Running with the Wolves: Twelve Bridges' Hogge commits to Nevada

When Colton Hogge first stepped foot on the Twelve Bridges High School campus as a freshman, head football coach Chris Bean knew he had the potential to be a special player. Bean had never had a four-year varsity starter, but he knew Hogge would need to face varsity competition at a young age to develop properly and reach his potential. "He kind of got pulled into the fire at a pretty young age and was forged in such a unique way," Bean says. "To watch him be forged in the fires of varsity football and to see where he started and how far he's come, we couldn't be more proud. ... It's a reflection of him and his family, but it's also a reflection of our program." Hogge had a Division I-caliber build, but what stood out to Bean was his Division I work ethic. "We've had Division I bodies in the past. You can have a D-I body, but you better have a D1 work ethic to back that up," said Bean. "He works his tail off and not everybody wants to go put those hours in outside of the football class. Colton has done that for four years to put himself in a situation where he can play at the next level." Hogge's work ethic paid off, as he committed to play at the University of Nevada, Reno on Tuesday, making him the first player in program history to sign with a D-I school. Hogge also had offers from Eastern Washington, Sacramento State and Northern Arizona. "I instantly felt at home there and I really like the coaching staff," said Hogge. "It is a program that is going to start winning a lot of games here really soon." Hogge fell in love with Nevada from the moment he started to visit campus, even when he would just take trips up to check it out before the Wolf Pack had him on their radar. He's a believer in second-year head coach Jeff Choate, who went 3-9 in his first season but had six games decided by one score, including the season opener against College Football Playoff participant SMU. "He is turning things around there," said Hogge. It has been a whirlwind of a journey for Hogge on the recruiting trail. He started out just trying to put his school on the map, but nobody had ever heard of a small, new high school in Lincoln called Twelve Bridges. It didn't take long for Hogge and the Raging Rhinos to make a name for themselves though, and now there is no doubt about who Twelve Bridges is. "We put ourselves on the map really quickly," says Hogge. Hogge comes from a college football background. Father Chris played at Hawai'i and Missouri State, and was with Colton every stop of the way of his recruiting journey, taking him to camps, on visits and helping Colton get his name out there in any way. "He wasn't able to do a lot of visits when he was getting recruited because he was a military kid and he grew up in Hawai'i," Colton said of his father. "So he made sure to take me on visits and have the opportunities that he didn't. He took me to places like Reno and Oregon State to see these campuses." As for now, Hogge is focused on this coming season and feels the Rhinos have unfinished business after going 14-1 and falling in the CIF Division 2A state championship game last season. He has been hard at work in the weight room and on the field, hoping to go out with a second straight section title and third consecutive 10-0 regular season. Bean says Hogge's work ethic is contagious, and the example he has set is setting the tone for what he believes will be a strong season. "The culture at Twelve Bridges is if you're going to be one of our players, we're going to rely on you to put in the work. Colton has now done that for four years," said Bean. "I think what's scary is everybody's kind of just seeing what he's done in his freshman, sophomore and junior year, but he's a totally different kid coming into his senior year. He's going to be absolutely dominant." Hogge has lofty goals, saying he's going to be playing in the trenches both ways and believes he can spearhead another section championship run for the Rhinos. Asked what his personal goal for the season was, Hogge said, "I want to be the league MVP."