Texas to Westwood and Still Together : UCLA: Henderson and Washington are making an impact on Bruin opponents.

The sun glinted off the helmets of Othello Henderson and Daron Washington as they led the Killeen, Tex., Boys Club football team onto the field.

Jean Henderson and Jo Ann Washington, sitting together in the stands, beamed with pride.

“Don’t the boys look like little men?” Jo Ann Washington said.

Henderson and Washington, who live a couple of miles apart, went to different junior high schools, but they played together at Ellison High in Killeen, where Henderson blocked for Washington as they led the team to an 11-1 record as seniors in 1989.

John Beseda, who coached Henderson and Washington at Ellison, sensed that they were special.

“They were both leaders, right from the start,” Beseda said. “They came up through our feeder system, and the kids always listened to them.”

College recruiters flocked to Killeen, a town of about 60,000 and the home of Ft. Hood, the nation’s largest Army base.

“Recruiters were wild,” Washington said. “Schools would come through to talk to me and then they’d talk to Othello.”

Henderson and Washington have been reunited at UCLA.

“Our mothers have known each other since we were babies,” Henderson said. “It wasn’t like we made a deal to go to the same school. That’s just the way it worked out.”

Although they didn’t plan to attend the same college, Washington chose UCLA over Louisiana State, Nebraska and Texas A&M; after Henderson had made a commitment, selecting UCLA over Notre Dame and USC.

“They grew up together and I kind of figured they would follow each other (to college),” Jo Ann Washington said. “I was glad that Daron went out to L.A. with someone that he knew. It just made me more comfortable.”

Henderson and Washington roomed together only as freshmen two years ago, when Henderson made an immediate impact while Washington redshirted because the Bruins were overstocked at tailback. This season, both have played key roles in helping No. 11-ranked UCLA to a 2-0 start.

A 6-foot, 198-pound junior, Henderson is one of the top free safeties in the nation. Washington, a 6-foot, 203-pound sophomore, is a reserve tailback who has scored three of UCLA’s six touchdowns and is averaging a team-high 7.0 yards per carry.

Henderson, an aggressive hitter in the mold of former UCLA All-American safety Eric Turner, recovered Brigham Young’s fumble of the second-half kickoff to set up what turned out to be the winning touchdown in a 17-10 victory over the Cougars last week.

“He’s going to be a Sunday player one of these days, and I imagine it’ll be pretty quick,” Beseda said.

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Othello Henderson III got his first name because his great-grandparents loved Shakespeare.

“They were English teachers,” Henderson said. “They named my grandfather for Othello and he named my dad Othello.”

Born with a respiratory ailment, Henderson weighed six pounds at birth. Frail as a child, he had to beg his mother to let him go out for the Boys Club football team.

She wanted him to remain in the marching band, where he played the drums. But she relented and Henderson eventually not only became stronger, he became a standout.

A free safety/wingback at Ellison High, he made 82 tackles and intercepted four passes as a senior. He also rushed for 289 yards and scored four touchdowns.

Henderson signed with UCLA after visiting South Bend on a day he said was 25 degrees below zero.

One of four true freshmen to play for the Bruins in 1990, Henderson played in UCLA’s nickel defense. Turner took Henderson under his wing.

“Eric looked after me when I first got here,” Henderson said. “If I was making a mistake, he would correct me.”

Henderson started fast last season after replacing Turner, the second player selected in the 1991 NFL draft. Henderson intercepted a pass and made 11 tackles in a season-opening victory over Brigham Young. Despite missing two games and all but one play of a third, Henderson made 59 tackles, intercepted two passes and had seven pass deflections.

But Henderson said his biggest accomplishment was the jarring hit he made on USC wide receiver Curtis Conway in the Bruins’ 24-21 victory last season.

“I take pride in hitting,” Henderson said. “Sometimes if you give a running back or a receiver a little whack, later on in the game they’ll be looking for you because they don’t want to get hit by you again.”

He looks forward to playing against San Diego State tailback Marshall Faulk when the Bruins play the No. 21 Aztecs Saturday at the Rose Bowl. UCLA was the last team to hold Faulk under 100 yards.

“Last year I didn’t get a chance to tackle him, and I want to come up and give him a couple shots,” Henderson said. “He has good speed and we have a fast swarming defense, and we’re going to try to shut him down again. We want to make a statement and show people that the Bruins are back.”

Henderson talks as well as he plays, delighting in verbally assaulting opponents.

“I talk a lot to everybody on the field,” Henderson said. “I’ll talk to a receiver if he misses a ball and kind of rub it in. They get so caught up in you talking to them that they’re so anxious to prove you wrong that they get off track.”

But the Bruin coaches occasionally try to tone down Henderson.

“They just don’t want me to get any personal fouls. But I’ve been talking since I was in high school. It’s fun and games.”

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When Washington was a child, his favorite schoolyard game was get the man. It was like tackle football without pads. Kids would gather around a ball in a circle. One would pick up the ball and try to elude the others and reach the end of the schoolyard.

Now Washington uses his moves on the football field.

He ran for 1,601 yards, averaging 10.5 yards per carry, and scored 18 touchdowns in leading Ellison High to the district title as a senior.

Although he was one of the nation’s best high school running backs, Washington played on the scout team during his first season at UCLA because the Bruins were overstocked at tailback.

Eligible last season, he had only five carries while UCLA used a tailback trio of Kevin Williams, Shawn Willis and Ricky Davis.

But Washington has supplanted Davis, UCLA’s second-leading returning rusher, as the Bruins’ backup tailback behind Williams.

Washington ran for 85 yards in seven carries, including a 63-yard touchdown, in the Bruins’ 37-14 season-opening victory over Cal State Fullerton. He also scored both of the Bruins’ touchdowns in their victory over BYU.

He doesn’t even remember the 63-yard touchdown run because he had been hit hard on the previous play.

“I guess I was in a daze because I went to the sidelines and it felt like it was a dream,” Washington said. “I remember everybody jumping up on me in the end zone, but it seemed like a dream. I guess I was just that excited.”

A tailback since high school, Washington has been used at fullback in passing situations because starting fullback Kaleaph Carter has been slowed by an injured Achilles’ heel.

“At first it was hard to play fullback because every now and then, when I wasn’t totally concentrating on what I was doing, I’d line up at fullback and run a tailback pass route,” Washington said. “But I’ve adapted to it pretty well.”

Williams, UCLA’s starting tailback, says Washington is meant to play tailback, not fullback.

“A true tailback you can’t make into a fullback,” Williams said. “A true tailback just wants to run the ball and pound it and pound it. A fullback just likes to slam in there and knock people out.”