FORKS — When a high school senior is discussed in glowing terms at Forks’ Chamber of Commerce meetings, it’s easy to tell you are dealing with one special Spartan.
That senior, three-sport Forks athlete Colton Duncan, has provided the level of leadership and drive that Spartans football coach Trevor Highfield was looking for when he personally approached Duncan during the offseason.
Highfield used his best recruiting pitch to ask Duncan to return to the football field after a three-season absence.
And Highfield, who formerly coached at a high-performing junior college in North Carolina, knows a little about recruiting.
“It’s been neat to recruit him throughout the year and to recruit him through classes and weight training and getting to know the type of guy he is,” Highfield said. “He was somebody I identified right away that we want on this team and that we need on this team. He’s a great person, a great young man who has brought a lot of leadership to our team in a short amount of time.
“We talk about leaders and enforcers, people who enforce the Spartan Way. He is an enforcer, and when he talks, people listen.”
And when he competes, he represents Forks to the fullest. Duncan earned a fifth-place finish at Mat Classic, the state wrestling tournament, in 2020, was also a starter on Forks’ league title-winning, state-bound soccer team in spring 2019 and made the state cross country championships with the Spartans in the fall of 2019.
On the football field, Duncan starts at wide receiver and defensive back and also serves as punter for the Spartans. He’s hauled down impressive touchdown catches, chased down some of the best talent in Class 2B defensively and put a good boot on the ball on special teams.
Forks gets this pretty Carson Windles-to-Colton Duncan 30-yard TD connection late in first half. Spartans, 35-0. @SBLiveWA pic.twitter.com/UG7TdRaFg4
— Todd Milles (@ManyHatsMilles) February 28, 2021
Away from school, Duncan interned with the city of Forks’ Wastewater Plant and now works part-time for the department. He also serves as a volunteer firefighter, stepping up to staff COVID-19 testing and vaccination clinics during the pandemic.
“It varies from fixing water leaks to filling potholes,” Duncan said of his city job. “Today we worked on the baseball fields at Tillicum Park, tilling the fields.
As a volunteer firefighter, Duncan watched a training video at the department’s most recent Tuesday night training.
“We watched a video on how to throw ladders if you need to gain access to a building, and next week we will get it to try that live,” Duncan said.
For his part, Duncan said he enjoys the teamwork, on the field and off.
“I just always like to help out,” Duncan said. “I like seeing everything flow in a pattern with the city. You get people from the fire department, police, hospital, all the first responders, we all get together with one big family with one purpose, and I love seeing everything work together.”
Highfield was impressed with Duncan’s maturity recently.
“He loves Forks, and the all the things that he does on a daily basis to make it a better place,” Highfield said. “He was out responding to a wreck because he works with EMS, and then he comes back and his grandmother’s tire is flat, so he is changing the tire. And he’s texting me the entire time letting me know he thinks he’ll be late to practice, but he wasn’t late. That’s the kind of guy he is, engaged.”
It hasn’t all gone perfectly in his return to the field. Duncan was bedeviled by swirling winds on a punt attempt deep in Forks territory early last week against a talented Napavine team.
“I got down, I was doubting myself a couple of times because I had that punt that went straight up in the air,” Duncan said. “My teammates were a big help, telling me to stay in it and that we still have a chance.”
But he took one of Highfield’s mantras to heart: “Have a short memory.”
Duncan rebounded on his next punt, sending it booming across the field, and led the Spartans in receiving with five catches for 79 yards, including a 17-yard TD reception from senior Carter Windle.
“I was fine, I had a couple of good punts after that and actually ended up forgetting about the bad punt,” Duncan said.
Postgame, Duncan again displayed his character when he offered congratulations on a well-played game to what he mistakenly believed was a Napavine assistant coach in the darkness outside of the Forks locker room.
Duncan said he’s happy to have made the decision to return to football.
“I’ve really enjoyed joining up this year. I realized I missed this feeling,” Duncan said. “That thrill you get from playing, that adrenaline rush.”
“He reminds me a lot of a guy I coached who worked for UPS,” Highfield said. “He’d work all night long, then drive to the college, go to class, practice, then drive back to UPS and take a nap in his car before work. And he’s an attorney now.
“The future is bright for a Colton Duncan, a guy who is driven and having fun. He just has a great attitude constantly, brings people up and raises our standards for academics and personal and civic engagement.”
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-406-0674 or mcarman@peninsuladaily news.com.
