Small Town, Big-Time Talent

QUARTERBACK PATRICK HUNTER HAS IMPRESSED COLLEGE COACHES WITH HIS BIG-TIME ARM AND WILL LEAD SECOND-RANKED PATEROS INTO SATURDAY'S B-8 STATE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP.

He's a small-town boy with big-time aspirations.

"I can see myself coming back to a small town," Patrick Hunter said, reflecting on his childhood in Pateros (20 miles north of Chelan), a community of about 550. "But I can also see myself living at the top of a 10-story apartment complex in my penthouse suite."

Pateros High School's senior quarterback envisions himself as a business executive, sporting a three-piece suit. He prefers rap and alternative music to country, and cruises around in an Acura Legend instead of a pickup truck. While his buddies earn their summer bucks picking apples, he grooms greens at the golf course just outside his door.

Indeed, there doesn't seem to be much small-townish about Patrick Hunter, and that includes the way he throws a football. He plays in the state's basement classification, B-8, but has piled up some penthouse numbers over the past three seasons.

His Pateros team is one victory away from the top floor. The second-ranked Billygoats (11-0) play No. 1 Touchet (11-0) for the B-8 state championship in Gridiron Classic I at 9:30 a.m. Saturday in the Tacoma Dome. It's a rematch of last year's title game, which Touchet won 38-24 to leave Pateros 0-3 in Kingbowl tries during a four-year streak.

In a little more than three seasons (he played a few downs at quarterback as a freshman), Hunter has amassed 7,084 passing yards and 9,034 yards of total offense, both state B-8 records. In the semifinal victory over Crescent last Friday, he passed for 385 yards, bringing his season total to 2,827 and topping last year's state-record of 2,563. His five TD tosses upped his season-record total to 43 (against just three interceptions) and raised his career total to 89, just five short of the record.

"He's just an outstanding quarterback with a strong arm and he's extremely accurate with his passes," Touchet Coach Wayne Dickey said. "He creates an awful lot of problems for your defense. He has a tremendous arm."

College coaches have been impressed, too, and not just the small-town variety. The University of Montana has shown steady interest, although most has come from liberal-arts colleges. With a 3.88 grade-point average and a score of 1,080 on the Scholastic Assessment Test, Hunter offers a tempting package at 6 feet 1 and 175 pounds.

"I think he can play at the college level," Pateros Coach Joe Warsham said. "He's a great athlete and a good student."

When Pateros struggled in the first half against Crescent, trailing 28-8, Warsham turned the play-calling over to Hunter, who responded with a pair of touchdown passes in the final two and a half minutes and added another 49 seconds into the third quarter to put the Billygoats ahead for good. He drools at the thought of playing 11-man football after practicing against the Pateros JVs, but has no regrets growing up with the eight-man game.

"It's fun having four or six receivers out there," he said, "but the B-8 game is so fast, so interesting to play, I wouldn't trade it for the world."

Hunter wouldn't trade a victory this Saturday for anything either. Last year's loss has haunted him.

"I threw the ball badly," he said, although his statistics - 20 of 33 for 315 yards and two touchdowns - don't reflect it. "I was really nervous. They rushed a lot of guys, and I just didn't step up and play like I should have played."

It was a disappointing finish to a record season. Hunter set the B-8 mark for total offense with 3,564 yards. With both running backs injured much of the season, he rushed for 1,001 yards and 26 touchdowns (and threw for 27 touchdowns). Now that Moore and John Neuneker are healthy this year, and with Hunter trying to protect a sore shoulder that has been separated four times - including last Friday - he has only 117 rushing yards and one rushing TD.

The shoulder, Hunter assured this week, is a little sore, but fine. He possibly faces a third surgery after the basketball season. Hunter hopes to lead the Billygoats to a state title in basketball, which, according to his father, might actually be his better sport. He averaged 18 points per game his freshman and sophomore years, then missed most of last season after shoulder surgery, returning in time to help Pateros finish eighth in its first Class B state appearance.

Hunter said he is torn between football and basketball and might even try to play both at a small college.

But it's been football that has provided the most painful memories, and he can't bear the thought of walking off the field this Saturday with a loss. He was team manager as an eighth-grader the first time Pateros lost the title game in 1991, when his brother, Derek, set two B-8 state championship records (most completions, 22, and longest TD play, 76 yards), both of which still stand. He was a backup receiver and defensive back as a freshman, when the Billygoats again lost in the final. Hunter's sophomore year, Pateros lost in the semifinals.

This is his final chance at the B-8 big time, and Hunter wants to make small-town history.

"This is it, my final game ever in high school," he said. "Definitely, I want to go out in style with a win."

-----------------------------------------------------------. . Patrick Hunter at Pateros. . .

Passing Rushing Year Att Cmp Yds TD Int Att Yds TD. . 1992 11 5 30 0 0 0 0 0. . 1993 223 130 1664 19 6 136 832 17. . 1994 232 131 2563 27 3 145 1001 26. . 1995 193 129 2827 43 3 37 117 1. . Total 659 395 7084 89 12 318 1950 44. . B-8 state records set. .

X Career pass completions (395)

X Career passing yards (7,084 yards)

X Career total offense (9,034 yards)

X Season passing yards (2,827, '95, breaking his '94 record)

X Season total offense (3,564 yards, '94)

X Season TD passes (43, '95)

X Game total offense (561 yards vs. Crescent, '94 semifinals) . Note: Needs 5 TD passes to tie career record of 94

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Gridiron Classic: Players to watch.

Sam Gage, RB, Curtis - 1,518 yards, 18 TDs; member of state champion 400- and 1,600-relay teams.

Elijah Baker, RB, Curtis - 991 yards, 12 TDs; member of state champion 400- and 1,600-relay teams.

Scott Mitchell, QB, Kamiakin - 1,826 yards, 21 TDs (8 TDs, no interceptions in playoffs).

Nick Freese, RB, Kamiakin - 1,407 yards, 17 TDs.

Devon Johnson, FS, O'Dea - Recruited by Washington, Nebraska, Stanford.

Joey Williams, QB, Prosser - 1,999 yards, school-record 32 TDs, only six interceptions.

Jon Christopher, RB, Ridgefield - 1,908 yards, 24 TDs.

Nate Edgar, RB, Ridgefield - 1,717 yards, 25 TDs.

Brian Koch, RB, Cascade (Leavenworth) - 1,704 yards, 23 TDs.

Shon Piel, QB, Tacoma Baptist - 2,101 yards, 17 TDs, 348 yards rushing, 6 rushing TDs.

Patrick Hunter, QB, Pateros - 129-193 passing, 2,827 yards, 43 TDs.