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By Jay Spivey

For the Clemmons Courier

Hunter Cruise has a chip on his shoulder, and he doesn’t mind wearing that as a badge of honor.  

Cruise, a receiver on the West Forsyth football team, is slight in size and stature, but he plays with heart and tenacity. He’s come a long way from that 5-foot-9, 150-pound freshman to a player who is now around 6-1. 

“Looking up, I was always like more a smaller person on the team,” he said.  

Playing in his third season for the West Forsyth, which is 7-3 overall and finished 5-2 in the Central Piedmont 4-A, is the No. 14 seed in the NCHSAA Class 4-A playoffs and will play host to No. 19 Waxhaw Cuthbertson (7-3) in the first round Friday in Clemmons.  

In Pop Warner for the Southwest Broncos, he played slot receiver. Now, he’s playing outside for the Titans. He played JV his freshman season.  

“I think I wanted to play (outside) more than anything,” Cruise said. “I would just think that the outside would get the ball the most. That’s why I always wanted to play outside.” 

As a freshman on the JV team, Adrian Snow was then the head varsity coach, and according to Cruise, Lawrence Ferguson was his head coach on the JV team. 

“It was different because back in Pop Warner, there was like really no competition,” Cruise said. “It was just every game like the same thing. But in high school, you have kids from everywhere. So, you’re going against kids you don’t even know, you’ve never gone against.” 

The varsity team finished 4-7 overall during Cruise’s freshman season, but he realized he had to wait his turn. 

“My dad would also tell me that, too, because I’m just a freshman,” Cruise said. “Like, my body is going to develop, my mindset is. Everything is going to grow up.” 

Patience is a virtue for which Cruise has had to adjust. 

“To an extent, yeah,” he said of himself about being patient. “Because I want the ball the whole time. I think I might’ve been more patient back then. Now, I want it. Like, I’m more demanding it now instead of waiting for it.” 

It turned out that playing JV his freshman year may have been one of the best things that could’ve happened to Cruise.  

“I put in a lot of work that offseason,” he said. 

A lot happened that offseason. The main thing was that Snow resigned, and Kevin Wallace, who was previously the head coach at Northwest Guilford, replaced Snow. 

“It was sad (with Snow leaving),” Cruise said. “But I felt it was a good opportunity, especially knowing that Coach Wallace was coming because we all know that he likes to pass the ball.” 

Despite some uncertainty about Wallace taking over, the players bought in. 

“Everyone trusted in the process that we were going to find the right person,” Cruise said.  

It turns out that neither Cruise nor Wallace knew each other. 

“We were kind of high on him, and in the summer, we thought – when I first got here when he was going into his sophomore year, (we) were very high on him,” Wallace said. “I think in practice, I don’t know it was – he’s not a super-vocal kid. But in practice, it was almost like at times, I don’t know if he was just trying to figure out the offense, or he if was kind of taking a backseat with the upperclassmen at times.” 

In the first part of last season Cruise was playing JV for the Titans as a sophomore. 

“In JV games, he was lighting it up,” Wallace said. 

At the time, Cruise was an eight-quarter player, meaning that he could play on both teams with limited minutes. However, unfortunately, because Jordan Stephens broke his collar bone last season, Cruise had his chance to impress on the varsity team. 

“We knew right away what we were doing,” Wallace said. “We were going to put Hunter outside and put Darrell (Paige) inside. He played really well those last five, six games.  

“And it was one of those things, I told him, ‘If you would’ve just played like that in spring ball when I first got here, like you would’ve been a varsity starter your sophomore year, the beginning of your sophomore year, no doubt.’ But he was, I don’t know if it was fitness or if he was still trying to catch on to the offense or whatever it was. You know, I don’t know if he just didn’t have the confidence at first. He really came on.” 

The first game he played on varsity was against Glenn last year on Sept. 29 in Clemmons.  

“I always knew I had it in me to be that guy,” Cruise said. “I was nervous more than anything. It was homecoming. The whole stadium was packed.” 

Cruise scored a touchdown and helped West Forsyth win 46-13. In fact, according to Cruise, the first play he was in, he scored. West Forsyth finished 8-4 overall last season with quarterback Bert Rice, who graduated. Rice, according to MaxPreps.com, finished last season 138-of-244 passing for 1,904 yards with 12 touchdown and six interceptions.  

“I progressed good, but not great,” Cruise said. “It was tough (playing eight quarters), but I was getting way better. Playing JV helped me – it humbled me a lot. And it also boosted up my ego a little bit, too.” 

According to MaxpPreps.com, Cruise finished last season with 16 catches for 183 yards and two touchdowns.  

“It’s not like he plays in every game because he only gets so many quarters,” Wallace said of last season. “For him, it was a lot of developmental stuff, and there would be times where we would just need that extra person to give a break.” 

Last season made Cruise work even harder during the offseason. He hit the grindstone.  

“I lifted every day,” he said. “And on the weekends, I would do field training.” 

The team came together shortly after Christmas break this past year in hopes of improving on last season. Then, practice officially started on July 31. 

“I could definitely see myself getting better,” Cruise said. “I was getting more open. Like, it was just expected. Like, I was expected to be open.” 

Cruise also had two new quarterbacks. Riley Horton transferred from Parkland, and Jerrell Crawford transferred from Glenn. Horton has played most of the snaps this season.  

“I feel like Riley, he’s a good quarterback,” Cruise said. “He’s accurate, and he’s smart.” 

According to MaxPreps.com, Horton is 90-of-178 passing for 1,393 yards with 16 touchdowns and two interceptions. Crawford is 13 for 27 for 141 yards with one touchdown and one interception. 

“As Riley has gained for confidence with the offense, we have seen Hunter perform more – making consistent plays,” Wallace said.  

Cruise has developed into the Titans’ top receiver. According to MaxPreps.com, Cruise leads the team with 28 catches. He has 486 yards and five touchdowns.  

“(Horton’s) improved,” Cruise said. “Like after practice we’ll stay back and throw it some. We’ll put in the extra work. That’s like our connection between everyone. Like, we’ve all gotten closer.” 

No matter how West Forsyth does in the upcoming playoffs, Cruise will have another year of playing with the green and gold. He could be a steal for a college. 

“I think he’s going to grow another inch or two,” Wallace said. “He’s going to be a 6-2, 6-3 kid. He’ll be more physical. Like, he can almost, I think he might become an inside/slot guy.  

“Not a shifty one, like a scat guy, like an (Julian) Edelman or someone like that. Or more of a body-up type of slot receiver that can take it deep a little bit and outwork underneath coverages and make big-time catches…” 

But there is still that matter of the chip on the shoulder that Cruise has, both in high school and proving college coaches wrong.  

“It’s fueled me both by in the offseason by pushing me even harder to make them know that I’m good, make them respect me,” he said. “And by just showing them what I can do.”