Eufaula senior Luke Hodgins was bitten by the football bug when he was a little kid. “My dad played football at East Central and my grandpa played at OSU and since I started playing in fifth grade, I’ve dreamed of playing college football as well,” said Luke who is in the National Honor Society and FCA at Eufaula High. “I grew up watching Baker Mayfield at OU. He was an inspiration about how he was a walk-on that made the team, was always doubted and was always kind of the underdog but he went on to make it big. I’ve also admired Luke Kuechly who played for the NFL Panthers before he retired. “I always try to emulate his style at linebacker,” said Luke. Hodgins came to Eufaula his sophomore year and is a three-year starter at running back and linebacker and this year he earned a special title according to head coach Larry Newton Jr. “He was there every day of summer pride and that’s one of the things a player has to do to be a captain which Luke is this year. He plays more defense for us, but we do have some packages for him at running back.” Through four games this year, Luke had 138 yards rushing on 17 carries and has chalked up 33 tackles. Though he plays both ways, Luke says he prefers playing defense which is where he would like to play in college. The highlight of his career so far as an Ironhead came last year against Stigler when he had 12 tackles, two sacks, ran for 100 yards and scored two touchdowns. In addition to football, Luke also plays center field and pitches for the baseball team, runs the 100-meter dash and throws the shotput for the track team and placed sixth in the state last winter in powerlifting. With several football games still to play, Luke has already gotten a lot of attention from the college ranks including Cornell, UCO, Harding, East Central, Arkansas Tech, and Central Arkansas and has been on visits to Southeastern, Southwestern, Southern Nazarene and UCO. In his spare time Luke likes hang with friends around Lake Eufaula where he works at the marina and spend time hunting and fishing.
