When Mason Schucker transferred to Searcy from Clarksville, he said he felt welcomed by everyone on the Lions football team.
That welcome led to two outstanding seasons, including a 10-3 campaign in 2017, which led him to be honored as the Three Rivers Edition Offensive Player of the Year.
Schucker transferred to Searcy before his junior year when his father was hired as the athletic director for the Searcy School District.
“When I first moved here, coach [Mark] Kelley made me feel welcome,” Schucker said. “He made me feel like I had been there all along.”
Schucker led the Lions to a 7-5 record in 2016. He tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the Lions’ Class 6A first-round-playoff win over Lake Hamilton. He had to overcome surgery and rehabilitation to get back onto the field, which he did with no issues.
“There wasn’t any hesitation because I knew that during the offseason, I worked out a lot to make sure that my knee was strong and healthy and good to go,” Schucker said. “I was not hesitant at all about that. Plus, I had the brace on during games for extra precaution. It didn’t bother me or hurt me at all during the season.”
Kelley, who completed his third year as head coach, said Schucker worked hard in the offseason to overcome the injury.
“He really enjoys football and enjoys the work that he had to put in to be good at it,” Kelley said. “He does the extra things, as far as lifting, going out and throwing on his own and also working with different people, trying to hone his craft. He had an awesome year.”
Schucker completed 249 of 444 passes for 4,218 yards and 47 touchdowns. He threw only 11 interceptions.
“He’s one of the most gifted players I’ve ever been around as far as throwing the football,” Kelley said of Schucker. “He’s a huge reason why we were able to put up the numbers we did on offense.”
Schucker also rushed for 242 yards and 6 additional scores on 57 carries with 52 of those yards coming against Lake Hamilton in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.
In the first series of the game, Schucker broke away for a 52-yard touchdown run. At the conclusion of the run, Schucker was penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct because of his celebration.
“Probably the longest touchdown run before that was probably a maximum of 20 yards,” Schucker said with a laugh. “Getting that long touchdown run, I was pretty pumped. The referee really didn’t like my celebration of spiking the ball behind me then going Superman [like Cam Newton]. The coaches weren’t unhappy about it. They laughed when they saw it.”
During that game, the Lions beat the Wolves 35-22.
Schucker completed 13 of 21 passes for 296 yards and 3 touchdowns. He had a quarterback rating of 145.3, the highest of any game during the season.
Schucker’s best game was the season opener against Valley View. He completed 21 of 30 passes for 210 yards and 7 touchdowns. The Lions beat the Blazers 63-41.
He threw for over 400 yards three times, including 455 against Morrilton, 407 over Pine Bluff and 429 over El Dorado.
“My goal this year was to have at least 3,000 passing yards, and I ended up with more than 4,200, so I exceeded that by a lot,” Schucker said. “I was very happy about that.”
At the same time, Schucker gave credit to his teammates for the season he had.
“It wasn’t just me doing that,” he said. “It was my linemen. I couldn’t have done it without my linemen blocking as well as they did and my wide receivers getting open and catching it as well as they did. They had a big effect on it.”
Schucker’s main two targets were seniors Eli Nevels and Alonzo Tripp, who both had over 1,200 receiving yards.
“Eli is definitely the one who can run and get open,” Schucker said. “There’s not many people who can cover him. Also, Alonzo runs his routes precisely. He’s able to break the defense down with the routes he runs to get open.”
Schucker recently committed to play at Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, Kansas.
“I decided to go the JUCO route,” he said. “I don’t have any offers that I’d like to go forward with right now, so I’m going over to Kansas and ball out there for one or two years.”
Right now, Schucker is continuing to work out in preparation for college football.
“I do my regular quarterback drills, make sure I get my footwork going really well, where it looks smooth and easy, and keep my arm strength up,” he said.
Staff writer Mark Buffalo can be reached at (501) 399-3676 or mbuffalo@arkansasonline.com.