’s pretty nice.”
Karate is Khawaja’s favorite sport and the first one he learned. He also began wrestling as a freshman and quickly made big strides, including a third-place finish at the Group AA state meet at 189 pounds last year.
“I think wrestling is similar to karate in that it’s not a team sport,” Khawaja said. “You don’t have 10 other guys out there with you. I like that.”
Khawaja said that he has surprised himself with how well he’s done at wrestling.
“I didn’t expect to [finish third],” he said. “I had good coaching. I had a lot of family support there and I think that really helped me. I think that gave me confidence and really propelled to do a lot better.”
Khawaja said all sports have one common ingredient.
“I think you have to be mentally tough in any sport,” he said. “I think playing sports makes you tougher mentally.”
On the field, Khawaja has not only been a valuable asset to the Falcons on offense and defense, but also with his leadership.
“He’s usually the first one in the weight room and the last one to leave,” Central coach Mike Yew said. “He’s usually the one that helps the other kids out and gets them going. He’s the first one done in drills. He’s very coachable. he knows what needs to be done and he does it.”
Central started off strong last season, going 3-0, but then lost six of its last seven games once the Northwestern District schedule began.
“I think we learned a lot from last year’s experience,” Khawaja said. “Last year we didn’t have a lot of experience. Now that we have that experience, I’m confident it will really propel this year.”
Central’s offense averaged over 235 yards per game last season, led by Khawaja’s play on the offensive line, but the senior said he is focused on improving his own play.
“I just want to take out some of the mental errors that I had,” Khawaja said. “The costly penalties, things like that.”
Khawaja said he likes playing on both sides of the ball equally. He said wrestling really helped him learn how to stay low on the offensive line.
Playing on the defensive side of the ball presents a different challenge.
“I like defense because you can hold some,” said Khawaja, who was third on the team in tackles last year. “On defense you have your guy in front of you and you just have to react to what they do.”
Khawaja said he isn’t sure if he will try his hand at football or wrestling in college. Right now, he simply wants to enjoy his final season and make the best of it.
“I was thinking about it the other day. It’s like, ‘Oh my God, it’s here,’” he said. “This is my last year and I want to do everything I can to make sure it’s a good one.”
