Zac Hill proves a valuable contributor to William Byrd football 

How do you measure Zac Hill’s value to William Byrd’s football program?

Maybe with a thermometer to determine the heat the senior quarterback applies to opposing defenses.

Perhaps with a sphygmomanometer to calculate the blood pressure of rival coaches.

Or how about with a scoreboard, just to count all the minutes Hill spends on the field and his impact on the final numbers?

How do you measure Hill’s value?

Just go back to Oct. 19, 2012.

William Byrd led visiting Northside 27-19 in the fourth quarter of a battle for first place in the Blue Ridge District.

The Terriers were driving for a possible clinching score when Hill broke from the pocket and headed for the right sideline. A defensive back moved in for the tackle. Hill went down.

So did Byrd’s chances of winning the district championship.

Byrd lost its leading rusher — and its leading tackler — on one play. Hill sustained a dislocated left elbow and the Terriers lost their bite.

Northside recovered for a 34-27 overtime victory, then Byrd lost its last two regular-season games against Staunton River and Rockbridge County.

How do you measure Hill’s value?

“I don’t know if we can, but all you’ve got to do is look back to what happened last year,” Byrd coach Jeff Highfill said. “We were tied for first place. It was the fourth quarter. We were ahead by eight, and I think we were just inside their 20 when it happened.

“We got nothing out of that drive. They came back and beat us, then we lost the next two games.”

Byrd qualified for a first-round game at Lord Botetourt in the Region III Division 4 playoffs, but it was a long shot that Hill would play against the Cavaliers.

Hill was originally told he would be out a minimum of four weeks, but he sought a second opinion and with the help of the medical staff at Virginia Tech he obtained a brace that stabilized his elbow.

He received clearance to play in the Botetourt game on Tuesday of that week and returned to practice the following day.

“The doctor said, ‘If you wear this brace there’s a 99 percent chance you won’t get hurt,’” Hill recalled. “Then my dad said, ‘OK, it’s your call.’”

Hill entered the playoff game on the second offensive series. All he did was run for 168 yards and two touchdowns in a 23-0 victory.

“When it first happened we certainly thought he was done for the season,” Highfill said.

In the back of his mind, the veteran Byrd coach probably knew better. Hill chewed on nails during the two games he missed.

“The next two weeks he was on the sidelines and it was just eating him up,” Highfill said. “We went down to talk to him, and he’s in tears.”

Hill, who was a 113-pound quarterback on Byrd’s eighth-grade team, is one tough hombre.

He attempted to get up after the tackle in the Northside game, but his left arm wouldn’t cooperate.

“At first I remember getting up and my arm was like, over here,” Hill said. “I tried to move it and it went back this way. I knew it was messed up. I was trying to walk off the field and my arm was just dangling. The Northside coach was screaming at me to sit back down. Then the coaches ran over.”

Hill walked off the field and declined a ride to the hospital in an ambulance. Instead, Byrd’s trainer popped the elbow back into place, and Hill rode to the hospital after the game with his father.

Hill said the only pain he felt was from losing the game.

“I guess I was in too much shock,” he said. “I couldn’t even feel it. The next morning I woke up and you couldn’t even see the curve of my arm.”

Hill, who played the entire 2012-13 basketball season for Byrd, appears to be back at 100 percent.

The 5-foot-10, 172-pound Hill is bigger, stronger and faster. With a 290-pound bench press, a 375-pound front squat and a 435-pound back squat, he holds three of the Terriers’ four school weightlifting records for quarterbacks and defensive backs.

“I did a lot of speed training this summer,” Hill said. “I put in a lot of extra work compared to last year. I’m good, all the way.”

Highfill has noticed.

“He’s in the best condition of anyone on the team.”

Hill led Byrd with 1,236 rushing yards and completed 50 percent of his passes for another 518 yards. Hill’s best position and his future college spot might be defensive back, where he made first-team All-Region III and second-team All-Timesland.

Byrd, which has featured designed running plays for its quarterbacks out of the shotgun, is tinkering with the pistol offense and some three-wide-receiver sets.

Still, the Terriers’ bread and butter is Hill handing off to powerful senior Simeon Horstmann or running behind Horstmann and stout fullback L.J. Williams.

“It makes it easy for me when I’ve got the two big guys blocking for me, plus the line,” Hill said.

Byrd opens the 2013 at Cave Spring a week from tonight. Hill’s senior year is about to begin.

His value is measured by the time he has left. The clock is ticking.

“It’s crazy to think this is my last year in high school,” Hill said. “But I’m going to try to make it worth it.”

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