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Steamboat Springs — Joe Dover doesn't like to explain what goes on inside his head when he gets the ball.

But when he does, people - especially opposing defenders and coaches - hold their breath. He can do things with a football not many can. Get him in the open field, and it's over.

But the scariest thing for opposition is that Dover, a rising senior at Steamboat Springs High School and the most electric football player on the Western Slope, has given opponents nightmares the past two years while playing at less than 100 percent.

Sometimes much less.

But now Dover, who had surgery in January to fuse his L1 and L2 vertebrae, put two screws in and do a bone graph, is rapidly getting close to 100 percent for the first time since eighth grade.

"You need to go back and look at all the great things he's done for us as an athlete and then realize he wasn't at full health," Steamboat coach Aaron Finch said. "You can't help but get excited."

Dover already is proving just how scarily good he can be at full health.

On June 20, Dover was named the most valuable wide receiver at the Boulder NIKE Camp - a traveling camp that brings in some of the top college prospects from across the country. Dover, relatively an unknown, was asked to come to the camp along with teammate and fellow rising senior Austin Hinder.

"Nobody could cover me," Dover said. "They'd press, and I'd go by them. They'd play off and, well, nobody could cover me. I needed that. That was a coming out. I've been under the radar for the last few years."

The breakthrough performance has started to put Dover on the map. He's started to receive mild interest from the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, Kansas State University and the University of Utah.

With a big senior season, scholarship offers could start to flood in.

"It's always been my dream to go play college," Dover said. "Since second grade, Austin and I

have been throwing routes in the back yard. It really hit me when I got back surgery that I needed to get stuff together. I have something a lot of people don't have, so I don't want to waste it."

The first-team All-State kick-returner has been a constant in the weight room this spring. He originally fractured his L2 vertebrae in eighth grade. Last season, he played the first four games feeling healthy. But by the final regular season game, against Glenwood Springs, Dover was in bad shape. He barely could stand on his own, and the pain was unbearable. A CAT scan revealed the injury, and Dover went in for surgery.

He spent four nights in the hospital and the first month after that in bed. After two months, he started doing core workouts and pushups.

Three weeks ago, he was cleared to run. Dover ran the 40-yard dash last season in 4.53 seconds. He said he's quicker, faster and stronger, and he ran the same time just a week ago.

He said he'd like to - and knows he can - get that time down to 4.4 seconds. That time would have college coaches lining up.

"He starts and stops and changes direction as well as anybody I've been associated with," Finch said. "He creates a lot of room. What that results in, and it's fans as well, is every time he gets the ball, you say, 'There's a good chance something cool is going to happen.'"

Dover's clearly focused on his upcoming season. He knows if he performs well, there is a chance he'll get a college scholarship.

He's been a key figure in the weight room this summer, leading the way for teammates. Dover said his goals for the next season are to stay healthy and to lead Steamboat to a state championship.

And now that he's healthy, Dover said it's not good news for the rest of the state. He even let a little in on what it's going to be like now when he gets the ball.

"If I touch the ball, it's touchdown," he said. "I get the ball, I see jerseys and go where they aren't. I go for the end zone. I'm not the guy that's going to run out of bounds. If you're in my way, I'm going to run over you. If I can get around you, I'll get around you. It's going to be tough to stop me."