Westfield High School senior offensive tackle Ryan Barker made his presence felt throughout his two years as a starter.
“He has protected two different styles of (quarterbacks) the last two years as we have a 19-6 record with Ryan as our left tackle,” Shamrocks football coach Jake Gilbert said. “He is great in pass protection and is a very good athlete. Ryan is physical and plays with a chip on his shoulder.”
Barker protected senior quarterback Jackson Gilbert, Gilbert’s son, this past season. In 2022, Cole Ballard, now a University of Kansas freshman quarterback, was the Shamrocks’ starter.
“They were fairly similar in how they played, but Cole was a little more of a runner,” Barker said. “Both were great leaders and great players.”
The 6-foot-5, 245-pound Barker, who has a grade point average above 4.0, has offers from NCAA Division 1-AA Football Championship Subdivision schools Butler University and University of Dayton. Those schools don’t offer athletic scholarships, but Barker wants to keep playing.
Run blocking is Barker’s favorite part of his position.
“That’s where you get to truly dominate the person across from you,” he said. “Pass protection is more of a dance. But I enjoy doing both.”
Barker said he worked on his footwork because he is lighter than many of his opponents. He said Hamilton Southeastern’s outside linebacker Evan Sherrill was the toughest opponent to block.
Barker said his biggest improvement this season was in developing his leadership skills.
“I have always been a guy that led by example,” he said. “I challenged myself to lead more. I think it helped out the team.”
The Shamrocks finished 11-2, losing 38-31 in double overtime to Crown Point Nov. 17 in the Class 6A semistate. Crown Point (13-1) lost to Ben Davis in the state championship. Westfield’s other loss was against Brownsburg (9-1), which lost to Ben Davis in the sectional opener.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever get over the disappointment that we could have gone back to the state (final),” Barker said. “It took a couple days to sink in that we actually lost and weren’t practicing on Monday.”
Westfield lost to Center Grove in the 6A state championship games in 2021 and 2020.
Barker said the seniors focused on building relationships with the younger players.
“We were trying to improve the culture as a whole,” he said.
On the freshman team, Barker played on the offensive and defensive lines before being switched full-time to the offensive line after that season.
Barker played on the junior varsity his sophomore season, which was cut short by a concussion.
Mostly healthy the past two seasons, Barker said he wants to add weight to play in college. He plans to major in business.
Favorite athlete: Quenton Nelson
Favorite subject: Math
Favorite movie: “Untold: Swamp Kings,” docuseries on the University of Florida football team
Favorite musician: Tory Lanez
