It was rare that Ralph Ortega ventured into the great outdoors without his cache of hunting implements. But the man who nicknamed his oldest son "Buck" after a deer he often tracked knew that this 1996 trip to the woods of Elkmont, N.C., was all about family.

Ralph realized that Buck's upcoming freshman year at Westminster Christian High (Miami, Fla.) was going to be a mammoth transition for a gangly kid who had always been home-schooled by his mother, Joanne. This camping trip was slated to be long on love and absent of any kind of high-propulsion instruments, or at least that's what Ralph thought until an innocent game of catch.

	Ortega is one of nation's top QB's.

"We were throwing around a football while camping just before Buck's ninth-grade year, and I think that's when he really showed me what a good arm he had," recalls Ralph. "I remember thinking how nice his release was."

Three years after the kid formally named Rafael, Jr., impressed his father by firing off a series of football bullets, he found himself doing the same routine - except this time it was at an entirely different kind of camp in front of a much more critical audience.

This summer, the 6-foot-5, 210-pound Ortega used his rifle arm at such showcases as the University of Miami and Florida State University football camps to cement his title as one of the best high school quarterbacks in Florida and a major Division I college prospect. This, after accumulating 910 passing yards and 16 touchdowns in his first season as the starting QB at Gulliver Prep (Miami, Fla.), where he transferred to one-and-a-half years ago.

Although Ortega didn't play organized football until the seventh grade, he was hardly a Buck in the woods when it came to the game. He was always the primary audience for his dad, who enjoyed telling stories about his days playing linebacker at Coral Gables High, the University of Florida and, finally, the Atlanta Falcons and Miami Dolphins of the NFL from 1975-1980.

"I think his relationship with his dad has been great because his dad has such a good work ethic and he knows what it takes to succeed," says Gulliver Prep head football coach Steve Howey, who added Ralph Ortega to his staff as defensive coordinator last season. "Buck has got such a good work ethic, nothing he does surprises me. He always does whatever it takes."

Ortega's meteoric rise to the top of college recruiters' wish lists is still nothing short of jaw-dropping considering he was a 140-pound defensive end just three years ago for a school of 346 students.

"I always had a pretty good arm when I was playing Little League baseball, and I was always talking football with my dad," says Ortega, 18, who has narrowed his college choices to Miami, Florida, Florida State, North Carolina State and Stanford. "I learned so much from sitting in the car on the way to games and talking to him about football."

However, Ralph was somewhat hesitant to introduce his son to football, knowing firsthand the physical pain that comes with playing the game.

"My parents didn't want me to play organized football at first," says Buck. "My dad wanted me to play baseball because he had to stop playing football because of all of his injuries. He can't even really run anymore because of them. Because of that, they kind of pushed me to other sports."

But once young Ortega put on the pads, it was clear he had talent. Even during his freshman and sophomore seasons at Westminster, his slight build and limited time under center didn't diminish his presence playing on the defensive side of the ball.

"When we played Westminster I thought he was the best defensive player out there," remembers Howey. "He was skinny, but he was a tough kid."

Ortega made the decision to transfer to the slightly larger Gulliver Prep (611 students) midway through his sophomore year at Westminster. His January arrival allowed Ortega to participate in Howey's spring practice, where it quickly became clear that there was a new starting quarterback on campus.

However, Ortega found out in a hurry that his height (6-foot-5), strength (250-pound bench press), speed (4.6 40-yard dash) and smarts (1,360 on the PSAT) couldn't make up for a lack of experience. It was a lesson he learned the hard way in Gulliver's season-opening 27-10 loss to Cardinal Newman High last year.

"It was a tough game because I didn't fully understand the offensive system," says Ortega, who went on to lead Gulliver to a 10-2 record. "It was a really rough game. But I progressed as the season went along. From the first game to the last game, I was a whole different person."