By Dr. Greg Shepard

Scott Runyan "BFS Athlete of the Year" in 1981 continues winning.

Scott, a QB, increased his Bench from 200 to 435 plus!

Several years ago I became familiar with Artesia High School in Artesia, New Mexico. Coach Mike Phipps became interested in the BFS Program and started using it for his football team. Coach Phipps had a young athlete by the name of Scott Runyan who weighed 155 pounds, ran a 4.9 forty and could bench 200 and squat 200. Coach Phipps decided because Scott was a 4.0 student and a fine athlete, he'd be a natural at quarterback. After an opening loss against Hobbs, New Mexico, Scott became the starting QB as a Sophomore. Scott led his team to 13 straight victories and the State 3A championship.

He ran the wishbone to perfection as he rushed for 1,369 yards and a 6.6 yard per carry average and managed to throw for 380 more yards and 6 touchdowns. There was no denying Scott first team All-State honors. He scored 19 touchdowns and 23 extra points which was a new record for scoring by a sophomore in New Mexico. He was the first team All-State punter. Scott is also a baseball pitcher and his football has been clocked at 92 MPH. Both Coach Phipps and Scott work very hard at winning. When 1 call long distance to talk to Coach Phipps in the evening, I call the field house, not home. Kind of reminds me of Coach Paul Bear Bryant who, many years ago, called Auburn from the Alabama field house.

The operator said "Seven in the morning is too early: Our head football coach doesn't come in until much later." Coach Bryant drawled, "You folks don't take your football too serious, do you?" Anyway Coach Phipps reported that Scott,. just before his Junior year in August, 1981, now weighed 185 pounds, ran a 4.6 forty and could bench 340, squat 515 and clean 275 pounds. The hometown fans expected another state championship. AfteralL Artesia had an All-State quarterback didn't they? It should be a piece of cake. Never mind that opposing coaches lay awake nights trying to figure out how to key on Runyan. Never mind that four schools on the schedule have twice the enrollment of Artesia.

WelL when they only just made the State playoffs and didn't win the State championship, there was some grumbling. A lot of Monday morning QB's just knew they could have won the State championship. Now Coach Phipps wanted to win this year in the Fall of 1982, especially since it was Scott's lasy year. Coach Phipps invited me in the spring of 1982 to put on a BFS Clinic. I was really excited about going to Artesia. I'd never met Coach Phipps or Scott Runyan, even though Scott had been the BFS athlete of the year in 1981. Artesia is a town of about 15,000 in southwestern New Mexico.

I wondered why Coach Phipps had a southern drawl He said he'd grown up in Arkansas and that wasn't how people normally talked in New Mexico. Continued on Page 14 MOTIVATION PACKET The Making of a Champion continued from page 14.

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From BFS Magazine — January/February 1983. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).