For some, Saturday’s CHaD NH East-West High School All-Star Football game will mark the last time they put on pads. For Austin Hogancamp, the CHaD experience will be a bridge between playing Division II high school football for Kearsarge and playing Division I college football at Murray State in Kentucky.
“What’s exciting for Austin going into this game is it’s going to be another step toward where he wants to go,” Kearsarge Coach Zach Matthews said. “When he shows up at Murray State, there are going to be a lot of kids coming from places like Florida and Alabama and Georgia, so for him it’s another step toward that, getting to see some kids from Concord, Pinkerton, Central, some of the bigger schools, and see how he matches up. And I think he’s going to really attack it and be excited about it.”
He is.
“It’s been really cool so far,” Hogancamp said of his time practicing with Team West, which also features local players Leo Sudieh (Concord), Christopher Robbins (Bow) and Zach Hamilton (John Stark). “I’m not used to being on a team where everyone is super into football and that’s what they really care about, and that’s what it is on the CHaD team, it’s just a bunch of guys who are super committed.
“These are the best matchups I’ve ever had to go against, so it’s a good thing for me to be doing right now, getting ready for college.”
Hogancamp (6-foot-2, 250 pounds) was named to USA Today’s 2015 All-State First Team, which included players from every division, as a guard. He was also named to the 2015 D-II All-State First Team as a defensive lineman, and he was a D-II All-State First Team pick last year as a guard. He’s not exactly sure where he’ll end up at Murray State, but he’ll be playing defensive tackle in the CHaD game, which kicks off at 5:30 p.m. at St. Anselm.
“He’s the hardest working kid I’ve ever had in our football program,” Matthews said. “He’s just a tireless worker. He doesn’t stop. He goes through weight lifting partners in our weight room weekly. Meaning people think they want to work out with him and then they go through one of his workouts and they can only handle one, so then he’s on to somebody else.”
Hogancamp is also willing to put ego aside and do what’s best for the team.
He started playing touch football in first grade and loved the sport even more when it became full contact in fourth grade. He started out as a lineman because there was a weight restriction for running backs, but when that restriction was lifted (sixth grade), he began carrying the ball and the football love grew even deeper.
But after Hogancamp’s sophomore year at Kearsarge, Matthews sat him down for what could have been a difficult conversation. The coach knew he already had a pair of talented running backs in the pipeline (Justin Norris and Riley Antle, who both ran for over 1,000 yards last fall), and he also knew Hogancamp’s skill set – strength, aggression, straight-line power – was better suited for the line.
“I was a little disappointed because I loved running back, but I was definitely going to do it just because I was going to do whatever would help the team,” Hogancamp said. “And coach told me if I moved to the line I’d be an all-state lineman, which I ended up being, so I guess he was right.”
Matthews never saw an ounce of that disappointment.
“He wasn’t a kid who felt bad for himself making that move. I brought it up to him and he was like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it,’ and he attacked the move full steam,” Matthews said. “We just wanted to put him where he would get the most out of his ability, it seemed like the offensive and defensive line was the place for that, and the rest is history. He hit the ground running and hasn’t looked back.”
His time at running back, however, wasn’t wasted. He did a lot of lead blocking from the backfield, which prepared him perfectly to be a pulling guard. He understands what a running back is looking for out of his linemen. And, when he’s on defense, he can read plays a little quicker because he’s seen it from the other side.
“I still had the quick feet from when I was a running back, so it was a lot easier to get the footwork down as a lineman. And it helped with vision, too,” Hogancamp said.
It’s easy to see why Hogancamp is going off to play football at the D-I (FCS) level, although you might be curious how a kid from New Hampshire decided to go to college in Kentucky. The answer is simple. Both of Hogancamp’s parents, two of his grandparents and two of his great grandparents all went to Murray State.
Despite all that history, he didn’t think he wanted to go there (“I wasn’t too keen on how hot it is down there,” he said), but when his parents suggested he send the football coaches his highlight tape, he did. The Racers staff liked what they saw, got in touch with Matthews and eventually offered Hogancamp a spot as a preferred walk on.
Murray State, which finished 3-8 last year and plays in the Ohio Valley Conference, begins its full-team football camp on Aug. 4. But Hogancamp is reporting on July 11 to go through voluntary workouts led by the players.
Of course he is. What else would you expect from one of the hardest working kids every to come out of Kearsarge?
(Tim O’Sullivan can be reached at 369-3341, tosullivan@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @tosullivan20.)