He’s only in his first year with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team but after one season as middle linebacker Richard Zacharias has already shown his aggressive domination on the field.

Racking up 30 individual tackles and 17 assisted takedowns in the 2012 regular season with the Huskies, he sits second on the team with 38.5 total tackles.

“It’s a little bit surprising,” Zacharias said humbly. “It’s something that I aim for but for it to be a reality is cool.”

It’s not much of a surprise, however, if you look at his history in the sport.

Hailing from Hague, Sask., Zacharias played six-man football in high school and was selected to play on Team Saskatchewan in his grade 12 year. After high school he spent four years as a linebacker with the Saskatoon Hilltops in the Canadian Junior Football League, giving him only three years of eligibility with the Huskies. In 2011, his final year with the Hilltops, Zacharias was a team captain and named a conference all-star for his efforts.

Now in his first year studying at university, the tackle-hungry linebacker said it was an exciting transition to join the Huskies and to play at the university level.

“My first chance to play in a university game will always be memorable.

“Growing up as a kid I thought I’d be so lucky to play for the Huskies, and I didn’t always know it would be a reality. So in that first game it kind of hit home for me.”

Zacharias is in the College of Education and intends to become an industrial arts teacher after he graduates. He chose education in part because he hopes to coach high school football when he finishes his playing days.

The linebacker certainly fits in with the rest of the Huskies defence, a large portion of whom enjoy having long, luscious hair.

Zacharias says he hasn’t cut his hair in almost three years, and now it’s nearly 40 centimetres in length.

“It started as a pact,” Zacharias laughed. “A buddy and I said we wouldn’t cut our hair for a year…. Now it’s turned into an obsession and I don’t ever want to cut my hair.”

He figures the trend of long locks among football players on the team comes from watching successful players in the NFL grow out their hair.

“It started with NFL players like Clay Matthews and for some reason some Saskatchewan football players have adopted the look and really relished it.”

Zacharias will join the rest of the Huskies in Regina to take on the Rams in the team’s semifinal playoff game. He says the match will have added intensity for him because he knows so many of the Rams players.

“I know them well and that just makes me want to beat them more,” he said.

“They know me too and it makes the whole game a little more fun.”

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Photo: Josh Schaefer/Huskie Athletics