Years of experience helped Roberto Townsend become a pretty fine basketball player.
His natural athleticism helped him become an outstanding football player.
And now the Cardinal Dougherty High School senior is using both sports to guide his way to college.
Townsend, an honor student, has been a member of the Cardinals basketball team since his freshman year. Growing up in Olney, he spent just about every day perfecting his skills and putting his athleticism on display.
Then, during his sophomore year, he was talking to a couple of the big guns on Dougherty’s football team. Their plea changed Townsend’s life forever.
"The linemen were talking to me and they said they needed a few skill guys, a few wide receivers," Townsend recalled. "I only played one year of football growing up, but they told me they had enough linemen to win, they just needed a few fast guys.
"I told them I’d help them out," Townsend continued. "They’re all my friends, and they told me they needed someone. I hadn’t planned on going out, but I just decided to come out and see if I could help."
He caught on immediately.
Literally.
As a junior, he led the Cardinals with 259 receiving yards. Three of his 15 catches went for scores.
Problem was that it did little to help the team win. Dougherty lost its first 10 games of the year and finished with just one win.
Still, it was an improvement — the Cardinals football program had dropped 30 straight games before beating Kennedy-Kenrick on Thanksgiving.
While his football teammates headed for the weight room and the offseason, Townsend headed for Dougherty’s gym. As a key member of the basketball team, he helped coach Mark Heimerdinger’s squad win the Catholic League Northern Division crown and advance to the semifinals.
When hoops season ended, Townsend went to work in the weight room. The sweat and toil paid off. In his second year of organized football, Townsend took a huge step, once again leading Dougherty in receiving yards. He also scored six touchdowns, contributed nearly 500 yards of total offense and picked off two passes while playing defensive back.
Dougherty won three games. That hadn’t happened in five years.
Townsend capped off his Dougherty athletic career with a basketball campaign that included a 14-0 record in the Northern Division and yet another trip to the Catholic League semifinals.
All in all, Townsend had a lot to be happy about.
"I think, honestly, I’m happier about what I did in football," said Townsend, who was named to All-Catholic squads in both football and basketball during his senior year. "Football is hard. At Dougherty, the basketball team was known, everyone knows how good the basketball team here is. But the football team had a lot to prove; we had to show everyone we could play.
"To win three games after winning just one the year before, I think that meant a whole lot to me," he said. "Football was kind of something I did just for fun and to help my friends out. But now that I did it, I’m really glad I did. It’s something I’ll be proud of forever."
All winter, Townsend has received interest from colleges. Most of the calls have been from Division 2 and 3 basketball teams. Their hope is that the electrifying 6-foot-3, 185-pounder will bring his dazzling dunks and athletic prowess to their school.
A few schools are looking for more. They’ve asked Townsend if he’d like to continue playing two sports.
"That would be something," he said. "College sports are hard, but I’m lucky because I’m coming out of a school that works you hard. Our football practices were rough, you never got a break. And in basketball, we worked hard, we were in shape. I think I could do it.
"A lot of it depends," he continued. "I’m very interested in playing both, but first I want to find the perfect school. Then I’ll worry about what sport I’ll play."
On the academic side, there is doubt about what he’d like to do for a living.
"I definitely want to study sports management," he said. "I love everything about sports. You know I love playing them, but I love watching them, I love all aspects of sports. Sports management has a lot of things I could do." oo
Joe Mason can be reached at joemason70@hotmail.com