8-man Football Superstar

Will Hoopes

by: Greg Barton

Last summer, Will Hoppes came down to Portland, Oregon to train with the Barton Football program.  He plays football and goes to school at Tri-Cities Prep, located in Pasco, Washington. From the moment I met him, I really liked him.  Will is a very intelligent young man with a GPA of 3.5 and an SAT score of 1810.  Will was with us for a week and he really worked hard.  It was obvious to me that he is a big-time competitor. 

He took pride in everything he did during the week.  Will went out of his way to be nice to the younger players and I saw him many times giving some tips to those kids.  With his peers he handled himself with class and he showed them that he was all business during the workouts.  He has a lot of pride in wanting to be the best.  I really respected him in the way he handled himself in training.  He showed up knowing no one and when he left at the end of the week, all the players and coaches liked and respected him.

He showed me lots of athleticism and excellent quarterback skills.  Will is very mature and it became obvious that he has been brought up in the right way.  He is polite and has excellent communication skills.

In Oregon high school football, 6A is the highest level of play, while Washington’s is 4A.  While it's sometimes believed the top players are always at the highest levels of play that is far from the truth.  Will plays at the 1B level and he plays 8-man football.  So how would Will Hoppes perform at the 4A level in the state of Washington?  The answer is simple; he would be one of the top quarterbacks in Washington at the 4A level.  I will also suggest that he would be one of the top quarterbacks in any state in our country.  Without getting into names, the Northwest had a whole bunch of excellent senior quarterbacks this fall.   Will was one of those excellent senior quarterbacks.

Now let’s talk about a high school career; take a close look at the numbers that Will Hoppes put up at Tri-Cities Prep:

Will Hoppes (6-foot, 190) just concluded his high school career by adding a 2009 Washington State championship to his resume.  He led his Tri-Cities Prep team to an 80 to 40 victory over Lummi Blackhawks (located on the Lummi Reservation near Bellingham, WA) in the Tacoma Dome.  Will had a great game completing 27 of 33 for 552 yards and believe this or not; 10 touchdown passes. If that isn’t enough he found time to score on a 42 yard run.

For the season, Hoppes completed 177 of 253 passes (70%) for 3,062 yards and 47 touchdowns with just six interceptions. To top it off, on defense, Hoppes has recorded a school-record 313 total tackles (this does not include the tackles he made in the state championship game).  

Will Hoppes, senior quarterback, Tri-Cities Prep High School, Pasco, Wash., finishes his high-school career as the nations all-time career 8-man passing and total yardage leader.

Hoppes set (7) Washington State Career and Game Passing Records, (6) National Career and Game Passing Records, (21) Tri-Cities Prep School Records.

Will started at quarterback as a sophomore at Tri-Cities Prep.  Will played at the varsity level for all 4 years. Will’s career record as the starting quarterback at Tri-Cities Prep is 29 and 7.  In addition to all of the records Will set above, he also set 4 individual WIAA 1B State Championship game records. He has earned all of these wonderful honors by working hard and being a good person. 

Following the state championship win, he was told by a reporter that he matched an eight-man record with 10 touchdown passes.  Will nonchalantly shrugged off the accomplishment by saying, “Oh, I didn’t know the numbers were that.”  I believe he was fired up and happy inside, but he is the type of young man that wants to give credit to his teammates and coaches.  We are talking about a very special quarterback and football player.  He has been raised in the right way by terrific parents. Believe this or not, he is even a better person than he is a football player.  I wish Will Hoppes the best always in his future; he is a special young man

Check out some of Will's amazing accomplishments and national records!

ALL CLASSIFICATIONS – CAREER PASSING RECORDS

Courtesy of David Maley – Rosalia, Washington

Passing---Career (4 players over 10,000 yard mark)

1. Brian Lindgren, DeSales (1996-1998) 12,575 yards in 39 game
2. Kellen Moore, Prosser (2003-2006) 11,367 yards in 44 games
3. Will Hoppes, Tri-Cities Prep (2006-2009) 10,531 yards in 41 games (at the 1B level)
4. T.J. Conley, DeSales (2000-2003) 10,147 yards in 43 games

Pass Completions---Career

1. Kellen Moore, Prosser (2003-2006) 787 completions in 44 games
2. Brian Lindgren, DeSales (1996-1998) 779 completions in 39 games
3. Jake Heaps, Skyline (2007-2009) 612 completions in 41 games
4. Drew Miller, Lakes (1993-1996) 608 completions in 36 games
5. T.J. Conley, DeSales (2000-2003) 601 completions in 43 games
6. Will Hoppes, Tri-Cities Prep (2006-2009) 593 completions in 41 games (at the 1B level)

Passing Touchdowns---Career

1. Kellen Moore, Prosser (2003-2006) 173 touchdown passes in 44 games

2. Brian Lindgren, DeSales (1996-1998) 162 touchdown passes in 39 games
3. Will Hoppes, Tri-Cities Prep (2006-2009) 142 touchdown passes in 41 games (1B level)
4. Bobby Lucht, Eatonville (1991-1994) 132 touchdown passes in 45 games
5. T.J. Conley, DeSales (2000-2003) 125 touchdowns in 43 games
6. Jordan Durbin, Prosser (2005-2008) 124 touchdown passes in 39 games

*Will Hoppes Career Record as TCP starting Quarterback: 29-7
*Will Hoppes also set 4 individual WIAA 1B Championship Game Records

WILL HOPPES NATIONAL 8-MAN CAREER RECORDS

National Career Total Yards:

1. Will Hoppes, Tri-Cities Prep, 13,251 yards
2. James Kilian, Medford, OK (1996-99) 11,049 yards
3. Spencer Shanholtzer, Cusick, WA (2006-09) 10,595 yards
4. Todd Baxter, North Powder, OR (2001-03) 10,443 yards
5. Dustin Tom, Lummi, WA (2005-08) 10,123 yards

National Career Passing Yards:

1. Will Hoppes, Tri-Cities Prep, 10,537 yards
2. Dustin Tom, Lummi, WA (2005-08) 9,702 yards
3. Beau Shiever, Morrison, OK (2000-03) 8,779 yards
4. James Kilian, Medford, OK (1996-99) 8,426 yards
5. Patrick Green, Wallowa, OR (2003-05) 8,384 yards

National Career Passing Completions:

1. Will Hoppes, Tri-Cities Prep, 593 completions
2. Beau Shiever, Morrison, OK (2000-03) 574 completions
3. Dustin Tom, Lummi, WA (2005-08) 569 completions
4. James Kilian, Medford, OK (1996-99) 434 completions
5. Patrick Hunter, Pateros, WA (1992-95) 413 completions

National Career Passing Touchdowns:

1. Will Hoppes, Tri-Cities Prep, 142 touchdowns