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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Talented player


Freeman High School running back Kevin Hatch. 
 (Liz Kishimoto / The Spokesman-Review)
Steve Christilaw Correspondent

The Freeman Scotties finally discovered something Kevin Hatch couldn’t do on an athletic field.

The senior running back couldn’t play with a broken collarbone.

Well, not much. Hatch broke his collarbone – for the fourth time – while running a sweep against Newport. The play after he dashed for six yards.

Fortunately for the undefeated Scotties playoff drive, he healed quickly. After missing two games, a 37-6 win over Kettle Falls and a 20-13 victory at Colfax, Hatch returned to help Freeman beat Wahluke, 21-7, in the first round of the State 1A high school football playoffs Saturday at Freeman.

The Scotties won the playoff by playing a smothering defense and throwing the ball effectively. Mixed in sparingly, Hatch contributed to the win by catching two key passes on a 75-yard touchdown drive and breaking up a pass late to help thwart a Wahluke comeback.

“We wanted him to get his feet wet again and get back some of his feel for the game,” Freeman coach Jeff Smith said. “We played him in a few spots where he might be protected a little bit, like out at cornerback. I wasn’t worried about him playing running back. He took a few shots there and gained a little bit of confidence after that.

“You wouldn’t have thought he’d missed anything out there.”

“I’m feeling all right,” Hatch said afterward. “I’m a little rusty, but I have a great team backing me up. They did their thing and I tried to come back with all I had and we had a pretty good ballgame.”

With a game under his belt, Hatch will likely play an even bigger role when the Scotties play host to Zillah (8-3) Saturday at 1 p.m. at Central Valley High.

Make no mistake: Hatch plays a big role in the Freeman football playbook.

Through seven games, he carried more than 110 times for more than 1,000 yards. He made it into the end zone 15 times, booted a 30-yard field goal and 23 extra points. Of the 190 points Freeman scored in its first seven games, Hatch accounted for 116.

On defense he has the ability to shut down a receiver one-on-one as a cornerback or stuff the run as a safety.

“Kevin Hatch is just a phenomenal athlete,” Smith said. “He has a lot of the intangibles you can’t coach into an athlete. More importantly is the fact that he’s just an outstanding young man: very polite, very humble, very cordial, very responsible and very honest.”

Hatch has an outstanding offensive line to run behind – and he’s quick to give them credit.

“They really take care of us up there – they get so much push and they control where I can go,” he said. “I ride a lot on what they do. Last year we had a little more size, but this year I think we’re quicker and maybe even a little bit stronger.”

Hatch said all his open-field moves would be useless unless his linemen can get him across the line of scrimmage.

“You have a line that can get you to the second level,” he said. “They get me to the second level, where I can make my moves. Without them, we’d get shoved back and we couldn’t go anywhere.”

Hatch, who runs a 40-yard dash in 4.6 second, helped the Freeman basketball team to a sixth-place finish at last year’s state tournament and the track team to a second-place finish at the state meet, winning the high jump, defending his pole vault championship and finishing second in the triple jump, an event he won as a sophomore.

Ideally, Hatch wants to play football in college and double up in track. His size, 5-foot-9 and 175 pounds, might make some college coaches think twice, although Eastern Washington and Whitworth both are watching and considering.

“He can definitely play at the next level,” Smith said. “What position he plays and what division he plays in depends a lot on who’s interested. He’s a dynamite little player who can do a lot of things for you.

“He’s a legitimate 4.6 guy, but it’s more in how he uses it. He has great body balance and great quickness. He changes directions quickly.”

Hatch treats his future football plans the way he runs the football – going wherever the play fits.

“I really want to play football,” he said. “If I can run track along with that, so much the better. But I have to wait and see what’s out there and who’s interested.”