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For the second consecutive season, Highland High School’s Tristen Hoge has been tabbed as the Gatorade Idaho Player of the Year.

    The 6-foot-5, 295-pound center is the fifth player from Highland to win Gatorade's player of the year award, the most of any high school in Idaho. Hoge is the only repeat award winner in the Gem State since the inception of the award in 1986.

    “The most impressive thing is how he finishes blocks at the point of attack and just pancakes opponents,” said Bonneville head coach Fred Armstrong in a Gatorade press release. “He does a great job getting to the linebackers, which is amazing for his size.”

    Hoge recorded 133 pancake blocks this season and helped lead Highland to a 12-0 record and a 5A state championship. The Rams averaged 377 yards and 43.1 points per game.

    As Idaho’s top football player, Hoge becomes a finalist for the Gatorade National Player of the Year award announced later this month.

    The player of the year award from Gatorade recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and of the field. Hoge has maintained a 4.10 GPA in the classroom and volunteered on behalf of the Shop With a Ram program, which provides Christmas gifts for underprivileged children.

    Hoge has verbally committed to play football at Notre Dame and was the first player from Idaho invited to take part in the prestigious 2015 U.S. Army All-American Bowl broadcast on NBC Jan. 3, 2015 in San Antonio.

Gatorade Idaho Player of the Year winners from Highland

Tristen Hoge, C, 2013-14, 2014-15

Taysom Hill, QB, 2009

Cole Nielson, QB, 2004

Jeff Davenport, WR, 1998

Troy Bell, RB, 1996

Gatorade press release

HIGHLAND HIGH SCHOOL STANDOUT NAMED

GATORADE® IDAHO FOOTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR

CHICAGO (December 4, 2014) — In its 30th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, today announced Tristen Hoge of Highland High School as its 2014-15 Gatorade Idaho Football Player of the Year. Hoge is the fifth Gatorade Idaho Football Player of the Year to be chosen from Highland High School.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Hoge as Idaho’s best high school football player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Football Player of the Year award announced in December, Hoge joins an elite alumni association of past state award-winners in 12 sports, including Mark Sanchez (2004-05, Mission Viejo HS, Calif.), Wes Welker (1999-00, Heritage Hall HS, Okla.), Terrell Suggs (1999-00, Hamilton HS, Ariz.), Anquan Boldin (1998-99, Pahokee HS, Fla.) and Jerome Bettis (1989-90, Mackenzie HS, Mich.).

The 6-foot-5, 295-pound senior center recorded 133 pancake blocks this past season, leading the Rams (12-0) to the Class 5A state championship. The state’s returning Gatorade Football Player of the Year, Hoge helped pave the way for a Highland offense that averaged 377 yards and 43.1 points per game. A First Team All-State selection, he has been chosen to play in the 2015 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Hoge has maintained a 4.10 GPA in the classroom. He has volunteered locally on behalf of the Shop With a Ram program, which provides Christmas gifts for underprivileged children.

“The most impressive thing is how he finishes blocks at the point of attack and just pancakes opponents,” said Fred Armstrong, head coach at Bonneville High. “He does a great job getting to the linebackers, which is amazing for his size.”

Hoge has verbally committed to play football on scholarship at the University of Notre Dame beginning in the fall of 2015.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade high school sports leadership team in partnership with USA TODAY High School Sports, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Two-time winner Hoge joins Gatorade Idaho Football Players of the Year Joe Martarano (2012-13, Fruitland High School), Chad Chalich (2011-12, Coeur d'Alene HS), Cody McCarthy (2010-11, Bishop Kelly High School), Taylor Kelly (2009-10, Eagle), Taysom Hill (2008-09, Highland High School) and Byron Hout (2007-08, Lake City) among the state’s list of former award winners

View on IdahoStateJournal.com