Michael Hoban’s brilliance on the football field has given the Glenwood Springs High School senior individual notoriety.

But Hoban said the numbers he’s posted this season are not for personal glory. Instead, it’s all for the team.

“Everything I do is for the team,” he said. “The team goal’s is to make it to the state playoffs. That’s what’s on everybody’s mind.”

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It’s the goal that sparks Hoban on to what he’s accomplished in the still-young 2003 season. And what’s earned him the honor of being named by the high school’s coaches and staff as the GSHS “Athlete of the Week.”

In the three games the Demon football team has played to date, the running back has played a key role.

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Hoban’s 125 rushing yards in eight carries in the Demons’ 35-0 Week 2 win over Basalt is the largest amount of yardage gained by a Glenwood individual offensive player this year.

Hoban also has the team’s current biggest single-play yardage gain – a 65-yard run against the Longhorns.

At last Saturday’s game against Fort Morgan, Hoban topped himself.

His 98-yard kickoff return in the first quarter turned out to be the best offensive gain among all high school players in Colorado, according to the Denver Post.

To which Hoban gives all the credit to his teammates.

“My job was easy,” said Hoban. “All I saw was a wall of red,” referring to his blockers after scooping up the loose football at the Demon 2-yard line.

“Afterwards I was determined not to get caught,” Hoban continued.

He never did.

Following the initial set of blockers on the left side of the field, the Demon senior zigged the opposite way, found an open seam around Glenwood’s 40, then turned on the steam.

Hoban raced the remaining 60 yards untouched for a touchdown.

Unfortunately, other than the extra point afterwards, it was the Demons’ only score in a 13-7 loss to the Tri-Valley Conference Mustangs.

While the defeat was tough to take, it hasn’t deflated Hoban, or his teammates’ spirits heading into Friday’s Western Slope Conference opener at home with Moffat County.

“As a team, we learned a lot in the nonleague games,” Hoban said. “It taught us that now we’re in league and we’ve got to get going.”

“It’s just a matter of clicking and everyone on the team is just about there,” Hoban added. “We’re excited. We’re going to step it up and we’re going to be excellent.”