Ledger Hatch is a gifted football player. He is also a highly motivated student with impressive grades.
The thing that stands out to everyone about the Dr. Phillips receiver, however, is something else.
It’s the hair.
“Yeah, I get that all of the time,” the 6-foot-4, 190-pound Hatch said while laughing. “Almost everyone I talk to, the first thing they say is Trevor Lawrence or Sunshine. … I’ve just kind of taken ownership of it and really ran with it.”
So with his long golden locks that fly with the wind or hang out below his helmet, it’s easy to spot Hatch on the football field.
“I guess when they see the hair, they kind of know who it is,” Hatch said.
But with Hatch, it’s not just the hair. The No. 16-ranked player in the Sentinel’s 2021 Central Florida Super60 is big, physical and usually the guy catching footballs in the Dr. Phillips offense. Hatch had his breakout season in 2019. He caught 37 passes for 614 yards and eight touchdowns, almost an average of 17 yards per catch.
“I feel like it went really, really well. It was a lot more than what a lot of people around me were expecting, but all the credit goes to the O-line being able to hold up blocks, our quarterback doing great and then the plays coming in from the offensive coordinator [Jason Jackson]. I can’t do it without anyone, really,” Hatch said. “I think everything has gone great. Coach [Rodney] Wells always does a great job of getting our team in order, no matter who leaves or who comes in.
“I’m really excited for this season. Pretty much our entire offense is returning except [running back] Brandon Fields and [offensive lineman] Derek Haupt, and I really feel like we’re not going to miss a beat this year.”
He has a high football IQ, he runs great routes to get himself open, and he knows how to use his body to shield himself from defenders. Some of that comes from playing basketball and he is a key reason Dr. Phillips has high hopes this postseason on the hardwood. In basketball, Hatch averages five points and eight rebounds per game.
“I really like to compete and so everyone who is in front of me, I feel like they’re nowhere close to the level that I am and that’s the mentality you have to have in football,” Hatch said. “Also it’s grades for me, and my parents have always instilled in me that grades are really important, so my GPA is really high, the SAT and all of that stuff has just really been positive for the most part.”
And just because he’s a big target, Hatch said he doesn’t want to be categorized as one of those players who is just used in goal line, toss-it-up, jump ball situations.
“When the ball is in the air, the mentality is always that it’s not a 50-50 ball, it’s mine,” Hatch said. “A lot of people started to think of me as the go-up-and-get-it guy, but I still take a lot of pride in running routes and getting little bits of separation and using my body to really box out defenders and go get the football.”
But his athletic skills do not define him. His work in the classroom is what really makes the big receiver stand out — oh, and the hair.
Hatch carries a 3.73 GPA, which is a 4.40 on a weighted scale. The combination of football skill and academics will provide quite a dilemma for Hatch when it comes to selecting a college. Of course, that’s a dilemma anyone would love to have, yet it will still be difficult for him to narrow his choices.
Hatch currently has Football Bowl Subdivision offers from Indiana, Pittsburgh and Syracuse, while he also has Ivy League offers to play at Princeton and Columbia. Of course, if schools like Stanford, Duke or Northwestern come along with scholarship offers, that could possibly give Hatch the best of both worlds.
“These Ivy League offers are really awesome, just knowing I can go somewhere with high academics,” Hatch said. “But also, … schools like Stanford, Duke or Northwestern would also be cool because not only are they high academic, but you also have a great football program.
“It’s really exciting, because you grow up watching football, but you never really toss it through your mind that you’re going to be on TV one day.”
Of course, the recruiting process isn’t always fun.
“Honestly, it gets a little frustrating sometimes,” Hatch said. “Like when you see other people that you see on the other sideline who you feel you are better than – I mean everyone thinks they’re better than everyone else … different opinions, of course – but different colleges have different opinions too.
“So it’s frustrating, but then again, it’s really rewarding when you get calls from different coaches and everybody is texting you, saying you had a great year. … It’s humbling, really.”
He has the right approach to it. He knows he wants to play the game he loves, but he also realizes that won’t be what he does for the rest of his life.
“It’s definitely one of the harder decisions I’ve ever made, where I’m going to spend the next four years of my life,” Hatch said. “You see pros and cons of both sides [football and academics]. Football is not always forever, but at the same time, the love to compete and the drive to win football games and win championships is there.
“It’s a conversation that me and my parents are continuing to have and it’s just ongoing really.”
This column originally appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com.
chays@orlandosentinel.com
