FREEPORT — Number 31.

It means something to the Hunter family.

Freeport senior Ricky Hunter wore it because his father, Tom Hunter, wore it when he played for the Yellowjackets.

Tom Hunter, a 1985 Freeport graduate, wore No. 31 because his uncle, Frank Balina, a 1972 Freeport graduate and local Hall of Famer, wore it when he played.

And Ricky's done the number proud.

“My dad taught me all about football,” Ricky said. “I learned it all from him and I love the game.”

Tom Hunter was a running back for Freeport and a teammate of eventual longtime NFL star Jeff Christy. Ricky Hunter also played running back for the Yellowjackets.

And a whole lot of other stuff.

He kicked off. He punted. He kicked from placement. He returned kickoffs. He returned punts. He played linebacker.

“Never came off the field,” Ricky said, smiling. “Yeah, I got tired late in games. But you suck it up and just play.

“I conditioned myself for this. I never looked at statistics. I just played football.”

After lifting weights last winter, Hunter went through his own training regimen. Beginning in the spring, he'd do ladder drills and run around cones at the high school pretty much every day. He did 40-yard dashes, 100-yard dashes, then would work on his kicking.

The workouts paid off.

This season, Hunter led Freeport in all-purpose yardage with 1,514. He generated 728 rushing yards, 254 receiving, 354 on kick returns, 178 on punt returns. He returned two punts for touchdowns.

He led Freeport with 59 tackles defensively from his linebacker position. He averaged 33.6 yards per punt, putting three inside the 20. He scored 114 points, including 34 PATs in 37 attempts.

“Just a phenomenal year,” Freeport coach John Gaillot said. “When we needed a big play, Ricky gave it to us. Knoch scores to take the lead on us with a minute to go in our last game and he returns the kickoff 72 yards to set up our winning touchdown.

“We've had incredibly versatile players here before. Austin Romanchak, Alex Isenberg, Brendan Lynch ... Ricky's right up there with those guys.”

Ricky began playing football at age 7 with the Freeport team in the Greater 28 League. He began kicking when he was 9.

“There were 18 players on that team when he was 7,” Tom Hunter recalled. “Nine of them stayed with football all the way through their senior year. It's been quite a ride.”

Originally a soccer player, Ricky wanted to try kicking a football through the uprights as a youngster.

“He asked me to set the ball on my foot so he could try it,” his father said. “I thought he'd just roll it along the ground. I held the ball at the goal line and he was kicking them through.”

His father worked with him on his kicking. Ricky also attended a kicking camp. He hit a 52-yard field goal during the final week of practice this season.

He will also be kicking in the Blue-Grey All-American high school all-star game Jan. 4 in Tampa, Fla. Only six high school kickers are selected for the games.

While Ricky will be playing in the Tampa game, other all-star games will be played in Atlanta and Dallas.

“I'm hoping to play college football somewhere, even if I have to walk on,” Ricky said. “I'll kick, run the ball, defense, whatever they want me to do.”

While his college destination is unknown, Ricky plans to major in sports management.

“I'd like to become a gym teacher. I definitely want to coach football,” he said. “I want to be a personal trainer on the side, too.”

Gaillot has no doubt his versatile player will succeed in such quests.

“It's fun as a coach watching the great men these kids turn into,” Gaillot said. “Shane McKillop is coaching now in New York. Brendan Lynch came back to help coach with us for a couple of years. Now he's in medical school.

“Alex Isenberg came back and talked to the kids in preseason, told them to appreciate playing for these coaches and with these players, that they'll never have an experience like that again.”

Ricky Hunter learned to appreciate such things.

“I'll miss playing at home, just hearing the crowd cheer for us,” he said. “And I'll miss playing football with my friends.

“We didn't make the playoffs, but we won our last game. That meant a lot to us.”