Parkersburg High School’s Curtis Hayes (72) recently announced he will continue his career as a student-athlete at West Liberty University for head football coach Roger Waialae. (Photo by Duane West)

PARKERSBURG — Curtis Hayes always dreamed of competing at the collegiate level and now the Parkersburg High School senior offensive lineman is ready to take the next step after he recently announced he will continue his career at West Liberty University for head football coach Roger Waialae.

The 6-foot-2, 300-pounder was the Big Reds’ starting left tackle this past season after moving from guard as a junior. He also made a quartet of starts on the offensive line as a sophomore.

“I talked to him (coach Waialae) when I was up there for my visit,” admitted Hayes, who was named to the all-Mountain State Athletic Conference first team. “My main communication at West Liberty is their O-line coach (Dan) Hopkins.”

Hayes, who carries a near 4.0 GPA and hopes to have the vast majority of his education paid for, also said he’d play at times on the defensive side if he were needed or when the Big Reds were in goal-line situations.

“I’m going to assume I’ll be playing the interior line. I don’t have the reach to play tackle,” Hayes added. “Wherever they put me in I’ll play.”

When asked why he opted to become a Hilltopper the Big Red captain noted, “I wanted to go there because of the connections I got up there and especially after the visit. That kind of immediately shot me toward them. I love the facilities they got up there.

“I went for a game day visit and that was my first time being up on campus. The locker room was nice. The whole energy there was just amazing and whenever he took me to the weight room, that is by far one of the most impressive weight rooms I’ve seen.”

Hayes added “there were other colleges reaching out for visits. I kind of already had it locked in to go there.”

A football only student-athlete, Hayes will join former teammates Tyler Moler (University of Charleston transfer), Matt Curry and Ryan Creech, who made four starts on the O-line a year ago, on the Hilltopper roster.

“I’m excited for it. It’s been a dream to go up to college and play football,” he said. “I’m pretty excited for the whole experience. I’m not too concerned about it (class work) being something that challenges me past my limits. I love the sport and doing it year around will be just fine with me.”

As excited as Hayes is to start life in college, playing for the Big Reds was also a dream come true for him.

“As a kid you are watching the Parkersburg High School Big Reds and you imagine playing for them and being part of the tradition here in the city,” he added. “It was amazing here at PHS learning about the history, getting to represent your town and play for one of the most historical teams in the state. It was awesome. I definitely miss it about every day. I hate thinking about it.”

When it came to his most memorable moment as a Big Red the WLU signee didn’t hesitate with a response.

“The one moment I’ll always look back on, I didn’t play, I was just there for the experience. I got to dress varsity the last few games of my freshman year. Beating Wheeling Park (28-21) at Wheeling Park in the playoffs, thinking about that gives me chills and how excited everyone was on the bus ride back. It was an experience.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com