Before the start of the 2023 high school football season Ballard coach Kyle Howard was looking to fill a void.
The Bombers’ 2022 kicker, Caden Miller, had graduated, and they needed to find someone with a good enough leg to at least pick up some extra points after touchdowns. Howard looked over some soccer players for Ballard.
He gave a couple guys a shot and one caught his eye.
Sam Hoffman.
Hoffman, then a freshman, went on to make 24 of 26 extra points. He also averaged 48 yards on 18 kickoffs with one touchback.
“I never played football before, so it was kind of a big thing,” said Hoffman. “All the seniors that year, and even the next year with Jackson Wacha and Tucker Vitzthum, they really showed me what it means to not just be a high school football player, but be a Ballard Bomber.”
From there he has gone on to establish himself as one of the best kickers in Ballard history.
“He came out and he delivered,” said Howard. “He’s been our guy ever since.”
Hoffman followed up his productive freshman season with a phenomenal sophomore year.
Hoffman made 30 of 31 extra points in 2024. He was even better from farther out.
After not attempting a field goal as a freshman, Hoffman was a perfect 8 of 8 as a sophomore. He had a long of 40 yards and hit a 35-yard game winner as time expired during a 16-14 home win over Indianola.
“Going into Indianola I was 3-for-3 or 4-for-4, I think,” Hoffman said. “I had such confidence.”
That win helped propel Ballard into the 2024 Class 4A playoffs, but the Bombers fell to Lewis Central in the first round.
Last year Ballard’s offense struggled. The Bombers averaged only 18.9 points during a 2-7 season.
Ballard’s offense did find its groove late in the year, averaging 37.5 points over its final four games. But the Bombers scored only 20 points total over the first five games.
Because the offense had a tough time moving the ball, Hoffman was asked to kick some longer field goals during his junior season. He set a school record with a 46-yarder during a 22-3 loss to North Polk, but his accuracy fell off a bit as he made 2 of 6 field goals.
“It’s not always in his control,” Howard said. “Last year we maybe asked him to kick some kicks that maybe weren’t in his range.”
But Hoffman was ready to give it a shot every time he was asked to kick.
“I trust my coaches,” Hoffman said. “They had a lot of faith in me that, even if I couldn’t make it, they’d still send me out the next week.”
His teammates have plenty of trust in him.
“He’s been great for us,” said Ballard quarterback Bryce Miller. “When we get in the red zone and we can’t that extra first down or put it in the zone, he’s always there for us to make a field goal.”
Miller will be entering his third year as the holder for Hoffman. He always remembers to place the ball laces-out with just a little bit of a tilt.
“Every time getting the ball and putting it down for him is great,” Miller said. “He compresses the ball really well right through the uprights. It’s awesome.”
Hoffman prefers to kick from the middle of the field, but due to his soccer instincts, as a right-legged kicker he also likes having it on the right hash to give him a little more wiggle room to get the ball through the uprights.
Hoffman has already committed to kick for the two-time defending NAIA champion Grand View Vikings football program in Des Moines.
He enters his senior season relaxed, but he is still as serious as ever when it comes to kicking. Hoffman will always be ready whenever he is called upon, no matter the distance.
“This will be my fourth year playing varsity football,” Hoffman said. “I just want to do whatever the team needs. I want our offense to get in the end zone so I can kick PATs. But if I need to step and make a field goal – no matter the distance – just be able to step up for my team.”
Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at jrandleman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: How Ballard’s Sam Hoffman became one of the state’s best kickers
Reporting by Joe Randleman, Ames Tribune / Ames Tribune
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By Joe Randleman, Ames Tribune | USA TODAY Network
