In case you missed it, the following feature appeared in the free souvenir game program at the 2025 PBK Bank/WPBK-FM Death Valley Bowl.
By Jonathan L. Smith, Lincoln County football historian
In the inaugural 1998 Death Valley Bowl, the first Lincoln County player to touch the football was Nick Hill. He bobbled the kickoff, then picked it up and raced 87 yards for a touchdown.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” Nick said recently. “I was so amped up and excited that I mishandled it at first before running it back. I was excited because I wanted to do well like my cousins and other family members who had played at Lincoln.”
As a junior in that very first Death Valley Bowl, Nick carried the ball eleven times for seventy-two yards and scored a rushing touchdown in addition to the kickoff return. He was named his team’s Most Valuable Player by the bowl committee. Today, Nick and his wife, Stacy, live near Tampa, Florida, and that MVP trophy is proudly displayed in his home office. (He is pictured holding it.)
He also played in the 1999 Death Valley Bowl as a senior and scored two more touchdowns in that game. In his four-year career at LCHS (1996-1999), Nick scored lots of touchdowns: 15 by rushing, 2 by receiving, 1 interception return, and two kickoff returns. His 122 career points puts him at number twenty-five on the LCHS all-time career scoring list.
As a running back, Nick was a shifty speedster who also ran track. He recalled being a freshman on a great 4 x 100 relay team in 1997, “It was Maurice Napier, Brian Miller, Gary Spigle, and me.” Those four ran a 43.9 second time in the 3A state track meet at UK, which was a school record at that time.
One of the most memorable plays of Nick’s career, remembered by fans and players alike, is the flea-flicker hook-and-lateral play at Danville in 1997. Brad Wall caught a pass and lateraled it to Nick, who then sped about 45 yards toward the goal line, made a spin move, and got close enough for Lincoln County to punch it in with less than a minute to play.
A failed two-point conversion left Lincoln with a one-point loss, but the game went down in the annals of Lincoln football as one of the school’s gutsiest performances. Nick recalls it fondly, “It was one of those ‘almost’ games. I talk to some of the guys like Lorenzo (Suter) from time to time and we’ll bring up that game.”
After graduation in 2000, Nick said he passed up offers to play college football, “I had a couple of injuries in high school and decided not to play in college.” He continued, “I had another offer from Kentucky State University after I had been out of high school for a year.” At that point, football was behind him, and he was working on his studies at the University of Kentucky.
After getting a degree from UK, Nick started working at Bank One in Lexington, which was merged with JP Morgan Chase resulting in JPMorgan Chase & Co. He then transferred with JPMorgan Chase to Columbus, Ohio, and later moved with the company to Tampa, Florida, where he now lives.
Altogether, he has been with JPMorgan Chase for twenty-three years, and is now a Control Manager, responsible for identifying, assessing, and mitigating operational, regulatory, and reputational risks for the company. His work causes him to interact with the audit, compliance, and legal departments of JPMorgan Chase.
He still has fond memories of his years as a Patriot, “Walking down that hill, hearing the cleats hitting the concrete, and touching the tombstone are all great memories.” He also fondly remembers “the practice, preparation, and camaraderie with my teammates.”
Nick has four children. His oldest, Bryce, is a graduate of the University of Louisville, his daughter Emma-Leigh is an incoming freshman at The Ohio State University, his son Bradley is a 4th grade soccer player, and youngest daughter Lilah is a 3rd grade dancer.
Most of Nick’s family still lives in Lincoln County, and he keeps tabs on Lincoln football through the family, “My nephews, Malik and Madden Hill (his brother Justin’s sons) are coming up through the middle school and I’m looking forward to them playing at the high school.”
Nick Hill, one of the greatest Lincoln football players, is now excelling in the corporate banking world. From Death Valley to Tampa, he has made his mark on and off the field.
