By Nov. 13—WILLMAR — It's weird to imagine the week of a state tournament is less chaotic than the previous week.
Turns out, preparing for just the state football tournament is a relief for Zavore Hunt.
The Willmar senior offensive lineman pulled double duty this fall. Not only is he the starting left guard for the Cardinals, he performed in the school's musical.
WHS' production of "The Music Man" ran from Nov. 5-8. Hunt played antagonist Charlie Cowell, a salesman who tries to out the charismatic Harold Hill as a conman in the Meredith Wilson musical.
Hunt has a passion for both football and performing. But due to football, his theater experience was limited to stage tech. For his senior year, Hunt wanted to see if he could do both.
"I decided, you know, it's my senior year and I'm gonna go big or go home," Hunt said. "So I asked (musical director Travis) Michelson, 'Hey, could I be on stage?' And he totally allowed it."
In Jon Konold's 18 years as Willmar's head football coach, it was the first time he had a player also out for the school play during the season.
"I think it's great that we have kids that want to be a part of that," Konold said. "I think it's great that Travis has been willing to work with Zavore and his two passions that he wants to do and participate in both things. It's great for the school. Zavore loves to do the musicals, speech and football. It's great that he's able to have those opportunities here at the high school."
Andy Tupa coaches Hunt a lot during the school year. He's the football team's offensive line coach and the school's speech team coach. If there was anyone Tupa believed could pull double duty, it was Hunt.
"With his unique set of skills between musical, speech and football, he's probably the only kid that I know of that's been able to do them at a really high level," Tupa said.
Hunt's passion for football came first. His grandfather instilled a love of the game into his grandson. After moving to Willmar in fifth grade, Hunt started playing in seventh grade.
"It was just amazing," Hunt said. "I loved every bit of it, so I kept on doing it."
Today, Hunt is part of an 11-0 Cardinals team that is averaging 44.4 points per game. In
in the Class AAAA state quarterfinals, the offensive line paved the way for an offense that put up 345 rushing yards and another 146 through the air. The Cardinals face defending state champion Orono in the semifinals at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
Listed at 6 foot and 275 pounds, Hunt can play both guard spots and at center.
"He's a big kid and you can't teach that," Tupa said. "He works really hard at the technical, fundamental part of the game and knowing how to move his body into position. And then he's just super smart. He played tackle last year at the start of the year and then we moved him inside to guard. This year, he's been the backup center."
As far as acting and speech? That was also because of family. That started in eighth grade. As Hunt described it, it was to avoid trouble.
"I think my mom grounded me for something in middle school and I just didn't want to go home," Hunt said. "I saw a speech sign-up and I was like, 'Huh, this is a good way to get out of going to my house and having to do chores.' I went there, grabbed the packet and I laughed. I was like, 'Wow, this is what it is, huh?' And that's how it all kicked off."
During speech season, Tupa said Hunt's versatility also shines through.
"He's doing like three or four different categories at a tournament and running all over the place," Tupa said. "He's always prepared."
Football is the top priority for Hunt. It took a little bit of work to find the time to work on his lines for "The Music Man."
"I had to practice on my off time," Hunt said. "I got the script and I had to read through it myself."
He found time to work with the cast at play practice on weeks when Willmar had home games and on Saturdays.
"During home games, when we had a little downtime, I would go (to play practice) until like 4-4:30 p.m. and then I'd start getting ready for football," Hunt said. "Then once the regular season got done, we started getting done (at football practice) at like 5-5:30 p.m., so I was able to spend the last hour or so going to the musical and helping out there."
The football team's success posed a scheduling issue. "The Music Man" was showing the same week as the Section 2AAAA championship.
"I gotta say, it definitely takes a toll everywhere, mentally and physically," Hunt said of the busy week. "It's very much two completely different worlds but I'm in love with both of them."
When Hunt was playing in the Cardinals' 22-12 victory over Marshall on Nov. 6, Jaxon Schiesser took on he role of Charlie Cowell.
"He's a freshman and I believe he's going to have an amazing acting career," Hunt said of Schiesser.
After a physical win over Marshall, Hunt was feeling the aches when he took the stage for the Saturday and Sunday shows.
"There was a scene where I had to get thrown on the ground," Hunt said. "I gotta say, it did not feel the greatest on Saturday."
After being pulled by both of his passions, Hunt can relax a little now. He's gotta focus just on state football now.
"It feels blissful, I can't even lie," Hunt said after the busy stretch. "(Now) I'm all pedal to the metal for football."
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/football-willmar-cardinals-senior-finds-233700680.html
