By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
HICKORY – When his Hickory Hawks open the high school football season on Aug. 18, head coach Jim Ruark will have an experienced quarterback under center – former Bandys starter Hunter Burkett.
Burkett, a 5-foot-11, 180-pound senior, will be the Hawks’ starter, Ruark said Monday. Burkett will still be a student at Bandys.
The Hawks are a private Christian school in Hickory associated with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), offering an opportunity to play for players who are home-schooled or from private or other schools. They are not governed by governed by North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) rules.
RUARK
“He’s come in and we’ve been working (since) spring,” Ruark — a former head coach at East Burke, East Lincoln and Myers Park who is starting his fourth season leading the Hawks – said of Burkett. “He’s got pretty good mechanics.
“We’ve been working on his footwork… and he seems very motivated. He played well at team camp at Campbell (University), and he’s just fit right in.”
Burkett will also play linebacker for the Hawks, who last year went 8-1 and won the National Association of Christian Athletes (NACA) national championship tournament.
Ruark said he has 24 varsity players this season and won’t have a junior varsity team. Instead, the Hawks will field a middle school team of about 22 players (those 14 and older will play varsity, 13 and under will play middle school) that will play eight games.
Burkett will be the varsity starter on opening night (Aug. 18) at West Iredell. Ruark said his only other quarterback is a sophomore.
The Hawks began practice on July 24, taking care of things like uniforms a week ago. Now, they are focusing on improving basic fundamentals.
“The big thing for us,” Ruark said, “is we’re pretty good as a first group. But injuries… we’re thin on those terms and we can’t really afford injuries.
“We’re not as good defensively and that’s because of a couple of factors I can’t control. We have to learn to make adjustments and play like who we are.
“Our big emphasis is on tackling. We’ve been pretty good at tackling the first three years but don’t have the two or three kids you know are gonna make big plays. We’ve got to figure out how to play team defense.”
Burkett had a hot start at Bandys as a junior, rushing for four touchdowns and throwing for five in the Trojans’ first five games. He did not score the rest of the season.
Leading a season-opening 46-24 victory over South Caldwell, Burkett ran 13 times for 196 yards and completed seven of 121 passes for 152 yards. He threw for 435 yards in Bandys’ first four games.
The Trojans, 3-8 last season and 5-17 the past two, played three quarterbacks last season – Burkett, Ja’Tay Culliver (who returns) and Justin Wambold.
Burkett had one completion in the last five Bandys games a year ago, with Wambold primarily at quarterback against Maiden and Bunker Hill and Culliver there the final two games (West Lincoln, Newton-Conover).
To view highlights of Burkett’s game last season against Fred T. Foard, here’s a link: http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/hunter-burkett/YfSUOUK_EeW-8KA2nzwbTA/default.htm
BURKETT AT BANDYS
Unofficial statistics for Hunter Burkett while playing for Bandys. He will play this season for the Hickory Hawks:
Year Att.Yds Rush TDs Passing Pass Yds Pass TDs
2016 99-487 4 39-81-11 466 5
2015 54-136 2 12-37-na 198 1
TOTALS 153-623 6 51-118-na 664 6
SOURCE: HobbsDailyReport.com files/research