For the first three years of his high school career, Blake Huffman was torn as to whether he would focus on football or baseball in college.
Last year, after the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out his junior baseball season at Columbus North, Huffman decided he would play football at the collegiate level.
“I just feel like my mind, the way I act, my mentality is just so much more geared toward football than it is baseball,” Huffman said. “I’m more of like a 0-to-100 kind of guy. I can’t really slow myself down, and I feel like in baseball a lot of times, you have to slow yourself down and think and process, where in football, you just react. I feel like I’m much more suited for football.”
Huffman decided to play one final year of baseball as a senior this spring. His efforts in both football and baseball this year led to his selection as The Republic Bartholomew County Male Athlete of the Year.
“I couldn’t be more grateful, especially going into it with it being really unexpected because of COVID and everything,” Huffman said. “We didn’t really know what was going to happen, but just the fact that I got to be able to play, unlike some people at other schools, I’m grateful for that.”
Huffman’s greatest success came on the football field. The 5-foot-8, 180-pound running back led the Bull Dogs with 169 carries for 1,141 yards and 17 touchdowns in only eight games in leading the Bull Dogs to a Conference Indiana title.
Following the season, Huffman was named team MVP, All-Conference, Indiana Football Coaches Association Class 6A Senior All-State and The Republic Football co-Player of the Year.
“From a football perspective, Blake was the backbone of our team,” North football coach Tim Bless said. “He was definitely our spark, our energizer. But not only did he lead verbally, he led by example. He was ready to go every play, every snap in practice. It nice when arguably your best player is also your hardest worker. Going into the year, we expected a lot out of him, and he did not disappoint. He had an outstanding senior season.”
Huffman thought about giving up his senior season of baseball, but ended up deciding to play after his parents Tim and Angela talked him into it.
“I wasn’t really originally planning on playing anymore just because I kind of wanted to focus on football,” Huffman said. “My parents thought it would be a good idea, so I said, ‘What the heck. Why not?’ and I’m happy I did. I got to hang out and build some relationships with some dudes, and we were super good. It’s obviously fun being ranked No. 1 in the state and all that.”
The right fielder batted .281 with three home runs, 16 RBIs and 25 runs scored for the Bull Dogs this spring in helping them to conference and sectional titles. North spent most of the season ranked No. 1 in the state in 4A.
“Blake wasn’t even going to play baseball,” North baseball coach Ben McDaniel said. “He knew he was going to focus on football. He wasn’t really focused on baseball at all and he came to me just before the season. We said, ‘Your head has to be in it, your heart has to be in it.’ I was very pleased with Blake’s performance this year on the baseball field. He didn’t have any pressure. He just relaxed and had fun and played baseball, and we enjoyed being around him. This is the best teammate Blake Huffman we’ve had in the last four years.”
With baseball now behind Huffman, he is focused on football. He leaves next month for Hanover, where he will continue his career.
“I think he has a chance to play early and often at Hanover,” Bless said. “They are the preeminent team in their conference, and I think he’s going to have a great experience.”
Huffman is planning to room with Malachi Parks, the former Columbus East quarterback with whom he shared The Republic Football Player of the Year honors last fall.
“I’ve heard we have a really good incoming class, and they’ve been good the past three or four years,” Huffman said. “They’ve been winning conference and running the table. I’m looking forward to continuing that streak of winning.”
During his athletic career at North, Huffman was a part of two conference championships in football and three in baseball. He was thrilled to finally win a sectional title his senior year in baseball.
“The success we had as teams was phenomenal,” Huffman said. “I had great coaches in football and baseball. I love those guys and love my teammates. Obviously, I didn’t win a state championship or anything like that, but that’s kind of a rare thing to do. Just the people that I met, the relationships that I built, the fun I had … we were good. Every single sports team I played on, we were good. Not many people can say that coming out of high school. Just my coaches, Columbus North staff, everybody has always been super nice to me and treated me great. I just couldn’t be more thankful.”
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The Republic Bartholomew County Male Athletes of the Year (open only to seniors):
2016-17: Mitchell Burton, Columbus North
2017-18: Brigham Kleinhenz, Columbus North
2018-19: Trenton Kelley, Columbus North
2019-20: Eric Stiles, Columbus East
2020-21: Blake Huffman, Columbus North
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