By Byron Beers/Sports Editor

NORMAN — It was sometime in late November of last year when Billy and Janice Hughey heard their son tell them words that took them by utter surprise.

Noah Hughey wanted to walk away from a baseball scholarship at Redlands Community College and pursue a lifelong dream. He wanted to play college football.

But Hughey didn’t want to just go play college football anywhere. He wanted to walk on at the University of Oklahoma, a program so rich in tradition and with some of the top scholarship athletes anywhere in the country already in place.

Baseball was a fixture for Hughey, and his first love while growing up. He was a standout third baseman and first baseman for the Indians and made All-Suburban Conference honors in 2004 during his senior year, hitting .336 with nine home runs.

Hughey also contributed to the El Reno basketball program where he was an honorable mention all-conference selection in his final season.

Football was something Hughey did not have a lot of experience with. He only played one year of high school football — his senior year at El Reno — and only three years total of organized football.

But he made a strong statement on the gridiron in his senior year. He led the team in tackles from his middle linebacker position and also contributed as a tight end. After the season he was selected to the District 5A-2 second team.

So it was a rather shocking statement when he told his parents what he wanted and had long dreamed for.

“We were rather amazed about what he had told us because he hadn’t played much football,” said Billy Hughey, who along with his wife, gave their son strong support in his decision.

“My family has been the biggest OU fans for all time and that’s how I was born and raised,” Noah Hughey said. “I just watched them all the time as a little kid and I always dreamed and wished that one day I would like to play there.

“I always loved OU football more than anything else. I honestly felt I could hang with these guys. I knew these guys were the best talent in the country, but I looked at myself and my attributes and knew I could play with these guys.”

“My parents have always been so supportive and they play equal roles so I knew they would go right along with my decision,” he added.

After completing his first semester at Redlands and going through fall workouts with the baseball team, Hughey made a phone call to OU in January, talked to Director of Football Operations Merv Johnson, and asked if he could walk on.

He was granted his wish and would report to Norman during the first week of August as one of 10 invited walk-ons.

Johnson liked what he saw from Hughey. He liked his size and what he saw in his workouts and felt he could fit in somewhere. First-year offensive line coach James Patton would eventually be impressed as well.

Hughey went in his first day on Aug. 2 as a tight end. But offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson wanted to move him around, and he would soon go through workouts at each offensive line position to better his blocking techniques.

The Sooners were also very thin up front. Incoming freshman Chad Roark had already left the team, J.D. Quinn would be dismissed and Ben Barresi decided to leave.

So Hughey was getting his opportunity as an offensive lineman and it is something that has since stuck. He has battled his way up the depth chart, and after an injury to starting tackle Branndon Braxton last week against Colorado, is on the second team as a left tackle.

“Coach Patton told me I did a pretty good job and talked to me about possibly making the move and I kept working out with the offensive line,” Hughey said. “He told me he liked having me down there and we needed the numbers obviously.”

Hughey was fulfilling his lifetime dream. It didn’t matter where the coaches put him, as long as he could be a part of the program.

“It’s obviously a great opportunity just to play for my childhood dream team,” he added. “I thought that more than just coming here and saying that I’m on the team, I thought that I might actually be able to contribute and play.

“Initially, I had already reached one of goals for my first year and that was to have the opportunity to suit up and be down on the field with the team.”

But he has far exceeded his own expectations in his freshman year.

Hughey took the field for the first time as a Sooner at right guard in the closing seconds against Washington at Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium, although he would not get a chance to run his first play due to new NCAA rules which allow for the clock to continue moving at the change of a possession.

But those final 10 seconds were precious to Hughey. He realized that he could do more than just watch.

“My head was just spinning, thinking I was actually going to be out on the field,” he said. “But I was really focused and did a pretty good job of blocking out the crowd.

“It was really surreal being out there with the same guys I’ve always watched on TV.”

Hughey started preparing and getting in shape long before his first day with the team in early August. He worked out with a group of friends and his younger brother, Dylan.

He feels he wouldn’t be where he is at right now if not for friends like Kory Bollinger, Kolby Bollinger, Jace Wedman and Ross Weaver.

Together they worked over a period of two summers for up to six days a week every afternoon. They lifted five or six times a week and ran sprints four times a week.

“Those guys really helped me get to the point I am at now,” Hughey said. “We pushed each other hard every day.”

Kory Bollinger, the youth group leader at Highland Baptist Church, conducted the workouts.

“Kory has been a great mentor for me. He scheduled the workouts and gave me great advice throughout the process.”

Hughey isn’t the only former El Reno athlete to walk on and play at Oklahoma. Roger Steffen had great success and eventually found himself as a starting linebacker. He was a starter on the Sooners 2000 national championship team that defeated a heavily favored Florida State team 13-2 in the Orange Bowl.

“I know his story really well and people say that to me all the time,” Hughey said. “Being a walk-on doesn’t mean you have to run scout team for your whole career. If you are good enough to play they will put you in there.

“People say stuff to me like ‘Roger did it,’ and that’s a perfect example. He was a walk-on who ended up not only getting a scholarship, but played and started on a national championship team. He’s also from El Reno just like me so it’s like the past is laid out in front of me and I think about what he did quite a bit.”

And Hughey’s parents couldn’t be happier to see their son, who tossed away a baseball scholarship, reach his goals and dreams in his first year at OU.

“We’re just tickled to death at what he’s accomplished,” Billy Hughey said. “We have confidence in him in whatever he does.”

Hughey now wants to take that final step and get his opportunity to play for the team he admired so much as a child.

“My No. 1 goal now is to get some playing time and show them I can go out there against other teams and play well and compete,” he said. “Hopefully someday I can work my way into the starting lineup.”