One of the area's more elusive quarterbacks last fall, Paul Rice was an integral part of Gateway Tech's run to the Class 4 quarterfinals.
But he knew taking snaps at the collegiate level was out of the question.
"I didn't think teams were going to recruit me as a quarterback," the 5-foot-9, 170-pounder said, "because of my size."
Several schools wanted to put Rice, a talented member of the Jaguars' secondary, at defensive back. But Rice didn't want to break up plays; he wanted to make them.
And that's what he hopes to do as a wide receiver in the spread offense at Murray State (Ky.). Rice committed to the Racers last week and plans to sign a letter of intent Wednesday at Gateway Tech.
Murray State, a Division I school, competes in the Ohio Valley Conference. Rice also was recruited by Ohio Valley schools Tennessee-Martin and Southeast Missouri State. Southern Illinois Carbondale also was interested in his services.
Rice made a visit to Murray State on the weekend of Jan. 13 before looking at Southeast Missouri the following weekend.
"I had to compare the schools," Rice said. "SEMO runs the triple option, while Murray State has a spread offense. They were one of the first ones to recruit me, and I had a good feeling when I was down there."
Gateway Tech coach Jason Dulick said Rice can do it all.
"He has a passion for the game and loves to win," said Dulick, a former St. Louis U. High wideout who played his college ball at Illinois. "After he bursts through a hole, you aren't going to catch him."
Rice carried the ball 129 times for 1,628 yards, which was the fourth-best total in the area. He averaged 13 yards per carry and was one of the more elusive quarterbacks in recent memory.
Though he was not blessed with a lot of height, Rice still completed 100 of 173 passes for 2,037 yards and 26 touchdowns. He was intercepted seven times.
Dulick said there was no better leader on the Jaguars, who finished 10-2.
"Paul was a captain and gave a lot of our pre-game speeches," Dulick said. "I'm just proud of the way he took the leadership role this season and ran with it. He picked up everyone's level of play."
After quick exits from the playofffs in the two previous years, the Jaguars won three playoff games and had Farmington down 14-0 in the third quarter of their quarterfinal game only to see the Knights come storming back for a 31-14 victory.
"It was kind of the season I've been waiting on," said Rice, who over the last few years watched older, former teammates sign letters of intent, like Sheldon Richardson (Missouri) and Anthony Pierson (Kansas), who played his senior year at East St. Louis. "I had big shoes to fill. Seeing them sign, it was like they passed me the torch, so I ran with it."
Rice, who runs the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds, does not think the transition to wide receiver will be too difficult.
"I played receiver as a sophomore," Rice said. "I expect it to be pretty smooth."
