NA’s Hoke has quite a successful comeback
Cade Hoke admits the self doubt. A torn ACL in his right knee caused him to miss his entire junior season at North Allegheny.
Dr. James Bradley, the Steelers team doctor, mended the knee with surgery. But a major injury can sometimes hurt a teenager’s confidence justas much.
“When it happened, I thought maybe I wouldn’t be as fast,” said Hoke. “I’ve seen people who have done it before, and they never returned totally to where they were. I was worried I might never be the same player.”
Hoke is now a senior linebacker, and it has been quite evident he’s not the player he was as a sophomore.
He is better.
North Allegheny (10-0) is undefeated and plays host to Seneca Valley (8-3) Friday night in the WPIAL Class 6A semifinals. North Allegheny’s defense has been more than solid all season, and superb in a few big games. The Tigers often move to the Hokey Pokey on defense and that’s what it’s all about.
“For him to miss all of last year and then come back with a great year, you pull for guys like that,” said North Allegheny coach Art Walker. “He’s worked very, very hard. He had to sit back and watch everybody last year and couldn’t do anything. I know it was tough on him. But he’s really been great.”
As a sophomore, Hoke was third on the team in tackles with 48. The foundation had been set. He was expected to be one of the top linebackers in the WPIAL the next two years. Then one day in practice last August, Hoke went to throw a block. Before he made contact, his knee gave out. Season over.
This season, Hoke started a little slow, but this 6-foot, 218pound middle linebacker has turned into a gem. Hoke has 73 tackles (38 solo). He also has five sacks and 13 tackles for loss. In two of North Allegheny’s biggest games against
Seneca Valley and PineRichland, he had 13 and 14 tackles, respectively.
“Because of what he did as a sophomore, people expected him to be lights out in Week 1,” said Walker. “But it’s tough when you miss an entire year. He just needed some live game reps. Once he got a couple games under his belt, he was good. I think he’s been playing his best lately.”
North Allegheny finished the regular season with a perfect record and defeated Pine-Richland, 27-7, in the regular-season finale.
Walker calls Hoke a “throwback linebacker.” Walker showered Hoke with praise because of his work ethic, quiet leadership and bounce-back attitude. Physically, Hoke has a nose for the football and Walker also said Hoke’s speed is deceiving.
As for Hoke himself, he said, “I feel like I’m a lot better now [than as a sophomore].
When asked how, Hoke answered, “Just in the mental aspect. This year, I’ve watched a lot more film. I watch hours of film every week, especially for games like this.”
Hoke often watches film in his home with someone who knows a thing or two about big-time football. Hoke’s father is Chris Hoke, a former Steeler defensive lineman.
“We watch film after every game,” said Cade Hoke. Cade will follow in his father’s footsteps in college. Last week, Cade agreed to be a preferred walk-on at Brigham Young, the same college where his father played.
But college isn’t foremost on Cade’s mind right now. Seneca Valley is. The Raiders have been excellent defensively most of this season. North Allegheny defeated Seneca Valley, 10-6, on the final Friday in September.
“I think we’ve been pretty consistent all season on defense, especially the big games,” said Cade Hoke.
Other semifinal
Pine-Richland defeated Mt. Lebanon, 42-24, in the eighth week of the season. On Friday, they meet again, with a spot in the championship game at Heinz Field on the line. Pine-Richland (8-2) is the defending WPIAL champion while Mt. Lebanon is trying to make the title game for the first time since 2000.
“Mt. Lebanon is playing extremely well right now. They haven’t lost a game since we beat them,” said Pine-Richland coach Eric Kasperowicz. “Their quarterback [Seth Morgan] is what makes them go and he is playing very confidently. We need to come out and play a physical brand of football.”
Pine-Richland and North Allegheny did not play last week. They received byes to the semifinals for finishing firstand second in Class 6A.
Some coaches might not like byes because they feel it can stop some momentum for a team on a roll. Kasperowicz welcomed the bye after losing to North Allegheny in the regular-season finale.
“I thought the bye week came at the perfect time,” said Kasperowicz. “We were a bit banged up and any time you can get a week off to get healthy, that’s a bonus.”