NWADG OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR Mays-Hunt's biggest desire: Another state title for Tigers

NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANTHONY REYES @NWATONYR Kam'ron Mays-Hunt (top) of Bentonville returns for his senior season after leading 7A-West Conference receivers with 77 receptions last year.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANTHONY REYES @NWATONYR Kam'ron Mays-Hunt (top) of Bentonville returns for his senior season after leading 7A-West Conference receivers with 77 receptions last year.

BENTONVILLE -- Kam'Ron Mays-Hunt knows there is one thing that will make his high school football career complete -- a state championship ring.

"That's all I'm missing right now," Bentonville High's senior receiver said.

NWADG Preseason

Offensive Player of the Year

KAM’RON MAYS-HUNT

SCHOOL Bentonville High

CLASS Senior

POSITION Receiver

HEIGHT 6-1

WEIGHT 170

NOTABLE Led the 7A-West Conference with 77 receptions for 1,195 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, which earned him all-state status. … Has 130 career receptions for 1,751 yards and 17 touchdowns. … Needs five catches to pass Cody Scroggins and break the school record for career receptions. … Has verbally committed to play college baseball at Arkansas, where he will become Scroggins’ teammate.

photo

NWA Democrat-Gazette file photo

Bentonville High receiver Kam'ron Mays-Hunt (2) outruns a trio of Fayetteville defenders Sept. 23, 2016, on his way to the end zone in Fayetteville.

He's willing to do whatever it takes after the Tigers have fallen short the last two seasons. If it means playing more on the defensive side, Mays-Hunt said he is all for it and doesn't mind passing out the licks that he takes from time to time on offense.

But for now, Bentonville just wants to make the 7A-West Conference's leading receiver from last season an even more dangerous weapon.

"Our expectations are for Kam'Ron Mays-Hunt to continue to get better -- to duplicate what he did last year and then some," Tigers coach Jody Grant said. "Our expectations are to get the ball to him. He has a certain amount of touches to have in a game, and we're going to do everything we can to get that because he's such a dangerous with the ball in his hands.

"Most teams that play us know Kam'Ron is going to touch the ball, but we'll have to be unique offensively in ways to get him the ball. We've moved him around and put him in different spots. We may put him in the backfield and do different things in order to make sure he's getting those touches because he's so dangerous with the football."

Mays-Hunt finished with 77 receptions for 1,195 yards and 10 touchdowns last season and earned all-state honors while being teamed with an all-conference receiver in Clay Barganier. Barganier, however, graduated and is now at Ouachita Baptist.

That means a new group of receivers will surround Mays-Hunt this season, and there will be a new quarterback -- Nathan Lyons -- that will throw the passes his way. He's also expected to be surrounded by something else -- opposing defensive backs -- and Mays-Hunt fully expects a lot of their attention.

"They've been conditioning me a lot because I didn't have as much baseball as I did this year," Mays-Hunt said. "Conditioning is the key, and footwork. I've been doing a lot of press releases.

"They've also been doing a lot of double-teams on me in practice because I'm expecting a lot of double-teams this year. These upcoming guys, though, are pretty good. They run their routes a lot like Clay did, so I won't feel like it will be just me this year."

Baseball is definitely in Mays-Hunt's future. He's already verbally committed to play at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville next season, and he even took some time during Bentonville's preseason drills to go to Miami and try out in front of the MLB Marlins.

However, anybody who thinks he will slack off of his football duties this fall may want to reconsider their thoughts about him.

"When you're a two-sport athlete -- and a high-level athlete at both sports -- it's hard to juggle the two," Grant said. "This summer, when he wasn't doing a baseball thing, he was here for the most part and worked hard on some things.

"He's a gifted young man, and some things come easier for him. As he progresses into college, devotes himself and increases his work ethic, this guy can do what he wants to do for a long time."

Mays-Hunt did say he wouldn't mind a senior season that included 100 receptions and 2,000 receiving yards, but the number he really wants to accumulate the most is the number of wins Bentonville earns this season.

"This year, I just want to help my team win," Mays-Hunt said. "If I get to 100 (receptions), I get to 100. But mostly, I'll be happy if we're winning all of our games."

Sports on 08/27/2017

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