What were Kickapoo running back Maverick McGee’s parents thinking?

Kickapoo’s leading rusher has a call sign.

Through four games, senior Maverick McGee carried the football 59 times for 539 yards and 11 touchdowns. Kickapoo is 4-0, McGee averages 9.1 yards per carry, and he is aware that his name is unique.

“A lot of people think it’s an awesome name, but there are also people that are like, ‘man, what were your parents thinking when they named you that?’” McGee said with a chuckle.

Not much, as it turns out. At least that’s the explanation they gave to Maverick.

“They just said it was something different. I wasn’t named after anything, they just like the name. It flowed with McGee,” he said.

Dictionary.com offered up several definitions of the word “maverick,” but they don’t really fit McGee’s personality. Chiefs coach Kurt Thompson described McGee as a team player, and a leader who is “vocal when he needs to be,” and quiet when it’s time to listen to coaches.

“He’s just a very smart kid, intelligent young man. He just shows up. You never worry about Maverick, you know where he’s going to be and know he’s going to be on time, and know he’s doing things right on and off the field,” Thompson said.

McGee agrees with Thompson’s assessment.

“I’m not a rebel or stray cow or whatever definition you can come up with,” McGee said.

Kickapoo visits rival Glendale, also 4-0, Thursday at 7 p.m. in the News-Leader Game of the Week presented by Murney Associates, Realtors. McGee said the Chiefs are fired up to play the Falcons.

Game of the Week: Southside Showdown is a clash of unbeatens

“I think we’re all extremely excited to be here, and that fact that Glendale is also 4-0 makes it that much better," McGee said. "There isn’t a soul that’s not pumped about this game."

McGee describes the Southside Showdown rivalry as equal parts friendly and fierce.

“We love the (Glendale) kids, but not during football season. During football season, we don’t talk to them, we don’t associate with them at all. I mean, it’s fun. It makes the sport fun to have rivals like that,” McGee said.

As a junior, McGee shared the Kickapoo backfield with Malachi Stout, now on the football team at NCAA Division I Arkansas State. Stout rushed for 1,474 yards and a school record 33 touchdowns in 13 games, and Kickapoo went 12-1 and reached the Class 6 playoff semifinals for the first time ever.

Even with Stout chewing up carries, McGee managed to gain 892 yards and score eight rushing touchdowns. He also picked up 291 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns.

This season, McGee is Kickapoo’s leading man in the ground game and could be a threat to Stout's single-season touchdown record at Kickapoo.

“(McGee) is getting more touches. Last year we had to spread all of them out, and now he’s getting the majority of touches at running back and doing a fantastic job with it,” Thompson said. “He’s doing what we expect him to do.”

Senior Devin Kruse joins McGee in the starting running back spots.

“Devin has done a fantastic job,” Thompson said. “He’s that kid that has waited until his senior year and run with it. He was a good JV player for us last year and at that other running back spot has done fantastic.”

Kruse has carried 24 times for 163 yards and two touchdowns.

“We are a great pair because Devin is a completely different back than I am,” McGee said. “Devin is kind of like Malachi where he can find the holes and he can make people miss just because of his quickness and his agility.”

And if you were wondering, yes, McGee is familiar with Tom Cruise’s character nicknamed “Maverick” in the 1986 movie “Top Gun.,” even though the film hit theaters 13 years before McGee was born. And, yes, McGee has heard all of the jokes people can come up with related to “Top Gun.”

“They always come up to me, they’re like, ‘hey, do you have a brother named Goose or something?’ I do not, but that’s funny,” McGee said.