When Armwood (Florida) High School was practicing for its state championship game last season, Sterling Hofrichter hit a 55-yard field goal with Syracuse head coach Scott Shafer in attendance.

Shafer told Hofrichter that if he could do it again, he’d offer him a scholarship, Armwood head coach Sean Callahan said. And Hofrichter did.

“And that’s how that went down,” Callahan said.

After verbally committing to the Orange on June 27, the 5-foot-10, 165-pound Hofrichter said he thinks he can be more than just a field-goal kicker who opens eyes in practice. He’s a triple-threat player on special teams who is capable of excelling on kickoffs, punts and field goals, and one that hopes to challenge Ryan Norton and Cole Murphy for a starting spot next year.

In SU’s season opener against Villanova, Murphy, a freshman preferred walk-on, assumed kickoff duties and the junior Norton took field goals. Senior Riley Dixon punted.

“He’s not viewed as a kicker around our school,” Callahan said. “He’s viewed as another player.”

Hofrichter’s ability to do all three, he said, will allow him to pose more of a threat to crack the starting lineup when he arrives on campus next summer.

“I really do believe I can do all three,” Hofrichter said. “I’ve been doing all three through my whole high school career so hopefully I can have a chance to do all three and start.”

Hofrichter is 1-for-2 on field goals in two regular-season games this year, he said, making a 35-yarder and having a 52-yard attempt slightly deflected. In Armwood’s season opener, Hofrichter launched a 61-yard punt, 14 yards short of Syracuse’s program record, set by Dixon against Clemson last year.

Armwood fullback Tommy Watson highlighted Hofrichter’s consistent ability to punt for solid yardage, but added that Hofrichter could improve in that area.

“When he punts the ball, it’s at least 40 yards every time,” Watson said. “Every time he kicks the ball off to the other team, he gets it to the end zone.

“Believe it or not, nobody really sees it. But in my opinion, he’s one of the most important people on our team.”

Hitting field goals from deep is something that Norton hasn’t shown on the field-goal unit yet in his SU career. His career long is 44, coming last season when he only hit two-thirds of his total attempts.

Although Norton is off to a 2-for-2 start this season with a long of 38, Hofrichter may be able to give Shafer the option to kick a field goal rather than punt from further than 45 yards.

Hofrichter said he’s still trying to raise the hang time on his punts and kickoffs in order to give his teammates time to get down the field and past blocks.

Over the past year, Hofrichter has been opening Division I eyes. And if he stays committed to the Orange, his ability to punt, kick field goals and launch kickoffs will give Shafer a three-pronged weapon.

“There’s still competition for me,” Hofrichter said. “So I’ve really got to make sure I focus and work hard this season and offseason so when I get there I can hopefully take a spot.”

Published on September 9, 2014 at 12:08 am

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman