JAYKA SANTILLAN-HUGO
Hugo junior Jayka Santillan is in his third season as the quarterback for Buffaloes football team and now operates under the watchful eye of new coach Scott Schier. “Jayka is a leader in all aspects on and off the field and in the weight room,” said Schier. “He’s got a good arm and is a tough runner. We’ll be looking for his leadership and experience to help us succeed this year.” Jayka burst on to the scene to take on the starting quarterback spot in his freshman season as he threw for1398 yards and 14 touchdowns with nine interceptions while rushing for 188 yards and scoring three times. In his sophomore campaign, Santillan’s numbers were similar as he passed for 1359 yards and 16 touchdowns while cutting his interceptions down to just three and rushed for 259 yards and another nine scores. He says his role model is former OU Heisman Trophy winner and now Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield. “I’ve like OU for a long time, and I really like the confidence that Mayfield plays with,” said Jayka. “I feel like I’m a dual threat quarterback. I prefer passing but if I need to run the ball, I’ll run it.” In addition to football, Jayka also plays basketball and baseball. “I’ve played baseball for a long time, and I played basketball through eighth grade and dropped it when I got to high school, but I think I’ll get back into it this year. Out of all of those I still like football best because there’s just more energy to it and it’s really fun.” Though the football season has gotten off to a slow start for Santillan and the Buffaloes, Jayka has lofty goals he would like to attain this year. “I’d like to have an 80 percent completion percentage and pass for 2000 yards and have at least 20 touchdowns.” The highlight of his time so far at Hugo occurred last year. “It was in our game against Dickson last year when the passing game was there all day and I threw for 210 yards for my career best so far.” Santillan is also involved in FFA at Hugo and in his spare time likes to hunt and fish. “We’ve started off a little slow, but I think things will come around as we get into district play,” said the Buffaloes signal caller.
