By George Bremer, Herald Bulletin Sports Writer
ANDERSON, Ind. — Derrick Hill admits he’s been missing football lately.
Apparently, the feeling is mutual.
The Highland senior was named Wednesday to participate in the Grange Insurance/IFCA North-South All-Star Classic on July 16 at North Central High School.
“I’ve always watched that game on TV,” Hill said. “You don’t consider yourself to be that caliber of player until you’re in it, I guess.”
Hill’s breakout senior season has been well rewarded. He earned all-state honors from both The Associated Press and the IFCA after an all-around performance for the ages.
Hill caught 44 passes for 740 yards and eight touchdowns. He also rushed the ball 62 times for 701 yards and nine touchdowns and scored on both an interception return and a punt return.
“I’m thankful, of course,” he said of the avalanche of honors. “They keep popping up out of nowhere.”
It’s the third time in the past five years Highland will be represented at the game.
Fullback Dylan Shepard made the trip in 2006, and defensive lineman Jamel Williams was honored in 2005.
Hill will play wide receiver for the North squad this summer.
“We’ve had an all-star three out of the last five years, that’s not bad,” Scots head coach Randy Albano said. “Derrick has been one of the best football players we’ve had since I’ve been here. He deserves that.”
Hill also is one of the top high jumpers in the state, in addition to being a starter on Highland’s basketball team. He has high goals for the upcoming track-and-field season, including clearing the 7-foot-2 mark.
“I’m not sure I’m gonna get it,” Hill said. “But I’m definitely gonna try.”
He set a career-best with a 7-foot leap to win last year’s Ben Davis Regional and finished as the state runner-up. Warren Central’s Derrick Spight won his second straight state title last year, but he has graduated, leaving the door open for Hill.
“It’s sort of my time,” he said. “I need to step up to the challenge.”
Albano calls Hill the best athlete he’s coached since Corey Johnson, who went on to play basketball and football for the Naval Academy. According to Albano, Johnson had a better nose for the ball, but Hill might be even more gifted.
“Derrick’s more of a natural athlete,” Albano said.
He’s narrowed his college choices to three, though he’s yet to make an official visit. Hill wanted to wait for the basketball season to end before he began traveling to schools.
His first stop likely will be the University of Tennessee, followed by Kent State and Louisville. The latter schools are interested in Hill only as a track star.
The Volunteers also are offering the chance to walk on to the football team.
“I’m sure they’d redshirt him, and he’d just get bigger and stronger,” Albano said. “He’ll probably clear 7-4, 7-5 in the high jump by then, and that’s only going to help him in football. He could be one of those guys nobody’s heard of, one of those guys who pops out of nowhere.”
Before he entertains too many thoughts of a return to the gridiron, however, Hill has a chance to make history. With Highland scheduled to close at the end of the school year, and the Scots’ long-term future in serious question, he has a shot to win perhaps the final state championship in school history.
Similar motivation helped drive Sam Bennett and Mason Berryman to the state wrestling finals, with Bennett bringing home the 160-pound championship.
Their efforts have inspired Hill.
“That’s my plan, to win the last state championship ever,” he said. “The wrestlers did a good job with that. I just want to do my part.”
