Saturday September 29th was a day to remember in the eyes of Hunter Davis. He was traveling to Hastings, Nebraska for a football game between Hastings College and the number two ranked Morningside Mustangs

 

Davis was traveling with Steve Bates and Daniel Ver Steeg, but not to watch the game. To broadcast. Bates and Ver Steeg were on play-by-play and color commentary. Davis was up to the task of sideline reporter for the first time in his life.

 

Looking at him from a distance you could tell he was nervous for sure, getting antsy before the pregame and waiting for the two in the warm and cozy booth to send it down to him. He was staring at his phone getting prepared and looking over the notes he prepared.

 

The moment came when Ver Steeg sent it down to him to speak and the confidence kicked in and nerves went away. Davis started by thanking the two in the booth and immediately started complaining about the cold and read off the weather forecast for all the listeners on Fox Sports 620 AM KMNS to hear.

 

Davis also went on to talk about the field conditions that he was walking on. He described the slipperiness of the field and continue to discuss how that could impact today’s matchup.

 

Davis sent it back to the booth after weather and then the game started. The guys would send it down to Davis after every score and timeout to check in with various things going on in the game or on the sideline.

 

The Mustangs scored sixty-six total points so Davis would be fed over the hot wireless microphone constantly throughout the brisk day on the sideline.

 

Davis received it multiple times throughout the first half and continued to give analysis. The one analysis that stuck out was one of the first injuries. Morningside lost a defensive lineman after he got rolled up on right in front of Davis.

 

Davis went on to give his insight on what he saw and described the injury and what he thought of it. This became a theme as they would continue to attempt to get insight throughout the game. Barrett was in the spotlight of a blowout game.

 

Barrett later got taped up by head trainer for the Mustangs, and tapped him from his ankle all the way up to the middle of his shin. He would be given his helmet back and as Davis reported, that usually means a player is allowed to return to play, but the halftime buzzer sounded sending everybody to the locker room.

 

Davis would do some investigation work near the locker room and find out that Barrett was done for the day, which he reported. Barrett later came out on leaning crutches, to take the weight off the ankle and shin area when he was cheering on the sideline the rest of the game.

 

The Mustangs continued to blowout Hastings by adding on to their lead throughout the start of the second half. The Mustangs starters started to exit the game, giving the backup some reps for the game.

 

Davis would start to talk to the starters that had exited the field of pay, about the game and they would tell him their honest opinion of the game.

 

They often said they felt loose and could have played better, but many were concerned about giving up the goose egg on the scoreboard. It was clear that the whole sidelines goal was to cheering the reserve players into keeping the shutout. They often would scream and try to do anything to benefit the reserve players.

 

Davis reported on this phenomenon. The starters wanted the reserves to outplay them and keep the momentum going.

 

Davis also said it was “magical” how unselfish the starters were throughout their time on the sideline.

 

 

**Still need a closing and some more quotes**