MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Those Apopka boys have been anticipating this West Virginia-Oklahoma game ever since, well, the last one.
KJ Dillon and Ty Darlington, the kind of odd couple Dillon says “they should make a TV show about,” face off as college seniors Saturday. Their last guaranteed meeting and Dillon’s last chance at bragging rights after three straight West Virginia losses.
“We talk about it when we go home at the end of the year and hang out, and I get mad because we didn’t win,” he said.
They became inseparable friends despite Dillon being the self-described “wild child while Ty was man of God, never made a B in his life.”
Back at Apopa High, Darlington used to go by Tyler, until Dillon told him “Nobody likes the name Tyler, so your name is Ty.”
Darlington still calls his friend “KJ Flashy” for the animation and athleticism the West Virginia safety exhibits almost every play he’s around the ball.
During their recruitment, the pair even discussed attending the same college as a package deal.
“That didn’t end up working out, but at least we ended up in the same conference,” said Darlington, whose father Rick coached their high school team.
That led to an awkward dynamic when “Coach D” booted Dillon off the team as a freshman. Dillon walked back in the following spring bent on regaining a roster spot.
“That was me not having any other option and not wanting to go down the wrong road,” Dillon said. “So I was swallowing my pride and saying look, ‘I’m trying to do this.’ And Coach D said, ‘You’re going to have to prove it to me.’”
Dillon wasn’t reinstated to the team initially, forced to go through summer sessions and do extra workouts. “And Ty was right there with me, because he wanted me to be able to play. He knew I didn’t have any other options. He was just like my older brother.”
As Darlington recalled: “KJ almost didn’t make it, because he butted heads with my dad. I tried to give him tips on dealing with my dad, but he was a hot-head. He wouldn’t listen to nobody.”
For the next three years, Dillon channeled his emotions and started alongside Darlington for the proud Apopka program. The pair grew even closer, including a now-infamous story about a boating day when Darlington playfully left Dillon treading water in a lake containing alligators.
There were less frightening times too.
“We started jamming out to music,” Dillon said. “He was real Christian guy and didn’t listen to anything else. I started putting him on old-school Lil Wayne, good music like that. He loved it.
“He started getting a little bit of me in him and I started getting a little him in me. It’s really cool how things clicked together.”
While the players were clicking, Darlington’s dad remained committed to keeping Dillon in line. Even after WVU offered a scholarship, that sentimental movie-script moment between Dillon and Coach D never transpired.
“He’s a straight-forward guy and he’s not going to sit here and reminisce. He’s like. ‘I told you what you were going to have to do, and I told you what I was going to do to help get you there. You’re here now, so don’t mess it up, don’t give me a bad name.’
“He’s going to coach you hard no matter who you are, and me being the person I am I didn’t accept it to begin with. But later on in high school, he turned out to be the guy I looked forward to meeting with and being coached by. He truly helped me become who I am today.”
On Friday night, Dillon and Darlington will be following No. 1-ranked Apopka’s showdown against West Orange, the high school game of the week in the Orlando.
The next day, they’re in the Big 12 game of the week,
Darlington came away from the Sept. 12 win at Tennessee with a knee injury and sat out the Tulsa game a week later. Oklahoma’s bye week allowed enough recovery for Darlington to tweet himself healthy again and Dillon responded.
@K_DILLON20 don’t worry bud I wouldn’t miss a chance to hit you one more time
— Ty Darlington (@TyDarlington56) September 19, 2015
Just Makin sure you not takin the easy way out Brutha lol https://t.co/B0dDSNtgjP — KJ Dillon (@K_DILLON20) September 19, 2015
“I won’t hesitate to hit him, and he knows that,” Dillon cracked.“I was praying he’d be on the field for that game and turns out that he is.”
While center-safety collisions are rare, Dillon expects to do his typical nonstop trash-talking and the Sooners lineman expects to hear it.
“Really, I’m so proud of how far he’s come,” Darlington said, “but he didn’t shut up in high school either.”