Kysan Woolverton was a quarterback when a quirk of fate led him down a straightforward path only few quarterbacks tread.

He ran over someone and discovered he enjoyed it.

"Someone failed, and we didn't have a backup," said Woolverton. "I moved to fullback, and I liked it."

The Caldwell senior now forces defenders to like it -- or get out of the way.

He pounded out 1,352 yards his junior season, giving the Hornets two running backs with 1,000-yard seasons. Nelson Scott rushed for 1,105 yards.

"I like our offense, because I like running downhill, not to the sidelines," said Woolverton of the Hornets' Slot-T set. "I don't like cutting, just running forward."

Woolverton may not be the prototype for a power back. He says he stands just under 5-foot-10 and weighs 175 pounds, a weight gain of about 8 pounds from a year ago.

"He's not a big, bruising power running back," admits Coach Dale Williams. "[But] he is a back that plays a lot bigger than he really is."

And he's gaining some bigger attention.

"I believe in opportunities," said the Hornets' senior running back, who read Texas Football magazine this summer and discovered that others wanted an opportunity to watch him. "I thought it was pretty cool that they had me as one of the players they would pay to watch," said Woolverton, who was listed as a "money player."

What they would pay to see is someone not in the game to look pretty. His play is mostly about being tough and effective. While he runs sprints during track season, Woolverton is not sure that is his strength.

He is positive that his attitude is what makes it work.

"I'm not sure I have greater speed, but I try hard and do my best," said Woolverton, who averaged 7.8 yards per carry and scored 12 touchdowns last season. "Normally, I try to run someone over. That's more of my mentality. I try to make myself into a power back."

"For offense to do what it does, we have to get production out of that position," said Williams. "Kysan is a competitive kid, the best he can be. You never hear a word out of him. He's not a showboat and not a prima donna. He's a blue-collar kid."

Woolverton competes in an offense that can be deceptive, too. Sometime, it is too deceptive.

"I like how we set up fakes and get the defense to go somewhere else," said Woolverton. "One play last year, the refs blew the play dead when they thought I was tackled, but our quarterback had the ball and was running downfield with it. Our coaches were running out on the field, telling them they missed it."

Woolverton's hobby is riding dirt bikes, but it's not what you might think. He's careful there, saving his collisions for the football field.

He'll even avoid them on the field at times.

"I've done that before," said Woolverton. "I've run over some guys, and then when I come back and they expect it, I run around them."

But he will look them in the eye first.

"You just do that," he said. "You do that for fun."