John Raffel
Sports Scene
Upper Peninsula football just won’t be the same this season.
There’s no Ken Hofer. And at the football factory in Crystal Falls called Forest Park High School, there is not a junior varsity team for the first time ever.
Hofer started coaching at his alma mater Stephenson and then joined the Menominee staff in 1966 and posted a 41-season record of 342-136-3. His teams won state championships in 1998, 2006, and 2007. The Maroons were 14-0 in both 2006 and 2007.
It was late in the spring that Hofer made the tough decision to call it a career at age 77.
“I felt this was the time,” he said.
But not being on the field to coach will definitely be an adjustment, Hofer admitted.
His long-time assistant, Ron “Satch” Englund, also retired after 36 years with Menominee. Englund was defensive coordinator.
“He’s also 77 now. He’s fishing and I’m not doing much of anything,” Hofer laughed. “He’s a very special individual.”
Players that Hofer has coached will be taking over the coaching reins. This includes the new head coach, Joe Noha, who will be assisted by three former Maroons.
“I’ve stayed away, because I feel this is their program now,” Hofer said. “If they need any help, they know where Satch and I are at. We’d be more than willing to pass on any wisdom we might have.”
Hofer doesn’t anticipate attending every Menominee game as a spectator.
Hofer’s son, Chris Hofer, is head coach at Kingsford.
“I’ve haven’t seen many of his games other than when we played him,” Hofer said. ‘I have a grandson, his son, who will be quarterback on the JV team. So I’ll probably be meandering up to Kingsford, which is 75 miles from here, watching a number of their games along with our games.”
Hofer will always be known as the user of the Single Wing, the offense in which there’s no quarterback who takes the snap. The ball goes directly to a running back. It was an offense he decided to put into his system because opposing teams were so unfamiliar with it.
Hofer said he hasn’t given post-retirement life all that much thought.
He and his wife “will probably do a number of things we’ve wanted to do during the nice falls we have here,” he said, “and probably go to Florida and spend the cold months down there.”
Hofer had been retired from education for several years but continued to coach.
Forest Park has been a perennial Division 8 power and made six straight appearances in the state title game 2004-09, winning it once. The Trojans have remained competitive under alumnus and former player Bill Santilli. But the Trojan skipper is working with some challenges this season.
“For the first time since I’ve been coaching, 22 years, we won’t have a junior varsity team,” he said. “We have a low number. On the varsity, we’re working with 31. We’re moving up a number of ninth and 10th graders, so it will be one combined program.”
It’s a situation that could haunt the Trojans down the road.
“I don’t think it will come back soon,” Santilli said. “We’ve had a real tradition of football talent.”
Forest Park graduated a high number of 18 seniors last season. “We don’t have a lot of experience,” Santilli said.
Iron Mountain is a team that could be a force in the Upper Peninsula. The Mountaineers were 11-1 and advanced to the state semifinals last season before losing to Ithaca, the eventual state champion. Robin Marttila is back for his second year as head coach.
“We have five or six guys coming back,” he said.
Among the key guys back are Paul Brooks at fullback and linebacker, Taylor Huotario at running back and defensive back, Tony Ward as running back and inside linebacker, Zach Huber and Zach Black as two-way linemen, Andy Michaud as a tight end and defensive end, and Al Tomassoni as a two-way lineman.
“We play in a tough Mid-Peninsula Conference,” Marttila said. “We play Ishpeming the first game of the year. That’s a perennial playoff team.”
Marttila expects Kingsford and Escanaba to also be state powers.
“They’re big schools and will be a challenge for us.”
“Negaunee should also be tough,” he said.
Santilli expects North Dickinson to be a talent in Division 8.