'Dusty's team' gets last shot</font>
Wide receiver set mark at USF with his play, leadership
By matt zimmer
mzimmer@argusleader.com
PUBLISHED: November 25, 2006
Dusty Hovorka exploded onto the NAIA football scene in his freshman year of 2003, catching 66 passes for 1,174 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Today, the senior wideout will lead the 11-0 No. 2 University of Sioux Falls Cougars into the second round of the playoffs against Morningside at Howard Wood Field.
In between, the McCook Lake native and Dakota Valley High School grad became the Cougars all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards and touchdown catches, surpassed 1,000 yards receiving four straight years, garnered two All-American honors (and is a lock for a third this year) and has helped the Cougars to the playoffs each year.
Entering today, he has caught 271 passes for 4,570 yards and 52 touchdowns.
All this for a guy who practically had to be begged to even play college football.
As the final days of an unforgettable football career wind down, Hovorka finds himself zeroing in on the one thing he still hasn't achieved but craves more than anything - a national championship.
With skills that transcend the NAIA level, and the work ethic of a man possessed, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound, 23-year old is eyeing a run at playing pro football when he leaves USF, after his run at a national championship is complete.
Whether or not he achieves either of those lofty goals, there's no doubt that Hovorka has earned his place as one of the greatest players in the history of USF Cougar football.
"I can't even explain what he means to this team," said fellow senior wide receiver Mike Warren. "He does it all. He pushes everyone on this team to be better. We have a lot of great players, but everyone knows this is Dusty's team."
Small time project
Hovorka only played two years of football - basketball, golf and cross country all took priority.
He led the Dakota Valley Panthers to the 2000 state A tournament as a wing on the basketball team, and still holds the school record for 5K run.
But when he decided to go out for football as a junior (he had previously played in junior high), he certainly wasn't doing so with the idea that he might have a chance to play for a national championship in college, or perhaps one day play the game professionally.
"I missed the game," he says. "I actually thought of myself as more of a defensive player. I played safety and just cheated up like a linebacker on every play. I loved the chance to hit somebody."
His senior year the Panthers started to throw the ball a little more, and Hovorka had a good year, surpassing 500 yards receiving on 27 catches.
"I ran two routes that year," he grins. "An out-route and a post-corner. That was it."
But Bob Young, then the Cougar coach, and Kalen DeBoer, then the offensive coordinator, were hard on Hovorka's trail.
What did they see in him? Could they really tell from seeing him run those two routes that he had the potential to be the best receiver in school history?
"You could just tell," says DeBoer, now the head coach. "You can tell in the way a guy runs, in the way he catches the ball, you can tell in his hips - you can see a guy who's going to be a good receiver."
But there was a problem.
Hovorka didn't want to play college football.
"They kept calling me, bringing me out for visits...I don't know what it was, I just wasn't into it," he remembers. "I wanted to play college basketball, but nobody was recruiting me for that. Finally one night coach Young called me and I just flat out told him, 'Coach, I don't want to play college football.' He told me, 'I understand your decision, but it doesn't matter. We'll still be here if you change your mind.'"
Finally, Hovorka's parents weighed in.
"I went back for another visit, but I still refused to sign the letter of intent," Hovorak said. "I walked out of the building and told my parents I wasn't going to do it. They told me to turn around, go back in and sign it. They recognized the opportunity in front of me. Being young and ignorant I guess I didn't see it."
Meanwhile DeBoer, an All-American and national champion receiver at USF himself, already had big plans for Hovorka. Then the offensive coordinator, DeBoer had a hunch that Hovorka might break all of his USF career receiving records.
"Pretty much from day one we were grooming him to be the go-to guy in our offense," DeBoer said.
Immediate impact
After a redshirt year in which he routinely stood out on the scout team, Hovorka entered his freshman season with a starting job. Playing alongside senior Grant Brecher, he caught 66 passes for 1,174 yards and 11 touchdowns. Brecher caught 72 passes for 1,015 yards.
