STARKVILLE – Every time Colt Chrestman walks off the football field, he’s tired.

The Starkville Academy senior leaves everything on the field and that aids in being tired, but that’s not the main reason. Chrestman does almost everything for the Volunteer football team expect coach.

Chrestman is a starting wide receiver, starting safety, running back, backup quarterback, punter, punt returner and kick returner for the Volunteers. He is on the field for nearly every snap of a 48-minute ballgame, but he doesn’t mind it and calls it a good experience.

“I like being on the field and I like helping my team as much as possible,” Chrestman said. “Being on this team, I get the opportunity of playing a lot in all three aspects of the game.”

Volunteer fans will get to see Chrestman play all three aspects of the game this Friday, as Starkville Academy (3-1) host Washington School (2-1) for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Homecoming weekend. SA looks to bounce back from its first loss of the season at the hands of Lamar School on the road last Friday.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound versatile athlete started playing both sides of the ball when he was in junior high school. When he joined the varsity squad as a sophomore, he added punting duties to his repertoire.

First-year coach Chase Nicholson says he is blessed to have a player like Chrestman.

“He’s very humble,” Nicholson said. “You know what you get with a kid like him. His experience pays off in that too.”

Chrestman, who also plays for the varsity basketball and baseball teams and runs track, leads the Volunteers with 12 catches for 257 yards and three touchdowns. He has rushed the ball five times for 66 yards.

On defense, Chrestman has 24 total tackles with 13 solos and one for a loss. He has one interception and has been credited with one fumble recovery. The Volunteers don’t keep punting stats, but he has pinned two punts inside the 10-yard line.

Chrestman says the toughest thing about playing all three aspects is being in shape.

“You’ve just got to make sure you condition well over the summer and you condition as hard as you can at practice and stay in shape for it,” he said.

Nicholson says Chrestman’s best aspect on the field is being a good runner because he is so fast.

But there is a mental attitude that Nicholson likes the most out of his all-around athlete.

“His strong point is his desire to get better,” Nicholson said. “He’s one of those lucky guys that everything he does, he’s very, very good at it. He’s never satisfied with how good he is. He always wants to get better.”

Chrestman played for former Volunteer coach Jeff Terrill the last two seasons, and had a lot on his shoulders even though he wasn’t one of the main pieces on offense.

Nichols and his coaching staff sat down with Chrestman and told him they wanted more out of him this season for a number of reasons.

“Now he’s a senior,” Nicholson said. “He’s the quarterback of the secondary and he’s got to be able to come in and run quarterback on the offense. He has to be mentally strong on both aspects. What we try to do is not overwhelm him with too much to where his wires get crossed up. We want to keep it as simple as we can for him, but he’s very, very intelligent so it doesn’t take a whole lot for it to soak in.”

Chrestman has schoolwork and he takes that home with him sometimes, but there are times when he takes football home with him. He says there have been nights when he can’t sleep and he puts on some film and tries to learn something about the opposition’s offense or defense that will help his team.

That shows he has focus, and he says that has been one of the big things that has helped him perform at a high level in all three aspects.

“You can’t just focus on offense because then you’re behind on defense,” Chrestman said. “You have to think about everything you have to do on both sides and punting and kick returning.”

Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait

Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.