All-Kanawha Valley football: Hatfield takes final bow, earning POTY honors

Hatfield finished his Herbert Hoover career with more than 12,700 yards of offense and 173 touchdowns.

He capped off his senior season with 4,009 yards and 54 touchdowns.

Hatfield led Herbert Hoover to its second state title game appearance in three seasons, finishing with a 13-1 record.

He broke multiple Huskies records, including Herbert Hoover’s career rushing yardage mark.

Hatfield’s stellar play earned him the 2024 Gazette-Mail All-Kanawha Valley Player of the Year award.

“This means a lot,� Hatfield said. “I’m just really blessed to have the opportunity to be selected. It’s something special. It just shows your work’s paying off.�

Hatfield is the first Husky to win this award. Hoover’s Chris McDonough won the Kanawha County Player of the Year nod in 1995. The Kanawha and Putnam counties Player of the Year awards were combined into the Kanawha Valley Player of the Year in 2005.

Hatfield won the 2021 Rookie of the Year award.

“He’s the best player to ever put on the scarlet and royal blue,� Hoover coach Joey Fields said. “Why he gets so much backing and people following him is due to the type of person, friend, brother and son he is. There’ll be whispers about Dane Hatfield throughout the school hallway for 50-100 years to come. He’ll hang on walls forever, but he deserves that, not only for what he did on the field.�

Hatfield started under center his freshman year for the Huskies.

As a ninth-grader, he helped Hoover piece together an undefeated regular season, finishing 2021 at 10-1.

He totaled more than 1,500 yards and 15 touchdowns.

“I’ve definitely had to learn a lot since then,� Hatfield said. “I learned everything from being a leader to passing and rushing defense and also how to be a good teammate. In all those areas, I’ve grown.�

Hatfield, over the next few seasons, improved his totals each year. However, it wasn’t only the gaudy numbers he posted that caught the eye of Fields.

“It was his leadership,� Fields said. “I saw that over the course of just one year. This year, he never had a bad practice. Now, did he make mistakes? Yes. OK, every player does, but being intentional about wanting to get better and leading that way helped our guys. Our guys knew who the guy was in the locker room, and, if he practiced like that, it just filtered down.�

Hatfield played big in big games as well. This year, he posted 1,851 yards and 26 touchdowns in the regular season against teams that made the playoffs.

He had 141 carries for 1,060 yards and 17 touchdowns while completing 46 of 75 passes for 791 yards and nine touchdowns against those six teams.

His best performance came against Elkins on Oct. 23, when he totaled 434 yards of offense and six touchdowns.

“This has been one of the most fun years,� Hatfield said. “Everything from the locker room to practice was great. We were all tight. It was great. It was a really, really enjoyable year. To go out there and win 13 games and make the state championship just adds on to it.�

Hatfield and the Huskies have been able to give the Hoover fan base memorable moments.

Hatfield cited the 2022 playoff run, making the 2022 and 2024 state title games and winning at Princeton in the 2024 semifinals as highlights of his career.

The Husky quarterback said none of the memories or victories were possible without the relationships amongst one another.

“Our strong bond has carried us as far as it has,� Hatfield said. “I couldn’t have done anything without my offensive line, receivers making plays and defense making stops. Our bond makes us want to go out there and play harder for our brother beside us. It makes us a lot more successful.�

Four more Herbert Hoover players made the All-Kanawha Valley team:

• Mighty Lopez (6-foot-1, 275-pound offensive lineman)
• Ethan Patrick (6-foot-3, 200-pound lineman): 39 total tackles, 10 sacks, three tackles for loss, five forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries.
• Blake Fisher (5-foot-8, 175-pound defensive back and running back): 34 total tackles, eight tackles for loss and four pass breakups with 957 rushing yards
• Sam Kee (6-foot, 175-pound defensive back and wide receiver): 16 total tackles and three pass breakups

Fields was named All-Kanawha Valley Coach of the Year. Herbert Hoover is 46-12 in five seasons with Fields at the helm.

The Huskies’ 13-win season marked the third time a Fields team has won 10 or more games at Hoover. The 13 wins are also the most in a season in Hoover history.

“This was a special group,� Fields said. “It not only came from what you see every Friday night, but in the locker room and community. It was an enjoyable group. This group will be remembered a long time in Herbert Hoover football history.�

Fields has coached some talented teams in his tenure on The River.

Hoover has advanced to the state quarterfinals or deeper in each of the last three seasons.

However, despite all the recent success, Fields sees a common theme that separates the 2024 Huskies from his teams in the past.