"Grant was a huge role model for me - he was a great leader," Hovorka said. "He got me accustomed to the intensity level and expectations that come with being a starting wide receiver."
Hovorka posted another 76 catches for 1,191 yards as a sophomore, and rumors began swirling that he would take his game to a higher level. But personally, Hovorka felt like he had coasted through his second year.
"I didn't feel like I had improved at all," he said. "I didn't work that hard, because I had the skills to get by. There were rumors that I was going to transfer to Iowa State, Nebraska, Minnesota, but they weren't after me or anything. I knew I couldn't play Division I football in the physical state I was in at that time."
Best gets better
And that's when Hovorka took his game to another level. He dedicated himself to the weight room, and became a film geek, scouring as much film as he could get his hands on, working with DeBoer on how to break down opposing defenses.
The numbers didn't really change, but Hovorka was becoming a far more polished player.
"The coaching is what elevated me," he says. "The physical stuff - it's up to you to take care of that yourself, and I did. It came down to understanding schemes, studying defenses, learning techniques and carrying that over into practice."
That quickly gave Hovorka a reputation as the hardest working man in purple pants.
"His work ethic is unbelievable," said USF' first team All-conference cornerback Jason Glasco. "He wants to be perfect with everything. Run every route perfect, catch every pass - that's Dusty Hovorka."
These days, Hovorka is recognized not just for having impressive physical skills, but for grasping the game on a deeper level.
"Teams made adjustments to him and he made counter-adjustments," DeBoer said. "He's really good before he gets the football. When it comes to running the routes, setting guys up, giving them false looks or feeling the zone for the open area, there's nobody better."
Glasco has had to face Hovorka in practice, and hasn't enjoyed the task.
"You know how they say you can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him? That's what it's like," Glasco says. "I'm glad he's on our team. I wouldn't want to have to cover him on Saturday's."
And having seen a guy who was already an All-American work hard to become so much better has certainly rubbed off on his teammates.
"He's driven me to be a perfectionist like him," says the 6-5 Warren, who caught five passes for 158 yards last week against Jamestown. "He pushes us hard to be competitive in practice. To catch every ball, to hit the weights hard and to learn the schemes."
It's paid off. Warren, Trey Erickson and tight end Josiah Fenceroy have all had 100-yard receiving games this year.
"If teams are gonna double-team me, they're gonna pay for it," Hovorka said. "I've been fortunate to have guys around me who are good enough to take attention away from me."
Not done yet
Hovorka isn't bashful about his future plans. He wants a shot at the NFL.
He'll be a big long-shot for sure, but he doesn't seem intimidated about the prospect.
"I watch games on TV, and I just watch how many times wide receiver drop the ball," he laughs. "It's ridiculous isn't it?"
Of course, NFL teams are more concerned with the magical 40-yard dash than they are NAIA receptions. That's where Hovorka needs work.
The Green Bay Packers sent some scouts to a practice last year, while Hovorka was battling a hip flexor that kept him out for two weeks.
"I couldn't squat or sprint for almost a month, and I was cleared to sprint a week before they came," he said. "I could feel how slow I was running."
His time of 4.7 impressed no one.
"I need to get that down, at least in the 4.5 range," he says. "That's the number one thing for me."
DeBoer, who played minor league baseball and football after college, admits that Hovorka is a long shot, but thinks he has a chance.
"He could and should get a look, but it's tough," DeBoer said. "The bottom line will be how fast he can get from here to there. But a 3-time All-American, with 4,500 yards - you can't help but notice a guy like that."
He's been contacted by the same agency that represents Pro-Bowl wide receiver Eric Moulds, but Hovorka is trying to keep those things on the back-burner for now.
He's looking for that national title that has eluded the powerful Cougars since 1996.
"It would tie everything together," he says. "You could look at it and say, 'This is why you've been working so hard for all these years.' There's no doubt in my mind we can do it."
I didn't see but a few minutes of the game. I knew they had a white receiver, but I wish I had been paying attention more closely and seen him put up those numbers.
