Will Hunter has always been a strong force on the football field, but a major scare helped strengthen his love for the game.
Rewind to Sept. 22. Oak Harbor High School played host to Snohomish in a battle of unbeaten teams. Late in the second quarter, with Oak Harbor gripping a 14-7 lead, Hunter – Oak Harbor’s 6-foot-5, 310-pound lineman – suffered a nightmarish moment.
Lined up at noseguard on defense, he was double-teamed by two Snohomish blockers – one who fell to the ground, pinning Hunter’s right ankle, and another who dove in from Hunter’s right. The impact of the latter block bent Hunter’s massive right leg at an unnatural angle and sent him sprawling to his back in pain. Long after a Snohomish running back sprinted away, Hunter remained still, clutching his face mask and pondering a devastating but realistic possibility.
Hunter said he remembers thinking, “Is my career done? Will I recover from this?”
Meanwhile, the Snohomish back’s apparent 54-yard touchdown run on the play was erased when officials called an illegal chop block – the one that leveled Hunter. According to Oak Harbor coach Dave Ward, based on an initial examination Oak Harbor’s team doctor and trainer thought the injury was severe enough to end the season for Hunter, a two-way All-Wesco North lineman who had hoped to play for an NCAA Division-I program.
“It was pretty intense because (Hunter was laying) on the ground,” said Ward, noting that he doesn’t believe the chop block was intended to injure Hunter. “We’d be happy to give up a touchdown as long as we (didn’t) lose him for the year.”
The official diagnosis came four days later, when Hunter had a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam. After fearing the worst, Hunter got some good news: He had a medial collateral ligament strain, not a more-damaging tear.
“That’s when the spirits really picked up for him and his parents and his team,” Ward said.
“It was a great relief,” said Hunter, “but even after I got the results back that it wasn’t (torn), I still had to realize that I was gonna be out for a few weeks.”
That was torture for Hunter, who missed three games. “It was driving me nuts. I hated it,” he said.
But Hunter closely followed a rehabilitation plan and returned on offense, at his left guard spot, on Oct. 20 vs. Monroe. Since then, Hunter has steadily contributed more on both sides of the ball and will be a key factor as Oak Harbor (10-1) gears up for the Class 4A state quarterfinals. The Wildcats play host to unbeaten Skyview (11-0) at 7 p.m. Saturday at Snohomish Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Hunter returned to football with renewed passion, Ward said: “Mentally, he came back really fired up. … (Being sidelined) reminded him how much he loved the game and made up for the fact that he maybe wasn’t 100-percent (healthy).”
Oak Harbor ran behind Hunter, a three-year starter, with great success in a 43-42 first-round triumph over Mariner on Saturday. Hunter, who now wears two sturdy knee braces, regularly blasted defenders 5 yards off the line of scrimmage, Ward said.
Oak Harbor quarterback Marshall Lobbestael said of Hunter: “It seems like he’s getting a little bit more comfortable … . He’s doing a good job, as always.”
Hunter said his knee still gets sore after games and swells up, but he enjoys every moment on the field with his Oak Harbor teammates. The Wildcats – who lost to Skyline, the eventual champion, in the quarterfinals last year – hope to advance to the semifinals for the first time in school history.
“We’re excited for this (quarterfinal) game,” Hunter said. “It’s been a team goal, not (only) to make it to the Tacoma Dome (site of the semifinal and championship games) this year but to win a state championship.”
Don’t expect Hunter to take a single down for granted.
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