(Story originally appeared October 17th, 2018)
By: Timothy Kays
This might come as somewhat of a shock, but Hunter Prince is rewriting the Edgerton Football record books. If it doesn’t come as a shock, it’s not because of him.
Hunter Prince is not one of those guys who is screaming, ‘Look at me.’ Far from it. This junior Bulldog bulldozer has climbed to the top of the heap of career rushing yards, and Edgerton has had more than a few great running backs along the way.
Still, you won’t find Hunter blowing his own horn; he lets the results of his team do all the talking. Seeing as though the #4-ranked Bulldogs are one of only three undefeated teams in OHSAA D-VII Region 26, those results are not being ignored.
Beginning with a season opener that saw Edgerton land a 68-0 haymaker on Hilltop, the Bulldog offense has been averaging 54 points a game, while the defense allows less than 8.5 points per contest.
Hunter is a big part of that offensive juggernaut, but he doesn’t dwell upon anything self-aggrandizing. “It’s been pretty cool,” said Hunter, the son of Blaine and Audrey Prince and the brother of Gatlin.
“The records are going to get broken anyway, so it’s not an extreme big deal to me. I’m trying not to make it that big of a deal. Right now, that’s just something to be proud of with the offensive line and anybody that blocks for me.”
His secret to success is simple, “Just working hard every day in practice, and following the big guys up front.” Of course, taking care of himself after a hard day of frustrating defensive coordinators is a must.
To do that, Hunter says he has to, “Stay hydrated, eat a lot of food, and get a lot of rest. When I get bumps and bruises, I take Epson salt baths.” The physical aspects of the game need to be matched by the mental. You need to not just study up on your position, but also know how it fits into the scheme of the team synergy.
Hunter is a student of the offensive scheme of Head Coach Ben Wilhelm. His says that his game preparation studies include, “Just learning how my offensive line will attack the defensive line and the linebackers…how they’ll block it so I can read it better and read my holes, and how I’m going to cut off their butts.”
“We watch film a lot. We watch Monday before practice and Thursday before practice. I know a lot of us on the team will watch during the week, just to get ready.”
Success on the field at Hunter’s level comes from all of these things, a lot of God-given talent, as well as the standards set by those from which he draws inspiration.
Who are Hunter’s Heroes? “I would probably say Walter (a.k.a. ‘Sweetness’) Payton, or LaDainian Tomlinson,” he said. The reasons why these two Hall of Fame running backs top his list show just how much Hunter Prince is a true student of the game.
“I like Sweetness because he never died easy; he always kept running. He wasn’t the biggest guy, or the strongest guy, or the fastest guy, but he always gave heart and effort.
LaDainian Tomlinson is kind of the same way too. He never got big colleges because of his size and speed, so he went to TCU instead, which was a smaller school back then. He now comes up as one of the greatest running backs to ever play.”
“I think one of the first things that stick out when you when you coach Hunter,” said Coach Wilhelm, “…is he’s a pretty unselfish guy. He’s going to be the first one to give credit to the offensive line and other guys for blocking for him, so as a coach that’s great when you have guys that are team first players.”
“That’s what he’s been so far; I know that that’s going to continue, and that makes us all better along the way. He’s having a really good year and getting a lot of yards and a lot of touchdowns. It fits in nicely to the scheme that we run and yeah, we’re happy to have him.”
Seeing as though he is only a junior, the numbers attached to his entries in the Edgerton record books will be escalating. He’s less interested in his own personal stat sheet though, and more interested in putting another mark in the win column of the Bulldogs.
Tim can reached at tim@thevillagereporter.com