Athlete of the Week: Bennington football’s Houston Hill

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Taking over a 39-game win streak doesn’t come without expectations.

Five games into his first season as Bennington’s starting quarterback, senior Houston Hill has played to those expectations and has helped maintain the Badgers’ historic win streak.

“I definitely felt a lot of pressure. I think it showed in the first game,” said Hill. “I didn’t perform very well in the first game, but as we progress I’ve been doing a little bit better.”

“I think he’s got a lot more comfortable,” said Bennington head football coach Kam Lenhart. “He’s got a lot of weapons around him and all he has to do is get them the ball and then they can go make plays and make him look good.”

The Badgers are coming off a 56-35 win over Gretna in one of the toughest tests so far this season. In the in over the Dragons, Hill was 15 of 22 for 214 yards and two touchdowns through the air and recorded another touchdown on the ground.

“We knew they were going to be a good opponent. And we didn’t realize how good they actually were until we started playing them and we just handled business and we got things done,” said Hill.

While Hill plans on being a long snapper at the next level, and currently long snaps for Bennington, Hill has primarily been a quarterback for most of his young football career.

“He’s understood this is going to be his time, his role,” said Lenhart. “He’s just making the most of it. He’s got a lot of good kids around him that kinda can help him out of a situation.”

“I like being the leader of the offense just being in command. Telling everyone what to do. It’s definitely a lot though,” said Hill. “[Quarterback] takes more of a role than a long snapper, being more of a leader.”

The undefeated Badgers play at Blair this Friday. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

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