Pulaski Academy was minutes away from kicking off the 2015 season at Highland Park High School in Dallas when its quarterback was not feeling well.
Layne Hatcher was a sophomore about to make his first varsity start.
“He comes running over by the rail, and I’m looking over and he’s throwing up,” Bruins Coach Kevin Kelley said. “I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve got to start a sophomore in this game, with 15,000 people, against this streak since 1999 where they hadn’t lost at home.’ Now I got a little sick at that point.
“I thought he was ready, but he’s not ready. He was so nervous. Then he goes out and marches us 95 yards for a touchdown. I’m like, ‘Wow.’ That told me that he was tough enough to control the nervousness.
“All in a 20-minute clock span, he’s ready to ‘Oh my goodness, we’re going to get destroyed,’ to ‘Wow, this kid is something special.’ “
Hatcher overcame his pregame jitters and led the Bruins on drives of 95 yards and 99 yards on their first two possessions, which led to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Pulaski Academy went on to beat Highland Park 40-14, snapping the Texas school’s 84-game home winning streak that had lasted since 1999.
“We were relieved afterward,” Hatcher said.
The Highland Park victory was just the start for Hatcher. He completed 309 of 469 passes for 4,667 yards with 55 touchdowns and 11 interceptions to lead Pulaski Academy to its second consecutive Class 5A state championship, beating Little Rock McClellan 50-30 on Dec. 4 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
His first season as the Bruins’ starting quarterback was good enough to earn this year’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps Sophomore of the Year award.
Hatcher did not lose a game in 2015, as the Bruins finished 14-0 and have won 27 consecutive games since a Week 1 loss at Highland Park in 2014.
“He’s a kid that has a deep desire to win and will do what he has to do to win,” Kelley said.
Kelley has coached several star quarterbacks at Pulaski Academy, such as Stefan Loucks, Spencer Keith, Fredi Knighten and Will Hefley. Hatcher fits the mold.
“Our quarterback is the key. It’s really the ignition to this thing we’ve got at PA,” Kelley said. “If he suffers, if he doesn’t play well, it makes it really hard on the entire team to perform because we put so much responsibility on him.”
Hatcher, also an accomplished wrestler who won a state championship in the 170-pound weight class in Class 1A-5A as a freshman, had the mentality early on to not be pressured by the past of Pulaski Academy. Instead, he embraced it.
“It was good to know I could get there if I worked and did what I needed to do,” Hatcher said. “But, it was also a little of, ‘How could I live up to that?’ Then I tried to be as good as those guys, if not better.”
It’s been three weeks since Hatcher and the Bruins won a state title. What Hatcher is preparing for in the offseason, when he’s not wrestling, is simple.
“I want to better myself and win another state title,” Hatcher said. “That’s the only goal we have.”
Spoken like a Kevin Kelley quarterback.
At a glance
SCHOOL Pulaski Academy CLASS Sophomore POSITION Quarterback HT/WT 6-1, 194 NOTEWORTHY Completed 309 of 469 passes for 4,667 yards with 55 touchdowns and 11 interceptions to lead Pulaski Academy to its second consecutive Class 5A state championship. … Beat Highland Park in Dallas in first varsity start, snapping Highland Park’s 84-game home winning streak which dated to 1999. … Won state wrestling championship in 170-pound weight class in Class 1A-5A as a freshman.
