Kailey Hunt doesn’t want people to think of her as a girl. She’s a football player. A quarterback.

“I love that feeling when you throw a ball and the receiver catches it to get a touchdown,” Hunt said. “It’s the feeling that I threw that ball to him and I did something for the team.”

The road to playing high school football wasn’t an easy one, starting with Hunt having to prove herself to the freshman coaches. A few days into summer practice, she ran in the ball 50 yards for a touchdown with all of them watching.

“I was happy that I got to prove myself in front of the coaches,” Hunt said. “I felt like everyone was watching me to see what I would do. They started then to give me respect.”

Football is a family affair in the Hunt household. She started playing with her family at the age of five when her older cousins played during Thanksgiving. Instead of sitting on the side and watching the game go by, she joined in.

“I always thought it looked fun,” Hunt said. “I watched it on TV a lot and wanted to try it. I was always at awe by it when I was little. It just looked like so much fun.”

When she started elementary school, Hunt wanted to play, but her parents only allowed her to play flag football until she got older, believing it would keep her safer. But when she had the chance to play tackle football during middle school, she took it. Entering high school, Hunt played quarterback on the freshman black team. As the only girl on a traditionally all-male team, Hunt wasn’t interested in being talked about or treated differently.

“I know they try to play the game as if I was a guy, but there has been sometimes where they went easy on me,” Hunt said. “I would then talk to them and they would start to play me normally. Most guys treat me like a normal teammate.”

During the season, the black team folded into the freshman gold team, where Hunt had opportunities to continue at the quarterback position. The gold team finished district 4-2 and 6-3-1 overall.

“It went really well,” Hunt said. “We improved so much as a team. They brought out the leadership qualities in me.”

One game where those qualities shined was the district game against Marble Falls. Hunt ran in the ball for touchdown that helped the team in their 35-6 win.

“It felt awesome,” Hunt said. “You could hear everyone yelling and see the coaches with touchdown signs. It was just a rush and it was great to do it for the team.”

Freshman coach Brad Bresnehen watched Hunt hold her own all season.

“I believe she is a leader because she is the most mentally and physically tough,” Bresnehen said. “I think the fact that she is a female in an all-guy sport drives her farther. It’s something that will really help her through life.”

The season may now be over, but the things she has learned from being a quarterback have lasted well past the final quarter.

“It’s impacted me so much,” Hunt said. “It’s made me more mentally tough. It made me realize how lucky I am that I’ve been able to play. There are other girls that say they would love to play but they can’t. I’m so lucky.”