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All Central Texas Football Offensive MVP, Cedar Park running back Trae Hill (21) at Cedar Park High School, Jan. 8, 2025.<\/p>\n
Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
CEDAR PARK \u2014 If one play illustrates Trae Hill’s legacy at Cedar Park, it happened during the District 8-5A DI championship game against Georgetown in early November.<\/p>\n
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With just a few seconds remaining until halftime,\u00a0Cedar Park <\/a>needed 24 yards to reach the end zone. The Timberwolves trailed 30-22. With steely eyes and a voice that could be heard throughout the county, Hill told his teammates that they would score on the following play. Then he demanded the football.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Sure enough, Hill took a short swing pass, collided with a would-be Georgetown tackler around the 10-yard line, and dragged three Eagles forward before falling on the pylon for a touchdown. With the 2-point conversion, the\u00a0rejuvenated Wolves tied the game 30-30. <\/a>That was the momentum-shifting play of a 60-52 victory for the new district champions.<\/p>\n “I still get chills thinking about it,” Hill said from a secluded Cedar Park locker room<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n All Central Texas Football Offensive MVP, Cedar Park running back Trae Hill (21) at Cedar Park High School, Jan. 8, 2025.<\/p>\n Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n Hill, this past season’s Central Texas offensive player of the year, was a chill-a-minute running back during his three seasons on varsity. As a senior, he led Central Texas with 2,300 rushing yards and 34 touchdowns. He pairs with Lake Travis defensive end Carter Buck, who was named Central Texas defensive player of the year, to lead this year’s All-Central Texas team, which honors 76 players across 23 teams.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n All Central Texas Football Offensive MVP, Cedar Park running back Trae Hill (21) at Cedar Park High School, Jan. 8, 2025.<\/p>\n Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman Cedar Park running back Trae Hill rushed for nearly 1,500 yards and 20 touchdowns in 2023 and should be even better in 2024. \u201cEverybody in our locker room knows that we have the best running back in the district,\u201d said Timberwolves offensive lineman Jacob Slaughter, who’s one of five top returning offensive linemen.<\/p>\n Paul Knight\/Special to American-Statesman All Central Texas Football Offensive MVP, Cedar Park running back Trae Hill (21) at Cedar Park High School, Jan. 8, 2025.<\/p>\n Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman All Central Texas Football Offensive MVP, Cedar Park running back Trae Hill (21) at Cedar Park High School, Jan. 8, 2025.<\/p>\n Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman Trae Hill (left) walks to the field with his brother, Cash, for a playoff game. Trae gives Cash ample credit for his 2,300-yard season.<\/p>\n LYNDSEE BATES\/Photo by Lyndsee Bates Trae Hill began to play competitive football while in the third grade for a youth league in Cedar Park. He recently completed his senior season at Cedar Park High School.<\/p>\n Jessica Hill\/Photo by Jessica Hill<\/p>\n Hill was a model of consistency, averaging 192 rushing yards a game. That included seven 200-yard games in his 12-game season and 11 games with more than 100. With thick legs and broad shoulders, most of Hill’s yards came after first contact, Timberwolves coach Michael Quintero said. The coach often told Hill to “tone it down” in practice because he had a habit of hurting defensive players.<\/p>\n “Trae played in games the same way he practiced,” Quintero said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Hill burst upon the local high school scene as a sophomore, earning\u00a0Central Texas newcomer of the year<\/a> honors in 2023 after rushing for 1,428 yards and 20 touchdowns. But with\u00a0high expectations as a junior, his world seemingly collapsed with a turf toe injury in the third game of the 2024 season. He broke a bone in his left big toe and tore ligaments in his foot. He felt “excruciating pain” while doing daily rehabilitation and wasn’t cleared to play again until the eve of his senior season in August.<\/p>\n Hill described his injury as a “blessing came in disguise<\/a>” because he leaned more on his faith and lit a burning fire in his belly to get back.<\/p>\n “Before the season, Trae came up to me and said he had a ‘personal goal’ that he planned to break,” Quintero said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n “Two-thousand yards,” Quintero said.<\/p>\n Trae Hill (left), walking to the field with his brother, Cedar Park center Cash Hill, is the American-Statesman’s All-Central Texas Offensive Player of the Year for 2025.<\/p>\n LYNDSEE BATES\/Photo by Lyndsee Bates<\/p>\n Growing up on the gridiron<\/p>\n Trae Samuel Frost Hill was introduced to competitive football when he joined the Leander Lions of the Cedar Park Youth Football Association while in the third grade. He was a fast but undersized running back who had a genuine fear of getting hurt. His mother said it took about a year for him to gain confidence and accept that football is not for the faint of heart.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n “After that first season, he became hooked,” Jessica Hill said. “We have photos of his with panic in his face.”<\/p>\n Trae said it took one play \u2014 a kickoff return for a touchdown against a team from Dripping Springs \u2014 to build self-confidence. He said that touchdown was “my awakening.”<\/p>\n By the time Hill enrolled in Cedar Park Middle School, he was beginning to develop into the player he has become. He developed a work ethic that impressed is mother and his future high school coach.<\/p>\n “Trae was so skinny, we were never sure if he was ever going to grow,” Jessica Hill said. “But he also took the utmost interest in bettering himself. He ate the right foods, went to the gym, developed good sleeping habits, locked himself in. At every level he was always the hardest worker in the room. I might be biased, but I can say he’s very focused. He reads the Bible daily and goes to church every week.”<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n MORE:\u00a0American-Statesman’s power rankings for boys basketball<\/a><\/p>\n Cedar Park running back Trae Hill breaks away from the Leander defense during the Timberwolves’ 49-7 win last October at Bible Stadium. Hill was the Central Texas newcomer of the year after rushing for 20 touchdowns and nearly 1,500 yards.<\/p>\n Paul Knight\/Special to American-Statesman<\/p>\n Quintero said he noticed something about Hill when he scouted Hill’s eighth grade team in the fall of 2021.<\/p>\n “He was different,” the coach said. “The way he carried himself, the way he carried the football. He had so much confidence. That became very evident after he finished ninth grade and started spring football. We had a segment in practice for Trae to run the ball against our No. 1 defense. When he was handed the ball, it was like he wanted to find someone to run over.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n “When he’d finish the run he yelled to everybody, ‘Don’t take it easy on me because I won’t do that for you. Make me better.'”<\/p>\n Someone who has made Hill better is Storm Woods, a former All-Central Texas running back who went on to rush for 2,674 yards and 25 touchdowns at Oregon State (2012-15). Woods has created a group called Theathelight, which trains young athletes to better themselves on and off the field. Woods was the offensive coordinator for the Hendrickson freshman team when he spotted Hill for the first time.<\/p>\n Hill refers to Woods as his “second father.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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