Yukica Profile: Devin Wood

By rbrown
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Updated: June 16, 2020

NOTE: The 2020 Joe Yukica New Hampshire Chapter of the National Football Foundation Scholar/Athlete banquet was cancelled this year because of COVID-19. Each Scholar/Athlete will be recognized with a commemorative program, a plaque and a personal profile that will appear in the program, on the New Hampshire Football Report, the Joe Yukica/New Hampshire Chapter web site (joeyukicafootballfoundation.org) and the Joe Yukica/New Hampshire Chapter Facebook page. This is one in a series of 39 profiles. Once published, each profile can be accessed by clicking on the athlete’s name at the bottom of the page.

DEVIN WOOD
Merrimack High School

No one can question Devin Wood’s dedication to the Merrimack High School football team. Not after what he did during the months that led up to his senior season.

Wood suffered a back injury midway through his junior year, but he did what he could to not let it interfere with his preparation for his final season of high school football.

“He wasn’t able to do anything from I think late February until July,” Merrimack coach Kip Jackson said. “So the injury was pretty serious, but during that time period he never missed anything football-related. He still came to all the workouts, all the meetings, all the 7-on-7s. He was driving us crazy because he wanted to do stuff, but he was there to be with his teammates and to be a leader. I think it really sent a message to his teammates about how much it mattered to him.

“By the time he was cleared we felt pretty good about him having a great season.”

Wood, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound wide receiver and defensive back, did have a great season. He caught 57 passes for 1,271 yards and 18 touchdowns as a senior, when he also had four interceptions. He was a Division I West First Team All-Conference selection, and was also picked to participate in the CHaD New Hampshire East/West All-Star Game.

Those accomplishments, plus his academic achievements, earned Wood the Scholar/Athlete Award from the Joe Yukica New Hampshire Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame.

Wood, who served as a team captain last season, will continue his football career at Saint Anselm College in the fall.

“I think his competitiveness is one of the reasons he was able to make so many big plays for us over the last couple years,” Jackson said. “If there was a jump-ball situation with him on offense or defense, he was going to come down with the ball — he just was. All of his teammates knew it, and I think our opponents knew it also.

“He’s quiet, but he has an intensity to him. He made huge strides each of three years.”

Wood is one of three Merrimack players who received the Scholar/Athlete Award this year, joining Jared Dyer and Zach Twardosky. Jackson said all three were heavily involved in community service.

“Any time we were going to do community service it’s great that your best players who are also your best students are the first ones to sign up,” Jackson said. “Whenever there was a function and Merrimack football had to be represented, those are kids we knew we could send there and there would be no issues and they would make us proud.”

Q and A with Devin Wood

Q: Please describe the most memorable moment of your high school football career.

A: The most memorable moment from my high school football career was beating Nashua North in the playoffs my junior year. The weather was terrible and the field was a mess and the whole game was a dog fight. I’ll never forget that game.

Q: Tell us about someone who has had a significant influence on your life.

A: Someone who had a significant influence on my life is Coach Jackson. Coach Jackson is the person I respect most in this world because he doesn’t care about what you do on the field. He cares most about what you do off the field and the man you’re going to become later in life. Even after the football season ended he still took the time to send me a text here and there to check up on me and see how I was doing. That means a lot.

Q: What is your favorite subject in school and why?

A: My favorite subject in school is math because it has always come easy to me and it’s the class I do best in.

Q: What life lessons have you learned from football?

A: One of the life lessons I learned through football is that you have to be able to put people ahead of you first, and to care about others. It has also taught me discipline, hard work, respect, how to work as a team, and to never give up.

Q: What is your dream job?

A: My dream job is to make it to the NFL or CFL one day.

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2020 Scholar/Athletes: Keith Albergo (Winnacunnet), Thatcher Allen (Exeter), Cole Ames (Lebanon), Mason Belsky (Windham), Patrick Brust (Bishop Brady), Jaedon Cliche (Exeter), Riley Desmarais (Windham), Bobby DiCicco (Windham), Jared Dyer (Merrimack), Casey Gladu (Portsmouth), Owen Gormley (Salem), Jack Grogan (Bedford), Steven Guerette (Bow), Evan Haskins (Pelham), Samson Hodges (Milford), Ethan Holt (Bishop Guertin), Jack Jones (Bedford), Charlie Kneissl-Williams (Bedford), Hunter Lassard (St. Thomas), Joseph Lupo (Bishop Guertin), Jake MacInnis (Pinkerton), Braden McDonnell (Nashua South), Will MacLean (St. Thomas), Hayden Moses (Bishop Guertin), Riley Mulvey (Salem), Kyle O’Connor (Nashua South), Nolan Pafford (Portsmouth), Wade Rainey (Lebanon), Ismael Rivera (Bishop Brady), Oceanne Skoog (Newfound), Caleb Smith (Lebanon), Rolando Sylvain-Stott (Newfound), John Thibault (Trinity), Zach Twardosky (Merrimack), Gavin Urda (Milford), Carter Vedrani (Campbell), Jacob Wenger (Trinity), Jon Willeman (Lebanon) and Devin Wood (Merrimack).