“We’ve had some talented groups at Hoover, but no group was more mentally tough and cared more for one another than this group,� Fields said. “They kept getting better in practice and doing everything we asked them to do. They gradually got better throughout the season.�

The Riverside Warriors, for the second consecutive season, produced the Kanawha Valley’s top freshman.

Last year, it was Tavion Woods. This year, Malakhi Hope is the All-Kanawha Valley Rookie of the Year.

Hope capped his freshman season with 1,360 all-purpose yards, including 934 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on the ground.

He also had 32 tackles and one interception.

“He matured,� Riverside coach Heath Huffman said. “He was 14 years old when he stepped on the field. He came from being the all-star in middle school and had to get humbled. He did that. He took it well and grew throughout the year. If he wouldn’t have gotten hurt, I don’t know how far he would have gotten.�

Hope recognized that the stout and more difficult talent he and his teammates faced this season helped him grow, which he credits as a staple of his development.

“It was a big jump,� Hope said. “I was going against 4A talent. It was just a lot of older people. The coaches were way harder and always on me. You can’t do what you want in high school if you’re not listening.�

Hope also made the All-Kanawha Valley team as a defensive utility player.

Riverside’s JR Cochran joins his fellow Warrior teammate on the All-Kanawha Valley team as a defensive lineman.

Cochran, listed at 5-foot-10, finished the season with 85 tackles, two fumble recoveries and five sacks.

Here’s a breakdown of the other All-Kanawha Valley team members:

Buffalo

• Dylan Johnson (6-0, 270, lineman): highest-rated Bison lineman

Capital

• David Robinson Jr. (5-11, 180, running back): 179 carries for 1,322 yards and 18 touchdowns

George Washington

• Guner Flores (6-2, 205, linebacker): 103 total tackles, six tackles for loss, 10 quarterback hurries, three fumble recoveries and one safety
• Sai’Vyon Brown (6-0, 170, utility player): 1,435 yards of offense, 140 carries for 1,225 yards and 11 touchdowns, 22 catches for 210 yards and three touchdowns
• Hunter Giacomo (6-0, 190, utility player): 728 yards of offense, 74 carries for 518 yards and four touchdowns, 16 catches for 210 yards and two touchdowns, 124 tackles for three tackles for loss and nine pass breakups
• Clyde May (6-1, 210, lineman): 77 total tackles, six sacks, six pass breakups and three fumble recoveries
• Braydon Lude (6-3, 250, lineman): highest-graded lineman at George Washington

Hurricane

• Noah Vellaithambi (5-11, 205, quarterback): 178 of 295 for 3,013 yards, 36 touchdowns and nine interceptions; 128 carries for 972 yards and 17 touchdowns
• Kylan Grace (5-10, 200, running back): 190 carries for 1,377 yards and 14 touchdowns; two catches for 82 yards and one touchdown
• Sha’lik Hampton (6-4, 220 wide receiver): 46 catches for 855 yards and 17 touchdowns
• Drake Lanham (6-3, 265, lineman): highest-rated lineman on team
• Seth Casto (6-3, 180, kicker): 80 of 83 PATs and 2 of 3 on field goals, with a long of 34 yards
• Joey Quijano (5-10, 210, linebacker): 66 total tackles; 46 being solo tackles and 16 tackles for loss
• Tyshawn Dues (5-10, 155, wide receiver & defensive back): 44 catches for 732 yards and three touchdowns

Nitro

• Josh Moody (6-2, 195, quarterback): 241 of 345 for 3,846 yards, 40 touchdowns and 10 interceptions
• Eli Littlejohn (5-8, 185, running back): 170 carries for 1,261 yards and 22 touchdowns; 19 catches for 254 yards and 3 touchdowns
• Malachi Thompson (6-4, 200, wide receiver): 74 catches for 1,593 yards and 18 touchdowns
• Xavier Patterson (6-0, 260, lineman): 96 total tackles, 60 solo tackles, 31 tackles for loss
• Wyatt Sowards (5-11, 200, linebacker): 126 total tackles and 11 tackles for loss

Poca

• Corey Cook (5-10, 170, linebacker): 101 total tackles for 17 tackles for loss, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries and one blocked punt
• Preston Bonnett (5-11, 165, punter/utility): eight touchdowns, at least 1,000 all-purpose yards, 40.4 yards per punt, nine punts inside opponents’ 10-yard line

St. Albans

• Tyrell Ellis (5-8, 225, lineman): 79 total tackles, 22 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, three forced fumbles and one interception

Winfield

• Jake Kimble (6-1, 270, lineman): highest-rated lineman for Generals