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Atop Nation’s Rushing Rankings, Hilltoppers’ Patterson Remains “Team-First”

WEST LIBERTY -- Last season, West Liberty's Hunter Patterson earned the MEC Offensive Player of the Year award, finishing with 1,637 yards from scrimmage and 20 total touchdowns. It was a spectacular year for the Chester, W.Va. native, who tied program single-game records with five rushing touchdowns and six total touchdowns in the Hilltoppers' season finale against rival Wheeling.

Yet, what would be the crown jewel for many a player is-- through four games in the 2026 campaign-- instead looking like a stepping stone for Patterson and his Hilltoppers.

Patterson has run wild on West Liberty's opponents this year, and heading into the Hilltoppers' game Saturday against Concord, the senior sits at 751 rushing yards and nine touchdowns.

Both of those numbers lead all of NCAA Division II.

Patterson's 751 rushing yards has him out in front of a tight race including Northern State's Hank Kraft (743) and Davenport's Cephus Harris (734). The next-highest rushing total in the nation is Johnson C. Smith University's Fabian Duncan all the way down at 610.

Patterson's nine rushing touchdowns is tied for first in Division II with Slippery Rock's JayJay Jordan.

Though it's been an eye-popping year for Patterson, the Oak Glen alum didn't have any of this in-mind.

"Individual-wise, not really," Patterson said of his goals for the year. "I just wanted the team to execute the best we could and to get some more wins this year.

"I’m just trying to win. I mean, I’m happy to help as much as I can, but the win is the most important thing."

Indeed, West Liberty is 3-1 this year, already matching last year's win total where the 'Toppers went 3-8.

"I’m more happy that we’re winning now-- like, you could say I was successful last year, but it didn’t mean anything when we weren’t winning games," Patterson said. "But this year, everything feels so much different, and I’m glad that I’m able to produce like I am because it helps out the team. I just look at it that way. I’m team-first."

West Liberty's improvement has come in their first year under new head coach Chad Salisbury, who has certainly been pleased with his top tailback.

"When people see Hunter, they’re going to say how fast he is. And he is," Salisbury said of Patterson. "He’s a fast kid, but he’s also put-together. He takes care of his body in the offseason so he’s able to take the kind of carries that we give him."

Patterson has had a full plate each game this year. After rushing 14 times for 142 yards and a touchdown in the Hilltoppers' season opener vs. Walsh-- a game where he also hauled in 10 catches for 107 yards and a score-- Patterson has handled at least 26 carries in each of WLU's last three games. Patterson turned 30 carries into 219 yards and two touchdowns vs. Seton Hill, 26 carries into 191 yards and four touchdowns vs. Post, and 28 carries into 199 yards and two touchdowns as West Liberty opened MEC play last week vs. Frostburg State.

"He’s a really, really good kid," Salisbury said. "He’s trustworthy of his teammates. He’s always complimenting his O-line. I mean, there’s just a lot of things he’s good at."

For a time this offseason, it looked like Patterson was heading to FBS Old Dominion for the upcoming season, but after opting instead to remain at West Liberty, Patterson has certainly seen his decision pay off.

"Hunter wasn’t with the team until the summer," Salisbury said. "He had moved on to take another opportunity. But, when he came back, obviously we had watched all the film and knew what kind of player he was. Once we knew Hunter was back, we knew we were going to have a really, really good football player. I mean, he’s the reigning MEC Player of the Year, so we knew we had a good player. We knew we needed to put good players around him. We knew we needed to execute better than we have in the past. But yes, he’s a special player. It’s hard not to know that you got something."

Patterson's decision had a personal element to it.

"I’ve been here five years, and it’s where I started, so I just wanted to come back and kind of finish," Patterson said. "All the new coaches and everyone came in and I heard of some good things, so I just wanted to come back and see it through, and it’s all working out so far."

Of course, behind every good runningback-- or rather, in front of every good runningback-- is an offensive line creating holes in the defense.

"I think they've been great," Patterson said of his line. "The attention to detail is through the roof, and I feel like we’re executing at a very high rate, and it’s filling in the run game."

West Liberty's offensive line this year has included Dennis Pike, Mason Fraley, Dequan Cobb, Jeffery McCoy, and Steubenville grad Ephy Kelley.

"Every position we have, we have a lot of work to do fundamentally," Salisbury said. "But after the spring I thought that I knew our O-line group pretty well because they’re a hard-nosed group. They play with a chip on their shoulder. They’re going to go the right way, they’re going to cover people up. We added some players, a couple transfers, a couple young guys in the freshman class, and we put that with the guys we had from the spring. And I think they’re a good group. They’re a group that plays with a little bit of anger, and I like that about them."

West Liberty's single-season rushing record was set by Kevon Calhoun in 2009, a mark of 1,529. After four games, Patterson is 778 yards away from tying the record.

West Liberty's career rushing leader is Derrick Stickles, who from 2002 to 2005 amassed 3,690 rushing yards. Patterson has 2,537, and his 33 career rushing touchdowns is already third all-time in school history behind Stickles and Calhoun, who owns the all-time mark with 43.

Patterson's success has felt even sweeter by playing for a team so close to where he played growing up. At Oak Glen, Patterson was twice an All-State first team player and rushed for 2,335 yards and 31 touchdowns for the Golden Bears, as well as catching 118 passes for 2,196 receiving yards and 24 more scores.

Patterson still feels the love from up north.

"It’s only about an hour away, so I still get a lot of people coming up from my hometown," Patterson said. "All my buddies come up, all my family makes it up. I get texts from all my old teachers from high school. So it’s nice being close to home so everyone can still come support and watch some good football this year. Yeah, I still hear a lot from everyone around Oak Glen."

Patterson is back in action at home Saturday at 1 p.m. inside West Family Stadium vs. Concord.