Kountze Scholar Athlete Neal Batman

Kountze High School knows about Neal Batman, just ask Athletic Director James Stevenson.

"Neal has been a great addition to our athletic program. He was our quarterback, split duties his senior year, and didn't have a problem with it. He just was a great teammate and a great leader for us," said Stevenson.

So how exactly does Batman lead the Lions?

According to classmate Justin Taylor, "He leads by example. Everything he does is something respectful; he's just a good guy."

Perhaps it was great leadership that helped Kountze upset district rival East Chambers on the gridiron last fall.

Neal said it was hard work and a total team effort.

"It's just one of those things where you just dream about doing something like that. We definitely didn't go out and whoop up on them. That's a team where, I don't know if it would turn out the same way if we played them again," said Batman.

Batman's impact doesn't only shine at school, but also at First Baptist Church in Kountze.

"Our youth pastor, Jamie Rogers has been a good mentor to me and he's just been behind me. We do as much as we possibly can to be a part of the other students lives," he said.

Batman plans to attend Texas A&M or Southwest Christian College to pursue a degree in business.

The heart of this Lion will be missed throughout the halls of Kountze next year.

Stevenson said, "We hope to produce more students like Neal."

Batman and friends will continue to joke around as graduation approaches.

"We give him a hard time about his name being batman. He once told us he's going to name his daughter Robin-Anne Batman," said Taylor.

For now, Neal just wants to give a shout out to a few of his friends.

"I'd like to say thanks to everyone at my church, all the girls; Oops, I'm in trouble now."

Neal's not really in trouble, but he did collect several recognizable honors this year. He just missed a couple of classes short of a perfect 4.0 grade point average, and he was selected to the Texas All-Academic First Team in football.

Batman enjoys singing in the choir, helping out his youth ministry as mentioned earlier at church, and most importantly, he supports all kids in the school.

Feel free to leave messages to Neal below in the comments section.

KFDM will return to Kountze at the end of the year to take a look at a few female athletes making a difference as well at the high school.