NATCHEZ — A high school senior season comes around once in a lifetime, and Sam Butler went the extra mile to ensure his would be a memorable one, 380 miles to be exact.

The Adams County Christian School defensive back, who has earned high praise from head coach David King in the past, made a trip to Dallas on June 1 to attend the 4th-and-inches Sports Performance camp for a month.

“It takes a lot for a kid to leave his mother and a father and go eight hours away, but that’s how committed he is,” King said. “He’s one of the best players in our league, no question. If there’s a couple of better defensive backs that are better than him in this area, well that team must be loaded.”

In Dallas, Butler challenged himself in one-on-ones with other players across the country, worked on his agility and became entrenched in a heavy weight training program. When June ended, Butler decided he wanted to stay another month, and after receiving permission from King, Butler stayed with intentions of adding more mass to his body.

“When I left Natchez I was 155 pounds and when I came back I was 175,” Butler said. “I was lucky to have my brother, Donald Butler, out there so I could stay with him. He played quarterback at Natchez in 2000, so he knew this was a good opportunity for me.”

The desire to put on weight was fueled by two reasons — preventing injury down the road and trying to garner more scholarship opportunities to play football after high school.

“I’m trying to play at the next level, I’m going to play at the next level,” Butler said. “Putting on this extra weight will help later on in the season when injuries start happening.”

With his biceps doubled in size and his shirt much tighter than it was before the summer, Butler participated in some agility work at ACCS with his teammates, flying around the football field. Butler was reminded of why he wanted to leave and better himself in the first place, remembering a 35-21 state title loss to Centreville last November.

“It left a bitter taste in my mouth, and I figured I needed to do whatever I could to help my team out this year,” Butler said. “We need to get back there this year, and I don’t want to be walking off of the field with a bitter taste in my mouth.”

King said Butler’s drive is one of many qualities that will lead to a great senior season at ACCS.

“He’s the ideal player you want to coach because he’s never going to a say a word, and he’s one of those guys that is unselfish and has great demeanor,” King said. “He was kind of in the shadow of Lester (Wells), Torrey (Smith) and Trey (Fleming) last year, but this is his time to blossom. He’s due for a great year.”