Football just makes ‘sense’ to Lake Forest Academy’s Wesley Annan

LAKE FOREST — As a young man growing up in the town of Whitby, Ontario, just outside of Toronto, Wesley Annan first learned to love playing football.

It gave him life.

“There was a field that didn’t irrigate properly. We called it ‘the swamp.’ So you’d get muddy and being a kid, it was most fun you could have,” Annan said. “The day I put on pads, it made so much sense.”

Annan arrived at Lake Forest Academy in 2012. A 6-foot-3, 290-pound sophomore, he started right away on the Caxys’ defensive line. His raw physical strength and size drew immediate attention from college recruiters. The interest intensified in his junior year.

That season, Caxys coach Robin Bowkett said, Annan often played distracted,

“He had to deal with a lot of things. He was doing a lot of thinking on the field,” Bowkett said. “It took a little [while] not to worry about everything and college and just go out and play ball.”

By the spring of 2014, the offers started to roll in. Maryland, Syracuse, Duke, then Illinois came calling.

“It’s hard to find big, athletic guys who can run around and make plays and take on double teams,” Bowkett said.

Annan had options. He knew football was in his future. So this season, his last as a Caxy, he needed to take care of his present.

Even as a junior, Annan’s role on the team went beyond making the lives of offensive linemen miserable. Among teammates, his stirring pregame and halftime speeches are stuff of legend.

“He makes the decision on the coin toss. He’s the team’s vocal leader more than anything else. On LFA, that’s what he’s known for,” senior quarterback Alec Mesrobian said.

Annan added: “I play with a lot of heart. All I want is the guys to care about we do. I’m always in the back talking. I can get long-winded.”

On Saturday, Lake Forest Academy played its final game of the season, hosting Providence. The team trailed 28-7 at halftime. Overtaking the Celtics was unlikely.

Before the team left the locker room, Annan got up to speak. Holding his phone, he read a line of dialogue from the recent film, “Lone Survivor.” It was delivered by a soldier right before a dangerous mission.

“The message I was trying to convey to the guys was no matter what happens, the guys on this team is all you have. As long as you have the energy to lift a finger, you will stay in the fight,” Annan said. “When life punches, punch back.”

Although Lake Forest Academy lost the game, 41-7, the Caxys played with intensity in the second half.

“We have a lot of seniors on this team. All of us took [Annan’s speech] to heart,” Mesrobian said.

As Annan’s leadership and football abilities grow, so does the interest from colleges. Mississippi State and Mississippi — Nos. 1 and 7, respectively, in the AP Top 25 poll — have offered. Annan plans to take his time before making a life-changing decision.

But he’s eager to express gratitude to his teammates, his classmates and his parents, Genevieve and Joseph, with whom he is in touch almost daily. What he might be most grateful for is football, a sport that has given him a past, a present, and now a future.

“I take a step back and like to observe things. It’s been crazy. I never realized I’d get half the stuff I’ve gotten,” Annan said. “I say it’s luck, but everyone says I’ve earned it.”