TUSCOLA — Five years ago, Zach Henderson was struggling to get noticed on Jim Ned’s seventh-grade “C” team — a squad that is listed behind the “A” and “B” teams on the middle school depth chart. 

It is not unheard of for former “C” teamers to eventually work their way onto varsity rosters and contribute. But it is a genuine rarity for them to become standouts.

Henderson, through a combination of hard work and a physical transformation courtesy of genetics, has achieved exactly that. And heading into the 2020 season, a player few believed could ever be productive at the varsity level, now stands as one of the top Class 3A receiving prospects in the Big Country.