WELLINGTON – Keyshawn Winder had at least one signature moment in his junior season at Palm Beach Central.
For the de facto District 10-8A title game against Palm Beach Gardens in Week 10, the 6-foot-2, 185-pound defensive back stepped in front of a receiver and grabbed a key interception in the second quarter.
This play set up an easy 18-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Anarjahe Douriet to now-Florida State wide receiver Bryan Robinson, which ultimately led to a 7–0 lead and eventual 28-14 win.
In the district title game, Winder had 3 pass breakups, 2 tackles, 1 forced fumble and the interception.
“It was my biggest play of the season,” Winder said. “I’ll say the interception because it turned the whole game around. We scored right after it.”
In 6 games as a starter, Winder finished the season with 31 tackles, 5 pass breakups, 3 interceptions (2 pick-sixes), and 1 forced fumble for Palm Beach Central. His pair of interceptions for touchdowns came in consecutive games – Week 8 against Forest Hill in a 41-21 win and Week 9 against Jupiter in a 42-13 win.
“As a junior, I came to Central as a transfer,” said Winder, who played for Royal Palm Beach as a sophomore in 2018. “I started off second string, and I faced an injury during the season. But I fought adversity to get back out there. And then Coach [Scott Littles] believed in me to start me against Forest Hill, and I caught my first interception. After that, I had two more in a row.”
Since his junior season ended, Winder has been on the workout grind. He conditions himself 5 days per week by utilizing an array of drills to perfect his technique, while also lifting weights 4 days per week.
All of this has parlayed into Winder receiving his first offer from Graceland, which he earned on June 12.
“I’m honestly blessed because I’ve been overlooked for so long,” Winder said. “It feels good someone finally sees something in me playing at the next level, and it’s also a goal I accomplished.”
With the help of Littles getting his name out there to colleges, Winder has also received interest from 13 other institutions. They include the likes of Columbia, Hampton, Bethune-Cookman, Findlay, Ave Maria, and Keiser, to name just a few.
“Coach Littles is a great coach,” Winder said. “He always taught me to fight adversity. He wants me to become a leader and take pride in what I do.”
Now that his upcoming senior season could be getting closer to a start date – the FHSAA recently voted to approve all schools to start practicing on August 24 – Winder has aspirations to take his game to the next level.
“My individual goal is to become leader on the team and have great stats,” Winder said. “I want to do better than last year. As for my team goal, I want us to go all the way to states, one game at a time.”
PHOTO CREDITS: Gene Nardi
