On the gridiron, Pauley was an all-state quarterback. He completed 57 percent of his passes while throwing for 5,173 yards and 54 touchdowns in his career, according to MaxPreps. Pauley also rushed for 2,326 yards and 38 touchdowns for the Huskies. He accumulated nearly 7,500 yards of total offense in his high school career with 88 total touchdowns.
As a senior, Pauley threw for 1,945 yards, rushed for 1,214 yards and accounted for 45 total touchdowns to help Blue Valley Northwest to a 12-1 record and the school's first state title. For his efforts, Pauley won the 2021 Thomas A. Simone Award, presented to the best high school football player in Kansas City. Pauley had 1,369 passing yards, 571 rushing yards and 25 total touchdowns as a junior. In his first season as the Huskies' starting quarterback, Pauley passed for 1,861 yards, rushed for 532 yards and accounted for 22 total touchdowns as a sophomore.
On the baseball diamond, Pauley hit .320 with eight home runs as a junior for Blue Valley Northwest. He was part of the Huskies program that won a regional championship in 2018. Pauley was ranked as the No. 1 catcher in Kansas by Perfect Game. He was also part of Northwest's 6A state championship basketball team in 2018, a regional title in 2019 and a sectional title in 2020.
Pauley was a three-star football recruit ranked among the top 15 prospects in the state of Kansas. He signed his National Letter of Intent with the Nebraska baseball program, spurning multiple football scholarship offers.
