Ethan Stewart was walking through J.I. Burton’s gym last month, looking for a bat, basketball and football.

As he followed a teacher into the supply room, two girls watched him.

"He’s so hot," one said.

While she was commenting on Stewart’s looks, she could have also been talking about his accomplishments at the Lonesome Pine District school.

At a school which boasts one of the area’s best sports traditions, Stewart has assured his place in Raider history.

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Stewart quarterbacked Burton to two straight Group A, Division 1 championship football games, was a double-double threat in basketball and is one of Region D’s best catchers.

"In my 28-year coaching career at J.I. Burton," football coach Jim Adams said, "he’s achieved more than any athlete I can recall."

Yet the argument can be made that Stewart has proven more off the field, where he’s combined smarts with compassion and devoted service to his community.

Those who know Stewart best point to a tragedy as the leading example of his character.

On a late July night in 2006, one week before preseason practice started, all-state linebacker Rickie Harris laid in a hospital bed.

Involved in an auto accident, Harris waged an unsuccessful fight for his life, passing away in mid-August. The Raiders, not to mention the town, were heartbroken.

With the season days away from starting, the Raiders gathered in their locker room for a team meeting. Their quarterback and leader stood up to talk.

"I think we just talked about setting our priorities in life," Stewart said.

Adams remembers Stewart’s and the team’s sadness all being unleashed at once.

"Him doing that," Adams said of Stewart, "basically convinced the rest of the kids it was OK to grieve, to cry."

Playing the 2006 season in Harris’ memory, Burton marched through LPD and Region D competition unscathed. Its closest game was 17 points.

In their third consecutive state title game, the Raiders met Riverheads and trailed 21-20 after Stewart scored his third touchdown with less than a minute remaining.

Adams was plotting a two-point conversion that would give Burton the lead when a member of the Winchester-area officiating crew dropped a flag.

Unsportsmanlike conduct on Stewart, who television replays showed did nothing more than raise his hands in celebration.

The 15-yard penalty backed the Raiders up to their 18-yard line, forcing Stewart to try a pass which fell incomplete. Riverheads recovered the onside kick and emerged with a controversial win.

As Burton coaches, players, fans and neutral observers raged about the egregious call, which the Virginia High School League later admitted was improper, Stewart wore it with class.

After all, he had seen a real tragedy just months before.

"It kind of gives you a new outlook on things," Stewart said. "It makes you realize in the grand scheme of things, enjoying life and your family and friends is so much more important."

Stewart’s grand scheme involves more than first downs, rebounds and home runs. Lisa Davis, an English teacher at Burton, has seen it first-hand.

"He has an amazing sense of perspective," she said. "He doesn‘t think like your average high school senior."

While some athletes can’t be bothered to return to their roots, Stewart gladly did it. He helped coach a youth league football team and – naturally – tutored the quarterback.

But according to Ken Crowder, the public address announcer for Burton football games who also serves as the general manager for Lonesome Pine Country Club in Big Stone Gap, Stewart’s lasting legacy is a post-practice ritual he followed for four years.

"I had youth league players assembled for practice as the varsity team was exiting the field," Crowder said. "Most of the players, tired from a long practice, made their way to the locker room.

"But when Ethan got to our small corner of the practice field, he stopped, spoke to nearly every kid on the team, wished them well and offered a few pointers. Every day – for four straight years."

Stewart, who has found time to be part of nine different clubs at Burton and play in the school’s band, said it was the least he could do for the children.

"I know in a small town like this, the young kids look up to the people they see on the field or the court. I enjoy patting them on the back, helping them out with homework or whatever they need."

That giving spirit will extend to life after college if Stewart has his way. He’d like to open a sports medicine clinic.

"I think it would be a valuable asset to this area," he said. "Right now, kids have to go to the Tri-Cities if they’re hurt and that’s a long drive. I know it would be a very rewarding experience for me to help people."