VAN BUREN, Ark. — The best from east and west met on June 22 in Conway at the annual High School Football All-Star game. One Van Buren athlete was the brightest of the stars that day.
"It was a lot of fun being at UCA. Nice campus and nice facilities. Division I school and just be surrounded by other great players in the state," Bryce Perkins said.
Former Van Buren Quarterback Bryce Perkins balled out passing for 265 yards and two touchdowns en route to winning the all-star game MVP.
“It was definitely a goal going into it," he said. "You go to one of those things [and] you'd love to be named MVP, but just lucky enough to be named. There's a couple of other guys that definitely had games that they could have won too."
However, his Van Buren Coach Moe Henry wasn’t surprised by Perkins' performance.
"I wasn't shocked," Henry said. "I can't speak for him, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's something that he said he's going to go be the MVP of this game. And he's just one of those guys that if he does set his mind to do it, he's going to use our resources to do it."
Perkins was a three-year starter at Van Buren. However, he didn't realize his full potential until his senior season in which his goal was to leave a lasting legacy in his final year in a Pointers uniform.
"He went into his senior year, he had his mind set on goals and breaking records and doing things and obviously wanting to be competitive on the football field as well," Henry said. "And he was that very much for us."
Perkins now owns the Van Buren all-time passing yards and touchdown record, but his coach says even though he’s done playing for the Pointers, he continues to grow his game.
"Even since he's been done playing with us, I've seen him grow," Henry said. "I've seen him grow even more and I guarantee you now that without him even before he even went to a college campus to participate in playing football, he probably felt like he was a better version of himself [since] the last time he played football with us."
Now Perkins turns his attention to his first year of college ball where he will take the field for Independence Community College. Perkins said he has one goal for the season.
"Definitely to just get better every day," Perkins said. "Become a better player and person for sure."
Watch 5NEWS on YouTube.
Download the 5NEWS app on your smartphone:
Stream 5NEWS 24/7 on the 5+ app: How to watch the 5+ app on your streaming device
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com and detail which story you're referring to.