VIDEO: Prep Spotlight: Swoboda at home in new location

CENTERTON -- Hunter Swoboda roamed to his left, and then positioned himself in the right spot to grab Pryor, Okla., quarterback Drew Miller in the backfield and record the sack.

It was nothing new for the senior linebacker, who earned all-state honors last season while at Pulaski Robinson. However, this was Swoboda's first play in a Bentonville West uniform, and a rewarding start to the on-the-job training he's going through as the season progresses.

"It was something," Swoboda said. "I noticed when I got back, I said 'Man, I'm still kind of slow.' But when I got back out there, it was one of those things like riding a bike -- almost.

"I've played a good amount of varsity football. When I got back out there, it was like I was happy to be back home."

While the gridiron may be home for Swoboda, it came with a much different address this fall.

After recording 136 tackles at Pulaski Robinson last season, he found out in January that his father was looking for a new job in Northwest Arkansas. That was finalized when Swoboda -- as well as his younger brother Tucker, a junior defensive back -- enrolled at West in late May, after the Wolverines had already completed their spring drills.

Swoboda arrived just in time to join his new teammates for a team camp in Tulsa, Okla., where West coach Bryan Pratt was able to see him for the first time and liked what he saw.

"I was a joy getting to have him," Pratt said. "That was kind of a weird deal because we're taking 50 kids and we have two kids that we don't know that much about.

"But Hunter is just a leader. He came in and fit right in with our team, and he was able to develop a relationship with the rest of the team. He stepped in and got right after it and made some good plays, and I thought this kid really was that good."

Swoboda's appearance couldn't have come at a more opportune time because West lost Sebastian Caniglia, the team's leading tackler last season, to a knee injury during that team camp. Swoboda (6-foot-4, 225 pounds) could easily step in, learn the Wolverines' defensive scheme and fill that void.

That idea had to be put on hold for a while. One week after the Tulsa team camp, Swoboda had participated in an offseason combine in Benton when, while running a pass pattern, he crashed into a five-man blocking sled that was left on the field and broke both his fibula and tibia bones bad enough that it required surgery -- and had Pratt upset because of the carelessness of those running the combine.

"It was one of those things that happened, and it was unfortunate," Swoboda said. "The sled probably shouldn't have been on the field, but we can't really blame anybody.

"I rolled over and told the guy guarding me that my ankle was so broken. I just laid back and said it's over. I didn't feel it snap, but I knew something was wrong. It's the same ankle I rolled time and time again, so it was already pretty flexible. I was already wearing two braces on it. I looked down, and I could tell the ankle wasn't where it was supposed to be."

The surgery required two plates and 11 screws to repair the broken bones, but the original prognosis was for Swoboda to be back by West's season opener against Pryor, Okla. He was in a cast for five to six weeks, and he immediately headed to the pool for therapy, which he did for three hours a day for an entire week.

While that was helping Swoboda get back physically, that didn't help him learn what he needed to know when he stepped on the field for his new team. He needed the on-the-field reps. Until he could get the walking boot removed, he spent his time on the practice field as an observer while the Wolverines held preseason drills, and he also did plenty of film work when he could.

"It was very tough to be in that walking boot and thinking 'I could be doing all this stuff right now,'" Swoboda said. "But it was one of those things where God is good. He allowed me to have some patience and grace and go through it and not have one of those breakdowns where I'm asking 'why can't I play?'

"It was one of those things where I knew I'll be back. I'm going to keep working, and I'll be back. My teammates were supportive the entire time and lifting me up, making sure I wouldn't be too down."

West's football players thought so highly of Swoboda that he was named one of the team captains before he ever made one play in a Wolverine uniform. He now shares the team lead in total tackles with 25 (19 solos, 6 assists) after recording 11, as well as a fumble recovery, in West's win against Muskogee, Okla., last week to improve its record to 3-0.

Meanwhile, Pratt has now added more to the senior's workload. As well as playing linebacker, Swoboda lined up in the offensive backfield against Muskogee, although he was mainly used as a blocking back and didn't touch the football.

"He's really doing a lot of learning on the fly," Pratt said. "He's a very disciplined kid and does everything you ask him to do and will never have a word to say about it.

"He'll continue to play more. He's going to be one of those kids we can swing on both sides of the football. He'll be in certain packages for us as a tight end, catching balls as well as blocking. He's going to get all the game time he wants."

Sports on 09/22/2017