Pikeville’s Class of 2019 Bradyn “The Bull” Hunter

Since we are on the verge of Father’s Day weekend, and I am writing about a player from the mountains knows as The Bull, I thought I would start this feature with the origin of a saying which was one of my Dad’s favorite sayings both in my youth and even now. Yes, he was saying it way before the movie The Breakfast Club debuted in 1985, but more on that later. Dad use to always tell me that if you mess with a bull, you’ll get the horn, or some variant of that phrase. The earliest that particular saying can be attributed, in print, was from the Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin published in 1965 under the heading Folk Wisdom of Northeastern Kentucky. Pikeville, Kentucky, from where Bradyn The Bull Hunter comes, is located in the very eastern tip of Kentucky, and perhaps in the most southern part of the northern half of Kentucky, so maybe the saying has even deeper roots than 1965 in Pike County. The saying was most commonly popularized in the enormously popular film The Breakfast Club where the vice-Principal, Richard Dick Vernon (Paul Gleason) warned John Bender (Judd Nelson), Don’t mess with the bull, young man. You’ll get the horns. Well now, that is solid advice indeed. I know a bunch of young men, who will play Pikeville High School this coming Fall in football who would enormously benefit from that sage wisdom.

For those of you who don’t know, I am of the opinion Pikeville High School is going to be pretty good this upcoming Fall. In fact, pretty good, is a bit understated as I have picked them in my preseason poll, the only one presently out to my knowledge, as number one in Kentucky’s Class 1A. I know they were merely 8-5 last year, but with what they have coming back, and with a lineman like Bradyn Hunter behind whom to run the football, I believe it a wise selection. I defended the selections I made in the preseason poll, and why I picked it as I did, so hit the above link and read what I have there for yourself as I will not rehash it here.

Bradyn Hunter has the ideal frame to play inside along an offensive front in college or even stay at tackle, though maybe an inch or so short of ideal there. Hunter, who is an excellent student with a 3.5 GPA, is 6-3 and weighs upwards of 275 pounds. Bradyn has a registered 40 time of 5.5 second but, with his vertical explosion (27 inch vertical), his 40 should be even faster; so his 40 time likely results from poor technique. I found some power numbers on Hunter online but have no idea how recent these numbers were registered, but according to what I found, Hunter benches 305 pounds and squats 510 pounds, both FBS numbers for a rising 2019 offensive line prospect. Pikeville High ran for 2,531 yards, last year, behind a Hunter anchored offensive front and has a close to 1,300 yard ground gainer in Zach Roberts returning. Hunter is drawing a ton of FCS interest as well as FBS attention from schools like Marshall and others who know of his prowess and athleticism. I am sure once this article makes the rounds the suitors will be putting Pikeville in the old GPS.

Hunter’s film speaks for itself as there are plenty of clips of him driving first level defenders either into the turf or clear out to the safeties. This kid is a stud, and a stud athlete, whose dance card is starting to fill up. I would suggest keeping an eye on both this particular player and this team going forward into the Fall. They won it all in 2015, we believe they will again in 2018.

This is Fletcher Long, reporting for KPGFootball reminding you to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE!

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About Fletcher Long 1447 Articles
Two-time winner of Kentucky Press Association awards for excellence in writing and reporting news stories while Managing Editor of the Jackson (KY) Times-Voice

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