Mt Hood Conference Player of the Year Devauntae Hoffman (5-8 190 Sr. RB/CB) is back and he will be the focal point of the Gophers attack all season. Gresham loses almost their entire line, but have some talented underclassmen with good size that should step up.
Hoffman is a kid that has been a 1st team all league athlete for the last two seasons, and beat out everyone last year as a junior for conference player of the year honors. Hoffman did very well for himself at our elite events during the winter, and also had an outstanding showcase event at UW to end the camp/combine season.
Devauntae went for 20+ Tds and 1342 rushing yards, while almost single handily keeping Gresham in ball games last year with 3 punt returns and 2 kick returns. The kid is flat out nasty when you get him in the open field, as he sports a 4.4 hand time 40 yard dash with legit strength that makes extremely tough to take down. His 530 squat, 335 bench, and 295 hang clean speak to his power and what he is capable of moving forward. He understands that teams are going to game plan for him each week, as he has been the dude at Gresham for the last three years.
Hoffman says, ” I know that when im running the ball the defense is out to hunt me and either I will punish them or they will punish me”. He continued, ” I live by one motto…. feel no pressure, apply it”. He understands how important these first few games of senior season are as colleges are going to want to see what the kid can do in comparison to the last two seasons. He has set a high standard for himself and should feel good about his opportunities at the next level.
The Gophers beat Wilson in week 1 27-10 as Hoffman ran for 172 yards and 2 Tds on 23 carries. As nice as that stat line sounds Devauntae understands that its going to have to have some elite performances against teams like Central Catholic to show that he can dominate all levels of competition. Hoffman’s work ethic speaks for itself as he attended all of our elite events in the winter, and left no doubt about how much he loves to compete. He is ranked as one of our top Sr RB’s in the NW that has yet to receive an offer so expect to hear things pick up for him on the recruiting front.
Portland St and other Big Sky Schools have shown significant interest, and he is a good season away from being the Gophers all time leader in multiple categories. Devauntae says, ” F.O.E stands for Family Over Everything and that’s what matters to me”. The one thing that sticks out about Hoffman other then his high level of play is his passion for the game and his desire to be great. You can’t teach work ethic and love of football, it has to be something that’s internal otherwise you will be weeded out as the competition just gets better. We are big backers of Devauntae and what he has accomplished thus far and we look forward helping him with his career however we can. He’s a class kid and someone we are excited to work with moving forward.
