Hunter Lawrence says he’s “always been a perfectionist,” except in the case of trap shooting, where he was a member of Perryville High School’s shooting team.
“I wasn’t great,” Lawrence said. “I’d get 22 or 23 of 25 targets most times. The top guys would get 100 out of a 100. They never miss.”
Lawrence turned in more notable performances on Friday nights and in the classroom. Lawrence was an all-state running back and the school’s valedictorian. He will continue his football career at Conway’s Hendrix College, where he also plans to major in pre-med. Eventually, Lawrence wants to become an orthopedic surgeon.
Lawrence suffered a few minor injuries during his athletic career. None of which caused a break in the action. He played through a broken left wrist and had surgery after the season was over. He tore a ligament in his thumb and suffered two broken fingers.
“I became interested in orthopedics because of all of my injuries,” Lawrence said. “When I become a doctor, I want to help other athletes, as well as others.”
Lawrence, 5-10, 200 pounds, led the Mustangs in rushing with 902 yards. He scored seven rushing touchdowns and added another on an interception return. He also compiled 144 receiving yards and made 52 tackles as an outside linebacker.
“We started out 7-1 but our season didn’t end real well,” Lawrence said. “We played Charleston and it was the Game of the Week. … They were better than us. We couldn’t rebound from that loss.”
The opportunity to continue his football career at Hendrix was welcome.
“I always wanted to go to a bigger school, but I realized real quickly in my career that I wasn’t going to play for the University of Arkansas.
“But on the grand scheme of things, I knew academics would always be more important. I wanted to always make sure I kept my studies at a high level. With football, you can blow a knee out in any given moment, but if you have an education, you can still have a life afterwards.”
HUNTER LAWRENCE
HIGH SCHOOL Perryville
SPORT Football, baseball
COLLEGE Hendrix
DATE OF BIRTH Nov. 23, 1999
NOTEWORTHY Son of Billy and Jamie Lawrence. … scored a 32 on the ACT and held a 4.06 grade point average. … Valedictorian in a class of 78. … Member of the Spanish Club and Beta Club. … All-State and All-Conference football player as a running back and outside linebacker.