By Rich Winter

During spring football at South Dakota State University, former Miller/Highmore-Harrold athlete Karst Hunter was seeing reps for the Jackrabbits. His position label was athlete, and Hunter moved around the field playing wide receiver, tight end, a little linebacker and special teams.

While that experience was fine, Hunter wanted to play his high school position, quarterback.

“I just wanted to go somewhere that would give me the chance to play quarterback,” Hunter said. “I liked the athlete thing but I wanted to focus on one position.”

Following two years with South Dakota State, Hunter followed his dream to Colorado Mesa University where he joined the team for summer workouts in July. While an opportunity presented itself, Hunter still had to earn a spot on the field.

The coaching staff told Hunter they weren't handing anyone a starting job.

“I'm a pretty competitive person and I knew I wanted to earn that starting job,” he said.

Battling against last year's starter and another transfer, Hunter slogged through a summer of uncertainty.

“We battled it out in July and did OTAs and fall camp and a couple of weeks before the season I found out I was going to be the starter,” he said.

Once he claimed the starting job, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound redshirt freshman proved his coaches correct. Hunter led the Mavericks to an 8-2 record finishing with 2,418 yards and 18 touchdown passes.

“The season went really well,” Hunter said. “To come to a new team with a lot of transfers, and questions if we could mesh, I thought we gelled pretty well.”

And then the postseason honors started pouring in.

Hunter was named Rocky Mountain Offensive Freshman of the Year and was an all-RMAC honorable mention recipient. Hunter also led his team in rushing with 560 yards and six touchdowns.

Hunter led his team in rushing with 560 yards and six touchdowns

“I've always been a dual-threat quarterback and it is a big benefit having the ability to extend plays,” he said. “Being able to run eliminates negative plays and opens up the playbook.”

Adept at running, Hunter caught some flack for not getting down early enough while scrambling.

“I'm going to have to be better about sliding but that's just not in my DNA,” he said.

Hunter had nothing but positives to say about his experience at South Dakota State. He told 605 Sports that playing all those different positions while in Brookings helped his quarterback play by seeing what defenses and other positions are doing.

The Sports Management and Kinesiology major has three years of eligibility remaining and feels like his game has room to grow.

“I just want to be more comfortable and confident with the playbook,” he said. “Next year I'll have that base knowledge, I'll work on reading defenses and gelling with the new guys that come in.”

For the first time in several years the joy of the game came back to Hunter.