PREP FOOTBALL: Muncy grabs BHC’s Offensive Player of the Year award

BY ALLEN GREGORY
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER

Matt Muncy appeared in many films this past fall.

From the big-play receiver and relentless running back to multi-talented quarterback, Muncy accepted various roles for the Tazewell High School football team.

And the 6-foot-4, 210-pound senior delivered with standout performances for the Bulldogs. It’s a big reason he was named the Herald Courier’s offensive player of the year.

Greg Mance of Richlands High School was among the football coaches who reviewed Muncy during the past few months. The film sessions with the Richlands coaching staff centered on number seven in the Bulldog uniform.

“It’s hard to miss a guy like Muncy,” Mance said. “He’s big, strong and can run. You had to account for Matt at all times and try to take him out of the game as much as possible.”

Muncy had ways of foiling even the most creative defensive schemes. For example, he scored four touchdowns in the classic Region IV, Division 3 title game won by Richlands in overtime by a 28-27 margin.

According to Mance, that performance by Muncy offered a compelling reason why he earned a scholarship from Wake Forest.

“He made some plays that day only NCAA Division I athletes can make,” Mance said.

It took Muncy nearly an hour to emerge from the Tazewell High School field house after that emotional loss on a mud-clogged field. Along with the other 14 Bulldog seniors, Muncy needed time to reflect on a remarkable season.

One year after wining just one game, Tazewell posted a 9-3 record. Muncy and his teammates also dealt with the cancer prognosis and surgery which slowed standout senior running back T.J. Rasnick.

“I’ll have tons of memories from this season,” Muncy said. “We lost our first seven games last year and went through a bunch of down times.

“Our senior class just got together in the off-season and decided we were going to turn things around. We worked hard and met several of the goals that we all talked about as freshmen.”

Muncy is a goal-setter. Even in grade school, he dreamed of competing at the highest levels of football.

In hopes of earning at Division I scholarship, Muncy followed all the vital off-season steps such as lifting weights, taking unofficial visits to college campuses and attending camps. Muncy also helped himself by preparing and distributing video highlight packages of himself to scouting services and college coaches.

“I had a lot of help from my girlfriend’s mother with that,” Muncy said. “It’s a frustrating process trying to piece together a 12-minute video from hours of film, but it’s important if you want to get noticed.”

Despite the professional success of athletes such as Mike Compton (Richlands), Heath Miller (Honaker) and the Jones brothers from Powell Valley, Southwest Virginia is far from a recruiting hotbed. Most of the recruiting attention in Virginia is based in the Tidewater area.

“A lot players from our Southwest Virginia have good skills, but they get overlooked,” Muncy said.  “You have to start the recruiting process and keep working, especially in this area.”

After the loss to Richlands, Muncy said he took a week to decompress from football before venturing back to the weight room to prepare for the rigors of the major college game.

The Wake Forest staff will likely use Muncy at the vital H-back position. The H-back, popularized by Dallas Clark of the Indianapolis Colts, is a hybrid between a receiver and tight end.

“I’ve been thinking about Wake Forest every day since our season ended,” said Muncy, who expects to be red-shirted in his first year. “I want to get my weight up to 220 pounds and increase my speed.”

Muncy, who has a personal-best effort of 320 pounds in the bench press, has been timed at 4.59 second in the 40-yard dash.

After being the focus of attention from fans, defenders and defensive coordinators the past four years, Muncy is eager to take the next step while concentrating on just one position.

“I started out playing running back in pee wee ball, then played quarterback as a freshman and eventually shifted to receiver,” Muncy said. “Quarterback is my favorite spot, but I like the one-on-one aspect of football at receiver.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to help my team, though. I just like to compete.”