OCR Text |
Show Most Playing Time Hatch Anchors Wildcat Line! if : ' i. r, r - 1 . . V ? i ; ' ; ? . ,, , . . ! - V- r x.v-y? ! W. . i - -1 ' - - ----- - liryon Hatch iilwt see ks pLihlicity, but tie phi s a big role in tin- mm (ess ol the Woods (joss football program. Dave Wigham Copper Sports WOODS CROSS -- According to his own coach. Byron Hatch has probably played more football this year for Woods Cross than just about anyone on the team. "He's the anchor of our line" noed coach Larry Eldracher, "he starts both ways at the tackle spot. He's just a very solid lineman for us." AT 6'4" AND 190 pounds, "on a full stomach," sto-mach," one would think this guy should be an end or something but he really doesn't mind the tackle spots, "I guess there are a lot of people who live near me that ask me why I don't play some other position but I just figure if I'm good enough to play at the tackle then that's where I'll play." Tackles usually don't get the big headlines or even a mention in most articles but publicity really doesn't interest Byron that much. Truth is it was hard to get him to interview on this occasion, "Why me? There are others on this team that deserve all this attention more than me." t BYRON HATCH was born in Idaho but by the time he was three his family had moved several times but then settled down in this area. The first time he put on a football uniform was in the ninth grade at South Davis, but it wasn't that he didn't want to play "My dad just wouldn't let me play. I had an uncle who had both knees really banged up and my dad was afraid of the injury aspect. He said I could play in the ninth grade but I honestly think he figured fi-gured by then I would lose interest. As a youngster I used to go with my friend Lonnie Wilson and watch him practice. 1 would literally literal-ly cry because I couldn't play." Even though he couldn't play when he wanted to Byron now looks on the bright side of the experience. "It just seemed to me when I started to play I had more desire than some of those guys who had played for years in little league." THE COACHES in junior high put him as a defensive end and offensive tackle, which didn't phase him at all since all he really wanted to do was suit up and hit someone. "I actually enjoyed the line. You don't get to make the big play but when you make a block and see the back run through it you get a sense of satisfaction that's hard to explain" he smiled. Byron really noticed a difference in ninth grade and then as a sophomore at Woods Cross. "It was like injunior high theyjust said go play tackle, then in high school Coach Jack. ' son and Val Cullimore showed me how to pay k the position. No one had done that before" ne J noted. , ALTHOUGH he has a fondness for working Ji with trucks, he has a 62 pickup that he drives around, he still isn't sure ofhis career. He even U works with trucks in the evening at his place of ' Y employment but yet remains non-committal ' ( about his future. "It would be great to drive i and my own rig that's tough on the family sol just don't know." After high school Byron seems headed to a trade tech school for more schooling but right i -now he's after a state tournament invitation. "These guys I play with are great. I would do anything to help them win and get into the playoffs." Byron is one of a kind in that he i doesn't seek individual fame or glory and hon- I estly believes there are more deserving of j attention than himself. Believe me though, he plays a big rols in the Cats quest for a state Briai berth. |