100 Greatest: No. 11 Player - Maurice Hunter

Before there was a Mishak Rivas and a Bradley Stephens, Maurice Hunter was recognized as "the" running back from the Rio Grande Valley.

Stephens and then Rivas have come on the scene to set new Valley rushing records, but it was Harlingen High's Hunter who dominated like few others who displayed their talents on area gridirons.

Hunter is the No. 11 player in The Monitor's 100 Greatest Series.

Bob Boyd, who was Hunter's head coach during the early 1990s, knew he had a special talent when asked about his former running back's skills during a 2006 interview.

"Speed was a prerequisite for that position and he could hit the corner and outrun people, but he was also a real tough kid," Boyd said. "When it came down to winning ballgames, a lot of things we did were leads and off-tackle running plays. He could get you the hard yards."

Hunter made it look easy as he starred in 1993 and '94 while the Cardinals steamrolled local foes. During Hunter's stay, Harlingen was 17-3-3 and advanced to the Class 5A Division I regional semifinals in '94.

When he was just a junior, the 5-foot-10, 190-pound Hunter had an inkling his senior season would be a special one in a submission printed in his high school yearbook.

"It takes dedication, good work habits, and skill to be a starter," he said. "Being a star on the team as a junior is a lot of pressure because both coaches and fans sometimes expect too much. No sport is a one man show, it's a team effort."

While that may be true, it was Hunter who carried the Cardinals in '94. He rushed for 2,524 yards and scored 41 touchdowns during a spectacular campaign that culminated in his being selected as the Associated Press' Offensive Player of the Year. The highlight of Hunter's season was a 366-yard explosion against Weslaco that, at the time, established the Valley's single-game rushing record.

The Cardinals went 9-0-1 during the regular season of Hunter's senior year as Valley foes had no answer for his combination of size, strength and 4.5 40-yard dash speed. After Harlingen topped Mission 28-21 in bi-district, Hunter rushed for 119 yards and three TDs in a 41-14 rout of Corpus Christi Carroll in the area round. That set up a matchup with defending 5A state champion Converse Judson.

Harlingen fell behind 26-7 during the first half before Hunter got on track. The Cardinals' star back gained 126 of his 190 yards during the final 24 minutes and scored two of his three TDs in the second half, but it wasn't enough as Harlingen lost 29-20 to the powerful Rockets.

That ended the Cardinals' season and Hunter's storied career. Not surprisingly, he drew plenty of interest from college scouts, but he failed to qualify academically and never played organized football after high school.

Nevertheless, Hunter's exploits on the field aren't quite forgotten, even though his name has been replaced atop the Valley record books.

Randy Cretors, who was an assistant with the Cardinals when Hunter was playing, said there's "no doubt" Hunter was the best running back to come through the program.

"We've had a lot of good kids, but he's one of those unique young men that had the combination of speed, power and desire to be successful on the field," Cretors said. "We've had some good ones, but that speed and power made him dominant on the field."

Todd Mavreles is the West Valley Sports Editor for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4451.

WHY THEY VOTED

Here's a summary of Maurice Hunter's career, which played a major part in his ranking at No. 11:

Maurice Hunter was a first-team all-millennium selection by Valley Freedom Newspapers in 1999.

He was named The Associated Press' Class 5A Offensive Player of the Year in 1994 when he rushed for 2,524 yards and 41 touchdowns as a senior. His yardage and TD totals at the time were Rio Grande Valley records. He also rushed for 366 yards in a game against Weslaco to establish a new RGV mark.

Hunter led the Valley in rushing as a junior with 1,605 yards (No. 10 in the state) and scored 20 touchdowns.

THE SERIES
With the 100th season of high school football in the Rio Grande Valley upon us, The Monitor will take a look at the top 25 coaches, top 25 teams and top 50 players of all time.

THE PLAYERS
1: TBA
AUG. 24

2: TBA
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3: TBA
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4: TBA
AUG. 21

5: TBA
AUG. 20

6: TBA
AUG. 19

7: TBA
AUG. 18

8: TBA
AUG. 17

9: TBA
AUG. 16

10: TBA
AUG. 15

11: MAURICE HUNTER
Harlingen High

12: George Strohmeyer
McAllen High

13: Roberto Garza
Rio Hondo

14: Mishak Rivas
Weslaco High

15: Tony Ellis
Brownsville Hanna

16: Bobby Ply
Mission High

17: Fred Edwards
Donna

18: Willie Crafts
Brownsville High

19: Jamaar Taylor
Mission High

20: Frank Hernandez
Mission High

21: Carlos Esquivel
Edinburg High

22: Jim Norris
Mercedes

23: Abel Gonzalez
Rio Grande City

24: John Mims
Mission High

25: Leo Araguz
Harlingen High

26: Juan Castillo
Port Isabel

27: Tommy Cox
La Feria

28: Jimmy Lawrence
Harlingen High

29: Luz Pedraza
Donna

30: Billy Garza
Brownsville Porter

31: Poppy Rodriguez
PSJA High

32: Jeremy Springer
Los Fresnos

33: Shon Flores
Port Isabel

34: Phil Hetrick
PSJA High

35: Joe Marichalar
Edcouch-Elsa

36: Alfredo Garza
Port Isabel

37: Charles LeGrange
Rio Grande City

38: Alfredo Lugo
Donna

(tie): Steve Alaniz
Edinburg High

40: Matt Gorges
Harlingen High

41: Justin Springer
Los Fresnos

(tie): Eliseo Pompa
Mission High

43: Donald Guillot
Port Isabel

44: Travis Sanders
Port Isabel

45: Gerald Lambert
McAllen High

(tie): Gonzalo Garcia
Brownsville High

(tie): John Lerma
Rio Grande City

48: Manny Gomez
Harlingen High

49: Donny Martin
Port Isabel

50: Robert Cortez
San Benito