There are a bunch of seniors on the Reeths-Puffer football team who have been working hard for years, but have never experienced the excitement of a playoff game.
That’s going to change on Friday when the Rockets travel to Forest Hills Central to compete in their first playoff matchup since 2013.
Hunter Allison is one of those seniors who is finally being rewarded for his persistent effort, season after season.
He’s been to some playoff games as a spectator, and now he can’t wait to get on the field and be part of it.
“We’ve all worked really hard to get in this position and it’s finally paying off,” Allison said. “Getting that extra game is gonna be something else.
R-P senior center/nose tackle Hunter Allison
“I’ve never been part of it before, but just hearing about it, and knowing how it’s so hyped up, makes it exciting.
“Everyone realizes we will be done if we don’t win this. Everyone is really on top of their game.”
As the starting center, Allison plays a crucial role. As head coach Cody Kater put it, “He’s the most important player that nobody knows about.”
Every offensive play depends on his ability to cleanly get the snap to the quarterback.
That’s not as easy as it might sound, particularly in R-P’s shotgun offense, where the center has to deliver a longer snap to the quarterback.
The second he gets the snap off, Allison has to turn his attention to his blocking assignment. If he doesn’t pick up the right guy, someone could get through and the play could collapse.
Allison gets ready to snap the ball against Grand Rapids Union.
“The thing that makes it different is you have to make sure the snap is OK, you’ve got to know who’s blocking who and who you’ve got to get,” Allison said. “Usually you’re the one who has to pick up the blitz guy. You’ve got to know where the ball is going, because you don’t want to get in front of the ball carrier.”
Allison had some experience as a center as a freshman and sophomore, but he played mostly guard last season as a junior.
This year he learned he was going to be the starting center, and while he wasn’t crazy about the idea, he attacked the job with a passion, because he’s a team player with a great attitude.
He said it took some work to get used to snapping in the shotgun formation, and he spent extra time working on it with quarterback Brady Ross.
"It’s definitely different,” Allison said. “When the quarterback is under center you can pretty much just put it in his hands. There’s not much to it.
Allison (77) lines up at his defensive nose tackle position.
“With the gun, you have to make sure you finish the whole motion, or the snap might be too high or too low. You’ve got to know your release point.
“We definitely worked on those snaps. We were out here doing that in pre-practice every day.”
At one point Allison said he ran into problems when he started worrying about too many things at once, which is easy to do with numerous split-second responsibilities.
“I learned to settle down, get the snap off right, then go block the guy I’m supposed to block,” he said.
If Allison’s job on offense sounds like a lot, there’s more.
When the offense leaves the field, Allison stays on, because he’s also the Rockets’ starting nose tackle, going nose-to-nose with the opposing center when he’s on defense.
Allison has played on both sides of the ball before, but this is the first season he’s played both ways as a starter, and he admits it’s a challenge.
Allison gets ready to snap the ball to quarterback Brady Ross.
“Oh yeah,” he said, when asked if he gets tired. “I definitely need to recover. I sleep a lot of the weekends.
“It’s difficult mentally, and it was definitely an adjustment. I try to make sure I eat and drink right, watch more film and work more on my footwork.”
At six feet and 275 pounds, Allison is not an oversized lineman, and has to find ways to be successful against some much bigger bodies on the other side.
“It all just comes back to habits,” Allison said. “It’s about technique, staying low, making sure you step the right way, having your hands in the right spot. Effort is a big piece of it, too.”
Effort is Allison’s specialty, according to Kater.
“Hunter works extremely hard,” the coach said. “He’s been moved around the line a little, but this year we moved him to center right away, because we knew he could anchor our line.
“He’s just the type of kid you want to model the rest of your program around, with his positive attitude and behavior and leadership.”
Last spring, not long after Kater took over the program, the team had a “character draft,” where captains had to select among their teammates based on “who they would allow to date their sister or watch their house while their parents are gone,” according to Kater.
“Hunter was one of the kids who was picked first,” the coach said. “That shows what his peers think of him.”