The Woodruff Warriors are perfect after three weeks of high school football. It's the first time Woodruff's been 3–and–oh in back–to–back seasons since the 1950's.
4th year head coach Tim Thornton has turned the program around with the help of his senior class...and their clubhouse salutatorian.

Mitch Hidden's numbers jump out at you like the ball exploding out of his hand. 256 passing yards against East Peoria...244 against Streator.. 270 against Rock Falls.
After 3 years in training, Mitch's "hidden" talent is plain for all to see.
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"The biggest thing is just mentally now, compared to where I was my freshman and sophomore year," Hidden said. " You watch film of my sophomore year and it's just, 'Why? Why are you throwing that ball? That's cover two. What are you doing?' I mean I definitely have a better understanding of what's going on now."

"Last year he'd come off the field every once in awhile and he'd be stumped, said Thornton. " He'd be in a slump for awhile, a couple of plays, maybe a couple of series. Now it's down to one or two, it's gonna affect him for that and he'll snap out of it. On top of that, he brings people out of it with him."

As gawdy as his passing stats are, Mitch's most impressive numbers are put up in Woodruff High school. A 3.86 GPA and ranked 2nd in his class, Hidden is the ideal student and Tim Thornton calls him a cerebral quarterback, leading to endless possibilities for the Warriors Offense.

"Everything gets put on the quarterback," Thornton said. " He's gotta make the decisions. He's gotta understand what plays to get us into and which ones to check us out of. You know, you may call one protection for fifteen different routes. You may call one different blocking assignment for the receivers for 15 different runs and it's just one or two plays for everybody else but it translates into about 30 or 40 plays for Mitch and he's just done a terrific job with it, and really allowed us to have some fun on offense."

Hidden is the leader of a senior class that has helped Thornton turn woodruff into a winner.

" We all definitely take pride in that, Hidden said. " You've got kids out here that are excited to come out here. Our freshman year we could hardly go eleven–on–eleven because we had so many guys missing practice. Kids are definitely wanting to play football here and that's exciting to be around."

The Warriors play Manual Friday night at Peoria Stadium. Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.