Peerless In Sticking To Program St. Maries’ Duffey Didn’T Compromise Athletic Career

Trent Duffey will graduate from St. Maries High School proud that he conquered peer pressure.

That’s more important to him than anything he did athletically.

Duffey, The Idaho Spokesman-Review’s male athlete of the year, was a first-team All-Intermountain League selection in football, basketball and baseball this year.

On top of that, Duffey was named the IML’s offensive player of the year in football and the most valuable player in basketball despite playing on teams that didn’t qualify for state.

He put his best feet forward on and off the field. Especially off the field.

“I never drank, I never chewed (tobacco),” Duffey said.

That can’t be said of all of his peers, including some of his friends.

“I had a lot of opportunities,” Duffey said.

But religious convictions coupled with seeing others deal with the consequences of violating the athletic code stopped Duffey from trying even so much as a sip of beer.

“I didn’t need it to have fun,” Duffey explained. “Sports kept me on the straight and narrow.”

“You expect that from him,” Lumberjacks baseball coach Jeff Andersen said. “He’s on a higher pedestal than most kids. He’s a special individual. He’s one that coaches dream about. I’m fortunate to have been able to coach him.”

Here’s an abbreviated list of Duffey’s accomplishments:

In baseball, he was St. Maries’ first four-year all-league player. He holds most of the career and season records. He was 22-8 as a pitcher, including a 9-1 record this year. He was 3-1 in state tournaments, including victories in trophy games as a sophomore (third place) and this spring (fourth). And he struck out just 25 times in 328 career at-bats.

In football, he broke an 18-year-old season record for most yards passing as a junior. Last fall, he broke the mark again when he passed for 2,516 yards, shattering the 20-year-old record for career yards held by New Orleans Saints general manager Randy Mueller. He finished with 4,761.

In basketball, he hit three game-winning shots at the buzzer as a sophomore, including a 25-footer in a state opener.

What does Duffey count as one of his top feats?

“Just making it through all four years without getting hurt in football,” the gangly 5-foot-10, 150-pounder said.

Duffey plans to attend Ricks College and try out for all three sports. He will likely go on a two-year church mission next spring, hoping to return to college and continue his athletic career.

But he has no clue which sport, if any, he’ll ultimately play.

He went to state in each sport twice. But Duffey was disappointed not to qualify in football and basketball this year, particularly in basketball. The Lumberjacks, seeking a third straight trip to state, were favored to win a league basketball title, but didn’t play to expectation until it was too late.

“Instead of working hard each day, we just sort of took it for granted,” Duffey said. “We came into the season thinking it was going to happen. We just didn’t get it done.”

As far as Duffey’s athletic accomplishments are concerned, count him as unimpressed at the moment.

“They’re probably something I’ll appreciate more later in life,” Duffey said. “Somebody will come along and break the records. I don’t see them standing 18 or 20 years.”

The records were something that just happened because he tried to live by the words of a poem he had taped to a mirror in his bedroom: “Just do your best … Do your best in whatever you do. Do your best that’s all one can ask.”

Duffey can look at himself in the mirror and see a reflection of somebody who lived up to the poem’s message.

The feats brought much pleasure at the time, but Duffey drew the most satisfaction competing with his friends.

“Athletics are not life and death,” he said. “I don’t remember the exact yards I got in football or all the records. But I know I had a lot of fun with my friends.”

And that’s something he’ll cherish long after his records are broken.