Capital (ID) football: Hunter Nettles feature

On Sunday, Feb. 26, I interviewed Capital lineman Hunter Nettles and wrote an article about him for the 2011 Capital football yearbook. Turns out Hunter is the son of old high-school friend of mine. Below is the article:

Hunter
Nettles:

Eagles’ big lineman survived series
of changes with football successes

By Bruce Smith
Matchup

Hunter Nettles was the new kid on the block for the Capital Eagles football team.

At 6-foot-3 and 295 pounds, he was also one of the biggest. Even better, he was a talented offensive lineman and joined with Kellen Buhr, Paden Munson, Steven Matlock, Brody Leatham and Paul Blakely up front. Combined, that group was Capital’s selling point and it’s possible they were the best in school history.

The Eagles rushed for 3,100 yards (almost 282 yards per game) and helped take the pressure off junior quarterback Makena Simis, who was rarely sacked.
Capital had no trouble moving the football on most nights and averaged 33.3 points per game.

“We knew we would be good up front,” said Capital coach Todd Simis. “Makena benefited from having a good offensive line and we were able to run.”

Not surprisingly, the Centennial Patriots had said the same thing the year before. They also had Nettles on their line, and he helped his former school to the state championship game, where they lost to Coeur d’Alene. Nettles chose to transfer to Capital for his senior year.

Nettles said he never regretted it. He quickly became a big man at Capital and will always consider himself to be an Eagle. But he has always been referred to in that way. Growing up, he was always bigger than any of his friends, and was active in many sports. He didn’t play Little League football, however, because he was – too big.

High school changed all that. He competed in football and wrestling. Just as he started to generate success, he also had to deal with several emotional events that have made a big difference in his life.


* - First, there was his mother, Margaret, who battled cancer for over a year. She finished successful treatment in Jan. 2010 and the event actually brought the family closer together. Hunter supported his mother and even shaved his head after the chemotherapy affected her the same way.
* - Second, the family celebrated their mother’s victory by attending Boise State’s Fiesta Bowl game against TCU. Hunter spent the game on the sidelines as an official BSU “ball boy.”
* - Third, the move to the new school. For several months, Hunter fielded annoying emails and text messages from his former teammates, who also knew they would play Capital in both teams’ season opener.

“I got a lot of grief … it was mostly Internet stuff,” Nettles said. “But it was a good move for me. We lived near the border of the two schools and I had always admired Capital. They were always so tough and physical. I talked to their coaches and liked it.

“I was kind of concerned about whether I would make the starting lineup because I knew they had some starters back,” he added. “But they made me feel right at home and I started right away.”

The Eagles lost to Centennial 35-28 on the Patriots’ home field. Nettles, however, said it was his best game.

“They were talking a lot and it really fired me up,” he said. “I had about 10 ‘pancake’ blocks. There was a lot of talk before the game via texting. They said stuff like ‘we’re going to make you regret transferring.’ But it was a great game.”

It was also just the start. With that contest out of the way, Nettles started to focus. Sure, Capital then lost to eventual SIC champion Eagle, but the 0-2 start only seemed to force everyone to challenge each other. Nettles said Capital wasn’t used to losing games and the team rejuvenated itself with a 19-7 win over Mountain View.

“I’d say Eagle was the team’s best game,” he said. “We had a really young secondary and we held (Eagle QB Tanner) Mangum in check. We pounded it (the ball) down their throats. We were pluggin’ on all cylinders that night.”

Capital, of course, finished second in the SIC and advanced to the 5A semifinals, where they lost to their nemesis – Coeur d’Alene.

The only midseason drawback for Nettles was a separated shoulder suffered against Mountain View and it forced him to miss a game. When the year ended, Nettles made second team all-SIC, but was particularly proud of being tabbed Capital’s top lineman. He also earned a scholarship to Snow College, a well-known junior college football power in Ephraim, Utah.

He hopes to turn that opportunity into a scholarship to a Division I school.