Crim: Putting family first enables QND’s Hun to find success on and off football field

QUINCY — Family first.

Raul and Barb Hun have made that a priority with their eight children. It means nurturing relationships, remaining close and being there for each other through the good times and the challenging ones.

“These are your first friends,” Barb explained. “These are the ones that will be your friends your whole life.”

The evening meal has always been sacred in the Hun household. As the five boys and three girls grew up, extracurricular activities were permitted as long as they did not interfere with dinner. It was the one time through the hustle and bustle of each day when the family could be together.

That schedule was easier to maintain before the kids reached high school, when athletic practices often extended into the dinner hour. Some of the older kids tried their hands at sports for a year or two when they reached Quincy Notre Dame, but it was really put to the test with Ivan, the youngest.

Coaches, other parents and even some of Ivan’s friends tried to persuade the Huns to allow Ivan to play football during his middle school years. They saw his potential, but the Huns remained steadfast.

“People see him, and they knew that he’s fast, that he’s built big,” Raul said. “So, people would always say, ‘He should play, he should play.’ There were a lot of people calling us. I took a lot of heat.”

“He didn’t take the heat, I took the heat because everybody would call me,” Barb clarified. “I would get phone calls every year. ‘Will you please let him play this year?’ they said. I said, ‘Are you going to stop having practice during dinner time? No? Well, sorry.’ ”

The Huns told Ivan, who had played recreational baseball and soccer growing up, that he could go out for the football team once he reached his freshman year at QND in 2021, which he eagerly did.

He has since developed into one of the central figures on a team that will carry an eight-game winning streak and the No. 1 state ranking into the Class 2A playoffs this week.

Ivan won the starting tailback job midway through last season. He rushed for 100 or more yards in four of the Raiders’ final five regular-season games to help the team overcome a slow start to reach the second round of the playoffs. He finished with a team-leading 747 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns.

He again is the centerpiece to QND’s running attack this fall despite missing two games after suffering a concussion against Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin in Week 4.

The 6-foot-1, 220-pound senior has rushed for 822 yards and 11 TDs, punctuated by a four-touchdown effort against Jacksonville to clinch the Central State 8 Conference West Division title.

“To go from not playing at all to playing varsity and stepping into a big role is like I never thought I would be where I am,” said Ivan, who harbors aspirations of continuing his playing career in college.

The transformation occurred during a practice session a few weeks into the 2023 season. He was being used primarily as a blocking fullback on offense and linebacker on defense. The coaches, wanting to build depth at tailback, gave him some reps.

“The way he hit the gap was impressive,” QND coach Jack Cornell said. “We want to get the thing and get downhill in a hurry. He was able to do that and then have such momentum that he started to pull away from guys.

“Pound for pound, he’s one of the strongest guys on the team. He doesn’t have a lot of football experience, but what he lacks in experience he makes up for with his overall effort and athleticism. He’s such a big, strong athlete that other teams had a tough time bringing him down.

“He was kind of in a battle with the senior we had last year and just kind of took it and ran with it, no pun intended, and hasn’t looked back since.”

The speed, Barb said, came out of necessity.

“When you’re the youngest of eight, you have to be fast — fast to the dinner table and fast to get away from four older brothers so they don’t beat you up,” she said.

Ivan’s biggest fans are members of his family. Raul and Barb have attended every game this season, as have many of the brothers and sisters — ranging in age from 18 to 28 — and their families or significant others, some of whom now live out-of-state.

They sit in clusters in different parts of the grandstands or walk along the sideline. They all converge on the field afterward, talking and taking pictures. His 24-year-old brother JJ keeps Ivan’s statistics throughout games and often sits down with him afterward to discuss the performance.

“JJ is always at my games. He takes off work and everything. He’s a great brother,” Ivan said. “(Raul) is probably my biggest fan because he’s supported me since my freshman year. He’s always been there; he’s always encouraged me. He’s a big part of my football career.

“I know that my whole family is behind me when I’m running the ball. We have all gotten so much closer over the years. It’s nice knowing that no matter where I am, like any situation, I can go and talk to my brothers, sisters and my parents, and they always help me out.”

Raul, a bigger sports fan than his wife, admits to getting excited during games, especially with the success Ivan and the Raiders enjoyed down the stretch last fall and again this season. Their only loss this year was to undefeated crosstown rival Quincy High School in the season opener.

“One of my favorite things the day after the game is when I get an email from his dad talking about how fired up he is from how well we were playing and how well Ivan’s playing,” Cornell said. “But what I appreciate about his dad is that he’s never one to really heap a lot of praise on Ivan. He wants Ivan to always do more and do better.”

Barb, on the other hand, admits to having never been a sports fan.

“I don’t even know what’s going on,” she said. “I usually don’t know which way the ball is supposed to be going or who even has the ball. I’m pretty clueless. We sit by our parish priests, and one of the priests is determined he’s going to teach me the rules of football.”

While the Huns will enjoy this season’s football experience as long as it lasts, the reason they’ve had children attending QND since 2009 is the education. That, like family, has always been the highest priority. It’s the one thing, Barb said, that parents can leave their children that no one can ever take away.

“My philosophy is if a kid is good enough and trains hard, he can have one or two good years, and that’s fine,” Raul said of athletics. “The education and all that stuff is more of a priority. The percentage of people that make a living from sports is very small. If you can have one or two good years and have fun, then go for it.”

Count Cornell among those who respect that approach.

“I’ve gotten to know several of their children, whether it be through being students here at QND or through retreat programs, and they’re all wonderful people,” he said. “You can tell they’ve been raised the right way in a house that greatly values discipline and doing things the right way.

“There’s a lot of parents who want what’s best for their kids. (Raul) is an example of somebody who wants to do everything he can to push his children to be the best they can possibly be at all times, he and Barbara both.”

That begins with putting family first.