Interview: 2018 Arkansas QB Layne Hatcher Talks 700-Yard Passing 9 Total TD Game

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @RyanWrightRNG

Beloved Married with Children TV dad Al Bundy officially has nothing on Layne Hatcher. Al Bundy may have scored four touchdowns in one game for Polk High School but Layne Hatcher has a 746-passing yard with six touchdowns and three rushing score game to brag about for the rest of his life – a feat accomplished that is amazing but not unexpected by those familiar with his passing proficiency.

Since his sophomore season with Pulaski Academy, Hatcher has been exposing defenses breaking down the strong to the feeble. At the end of his sophomore campaign, Hatcher guided the Bruins to a state title hitting 309-of-469 pass attempts for 4,667 yards with 55 scores. He nearly duplicated the amazing stat line in 2016 covering 4,656 yards with 58 scores on the way to another state championship trophy.

Pulaski Academy (6-0) is not only one of the best teams in the Natural State in 2017, but they are ranked No. 22 nationally by MaxPreps. Much of the respect lends itself to the passing game. Hatcher has connected with an outstanding receiver corps that includes seniors Trajen Johnson and Brett Lynch along with junior tight end/receiver Hudson Henry. The Bruins offense has accounted for 382 points in six games, a video game average of 64 points per game.

The last time the Bruins took the field was against rival Little Rock Christian Academy. Hatcher picked the Warriors defense apart on the way to an 86-56 win. To find out more about his award-winning game, I sat down with Hatcher gaining his insight on what all went well for him on Friday, Oct. 6.

Interview

Layne, against your crosstown rival, you had an amazing game throwing for 745 yards with six touchdowns and ran for three, what all was clicking for you to have such a great game?

“The guys around me was the main thing. They were making great plays. I had 10 seconds to throw a couple of times, I’m not kidding. My guys were catching the ball and making plays. They are the ones making me look good out there.”

When the game was over did you have any idea how many yards you had passed for against Little Rock Christian?

“No. I had no idea. I knew we had ran the ball a lot. They were covering the pass. I figured we had more running yards than passing. I did not know about the passing stuff. As a team, we rushed for over 200 yards. I knew good stuff had happened because of the high score, but I had no idea we put up 991 total yards.”

Did you earn or receive any awards for that game?

“I got Player of the Week from Arkansas Varsity.”

*Hatcher also received an Offensive Player of the Week award from RNG/CreateAShirt.com

Did you do anything special to celebrate the big game?

“No. I went home and went to bed early. My whole family was there, my aunt and uncle from out of state was there. That was their first time to see me play in person. That was cool.”

Was there anything you did differently in the pocket or during your week-long preparation that aided in you having so much success passing the ball?

“Preparation wise, they did something different than what they had done before. They went back to what we had prepared for in the second half. Coach Kelley always has me ready, giving us great plays to run. In the game, I kept my eyes downfield when I was moving around. I could see the receivers break open on the scramble. Instead of pulling it down and running with it I kept looking down field for my receivers.”

What feedback did you get from the college coaches that were already in contact with you from that game?

“I got some congrats from a few coaches. Arkansas State was in attendance, that was cool that they were there to see that.”

With recruiting in mind, do you have any visits coming up?

“I’m visiting Arkansas State on Saturday.”

What has you excited about going up to Jonesboro?

“I’m looking forward to being around Coach (Buster) Faulkner (offensive coordinator) and meeting all their coaches. I’m excited to see their game day atmosphere. This will be my first time being on their campus.”

*Less than 10 minutes after this interview was posted, Hatcher received an offer from Arkansas State!

Do you have any other visits after Arkansas State?

“Yes. I am visiting Penn on the Oct. 21.”

Back to the field, the Bruins get Sylvan Hills on Friday, can we expect an 800-yard game?

(Laughs) “No. That would be fun for sure. I’ll stay in the system, make my reads, get the ball out quick and let the receivers do what they do best.”

What challenges does Sylvan Hills bring to the field for you and the offense?

“Last year they played us well, they held us to 22 points. That was our lowest point total all year. They got some pressure on us and got in our receivers’ way. They have some great athletes. If we take them lightly we can be in trouble. I look forward to the challenge.”

Layne, congratulations on the big game and good luck on Friday against Sylvan Hills.

“Thank you.”

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Photo credit: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; No. 3 Layne Hatcher fakes out a defender