HMB star realizes wildest dreams in Nor Cal title year

At the heart of the program-record 14-1 season was Daily Journal Football Player of the Year Chase Hofmann.

Many times throughout his prestigious three-year varsity career, Hofmann has been referred to as a standout two-way player. But “two-way” is something of a misnomer. Sure, he was the only player in the PAL to lead his team in both rushing yards (1,382 on the season, 92.1 per game) and tackles (97, 6.5). But he was also a prolific special-teams presence, who totaled five blocks — three blocked point-after tries, one blocked field goal and one blocked punt — in addition to 167 yards worth of kickoff returns.

“I actually don’t like coming off the field at all,” Hofmann said.

This was a necessary mindset for the entirety of Half Moon Bay’s roster, with the team carrying less than 30 players throughout the regular season. But that’s the way they roll on the Coastside, where Hofmann and the Cougars’ core group of seniors — Gavin Tomberlin, Hayden Von Almen and Jake Quosig — who learned to play all roles, all-out, all the time since their upstart days with the Pop Warner Mitey-Mite Cougars at the age of 7.

“We’ve all played together so long, and all played both ways so long, it really wasn’t anything new to us,” Hofmann said.

Racking up championship trophies wasn’t new to them either. With the Pop Warner Cougars, Hofmann and company twice earned titles in Best of the West tournament. But the game that sticks in Hofmann’s craw is the eighth-grade Best of the West championship game, which his team lost by 2 points — the same margin by which Half Moon Bay lost to Steele Canyon-Spring Valley, 44-42, in the CIF Division 3-A State Championship Bowl.

The Cougars’ lone loss of 2017 was a bittersweet end to a Cinderella season. The small campus of Half Moon Bay, with a student body of approximately 1,000 students, winning 14 straight games, and doing so by running the table in the “A”-league PAL Bay Division. Not only had the Cougars won their previous two league titles in the “B”-league PAL Ocean Division, they had never in program history won a game in Bay Division play until this season.

With the Bay Division championship, Half Moon Bay also moved into state bowl-game contention. With the two previous CCS Division IV titles — Division IV is not entertained by the CIF postseason format — Half Moon Bay’s season ended with section championship victories. This year, however, moving up to the CCS Open Division III, the Cougars again made program history by qualifying for a CIF state bracket for the first time ever.

Because of the uphill climb Half Moon Bay faced entering the season though, reaching the state playoffs was the furthest thing for Hofmann’s mind.

“I was not thinking that at the beginning of the year,” Hofmann said. “I wasn’t even thinking CCS championship or anything. I was just hoping we could make the playoffs, honestly.”

That outlook changed as the Cougars surged through regular-season play. Through five non-league games, Half Moon Bay yielded just two touchdowns, outscoring opponents 281-14. The real test began with PAL Bay Division play though, as the Cougars opened by facing four consecutive eventual CCS playoff teams.

The win that convinced Hofmann the Cougars were legitimate contenders was a 28-10 triumph over defending Bay Division champion Menlo-Atherton. The senior grinded out a yeoman’s workload in a game where yards were at a premium. Half Moon Bay totaled just 248 total yards, with Hofmann taking 23 carries for 71 yards while scoring all three Cougars touchdowns. On defense — in holding M-A to 282 yards of offense — Hofmann recorded one of his team’s five sacks.

“The whole game, after their first drive and how we stopped them … we realized we could play with them,” Hofmann said. “We can play with these guys and anyone else too.”

The PAL Bay fell like dominoes. Burlingame 39-15, M-A 28-10, Aragon 21-14, Terra Nova 45-7 and Sacred Heart Prep 40-26. And just for good measure, the Cougars re-matched Burlingame in the CCS opener for a 38-20 win, then took down archrival Terra Nova for a second time in the CCS Division 3-A championship game, a 41-9 triumph.

Hofmann impressed by playing through a broken right hand he endured in the regular-season “Skull Game” matchup against Terra Nova. He went on to wear a cast through all three CCS playoff games, including a 52-17 semifinal win over Live Oak with Hofmann going for a season-high 188 rushing yards.

As a senior playing through a tougher league, Hofmann saw a drop in his rushing total from his junior season. In 2016, he rushed for 2,070 yards in two fewer games. Yet the 2017 Cougars, as a team, stayed on par with their previous yardage total — 5,283 total yards in ’17, averaging 352 yards per game; 4,672 in ’16, 359 ypg — a point of pride for Hofmann.

“I don’t mind it at all, really,” Hofmann said. “Me having less chances is just letting someone else get the ball and do something great with it.”