No. 27: Highland's Buck personifies toughness in trenches

didn’t waste any time.

As a freshman on the in 2017, Buck made a lasting first impression.

Like many newcomers, he began the initial week of practice as a scout team defender. Potential fodder for the incoming starters.

But it didn’t work out that way.

On his first day, Buck promptly flattened three senior starters with bone-jarring hits that brought a smile to the face of veteran coach Jim Warnecke.

“He put all three of them on the ground like it was nothing,” Warnecke recalled. “Right on their (butts). I thought, 'Maybe I should take a closer look at this kid.’”

No more scout team for the newbie.

Buck’s eye-popping practice debut was a portent of things to come.

Now a 6-foot-3, 295-pound senior, Buck is No. 27 on the Post-Dispatch Super 30 preseason countdown of the area’s top high school senior prospects, and one of the top two-way linemen in the Mississippi Valley Conference.

He parlayed that opening-practice performance into a starting spot at defensive tackle. And Buck has been turning heads on both sides of the ball ever since those initial smackdowns.

“I just looked for the biggest guys and hit them as hard as I could,” Buck said. “I figured that was the best way to get noticed.”

It worked.

Fellow lineman Alim Deva, also a senior, remembers Buck’s performance vividly.

“He was like a tank, crashing into everything that moved,” Deva said.

Buck quickly realized he had to scale down a bit��— at least on his own teammates.

But he never let up against opponents, dominating the trenches from the opening whistle.

“He wants to pancake someone on every play, even now,” Warnecke said. “And that doesn’t stop in practice. For him, it’s nothing personal. When he straps (the helmet) on, he wants to put you into the ground.”

Buck started every game on defense as freshman, helping a stop unit that guided the Bulldogs to the Class 4A state semifinal round before they dropped a 31-14 decision to Rochester. He recorded 60 tackles, fourth on a team that won its first 12 games.

He doubled his duties as a sophomore and junior, moving to right guard on offense. Highland smartly ran its offense behind Buck on the way to scoring 907 points in 23 games over the two-year period.

“He’s just a high-motor guy who sets a great example for the rest of the guys,” Warnecke said.

Buck is a monster in the weight room and has encouraged his teammates to press forward as well.

“Everyone respects him,” Deva said. “He’s not the guy that’s going to quiet down. He’ll push you because he wants to get the best out of you.”

Buck’s leadership skills were never more evident than last season in the Bulldogs’ 42-14 win at Charleston.

He suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee midway through the contest. Despite the pain and shock of a major injury, he refused any assistance in getting off the field.

“He wouldn’t let anyone help him,” Deva said. “He was going to make it off the field on his own no matter what.”

Buck has battled through numerous injuries, including a muscle tear in his other knee and a broken hand. He played through the hand injury and even broke the cast during a contest, yet he kept on going.

Warnecke and a majority of the college coaches who are recruiting Buck believe his future lies on the offensive side of the ball. Western Illinois is the frontrunner. Warnecke is surprised some NCAA Division I power conference schools have yet to show much interest.

“He’s the kind of kid that looks good (on film),” Warnecke said. “But you have to see him in person, watch the whole game, before you can appreciated just how much of an impact he really makes.”

A self-professed “country boy,” Buck is an avid fisherman. His prize catch was a 75-pound blue catfish he reeled in last summer.

Buck took up football at age 5, thanks to his father Jay, who signed him up without telling him.

“The first year or so I didn’t really like it,” Buck said. “Then, as I started getting better, it started getting more fun. Now, I’m not sure what I would do without football.”

For now, Buck is working out in the weight room, adding even more strength to an already chiseled body.

“The athleticism, the talent that he has, there could be no stopping him,” Warnecke said.