Third down and six yards to go flashes up on the Jumbotron. Time to earn that Academy stipend paycheck – after all, there aren’t any flashy NIL deals hauling in loads of cash for players at the Academy. 

 

Out of the shotgun – Hodges rumbles forward. His six-foot frame now carries an additional 20 pounds of muscle thanks to the weight room at the Academy – he’s taken plenty of reps at fullback in the run-heavy offense the Academy operates with to compensate for the fact that other teams have bigger lines and more time to focus on football. Academy guys are cadets first and football players second. He smashes into Lobo defenders and grabs a 14-yard chunk on the run. 

 

But the head of steam would run out on the next four plays. Back to the sideline to wait for another chance to rumble down the field. 

 

The Lobos would get the better of the Falcons 20-3 on the evening, thanks in part to two Air Force turnovers on the night. But tough times make for good officers. Adversity molds character on this team, according to Hodges. 

 

But getting onto the field was no mean feat either. Aside from the physical effort to make one’s way up the depth chart – there’s the mental game and a year at the Prep Academy before that. “It’s a humbling experience,” Hodges says of playing at Air Force, “It helped me grow as a person, as a man. You go from being the guy that everyone’s looking at [in high school] – that’s getting the ball every play. And now you’re putting in hours of work and some days you’re like, ‘is this extra work even worth it? Am I ever going to get my chance to play? You kind of doubt yourself.”

 

Tough losses and difficult circumstances on and off the field become teaching moments and good memories – like the time he and several other cadets on the football team were let loose into the Southern Colorado desert with a poncho and tent. The players spent six days out in the bush as a part of a training exercise. “I mean, it sucks while you are out there,” Hodges remembers, “[but] we made the best of it. We had great memories from that entire six days. There’s a lot of things at the Academy, they suck so bad it’s funny [in retrospect]. You make good memories over it.”

 

The difficulties of cadet life don’t show immediate results – especially on the football team – but they have lasting positive outcomes for the Air Force and for the individual cadets as well. Hodges says the cadets become a cohesive unit over their four years at the Academy. There are no transfers and no NIL distractions to bother players. 

 

“Not every day is rainbows and unicorns,” Hodges explains, “like, it’s tough. It’s hard. [But,] you know you can lean on your brothers all the time… There’s just this automatic bond that you make with people that played at Air Force. The Bolt Brotherhood is a real thing.”

 

Success

More than 1,200 miles away, Coach Phil Tisa turns on the TV in his house. 

 

Tisa and a couple of other coaches who trained and mentored Kemper at South Walton High School decided, even the day after a tough playoff loss to Pensacola Catholic that ended their season the day before, to hold an Air Force Academy Football watch party together. 

 

“it’s kind of very similar to, you know, like a proud parent moment,” Tisa said, “you know, I know, you know, playing college football was his desire. And, you know, to get him to see him get to achieve that, you know, just makes me really happy for him.“ 

 

South Walton, which runs more of a spread style offense, looks totally different than the offense their former quarterback now leads – a testament to Hodges will to win, flexibility and leadership. 

 

“He’s, by far, probably the best student leader I’ve ever been around when he, when he’s on the field or in the facility, he has only one goal in mind, and that’s that’s to win. Okay, so, I mean, if you’re, if you’re working contrary to that, he’s going to let you know. And I mean, that’s just, you know, that’s just the type of kid that you want to work with as a coach,” Tisa said. 

 

He’s adjusted to the team’s needs – putting on 20 pounds of muscle to force his way into end zones like a fullback when needed. 

 

The South Walton Seahawks ended their season with a tough loss at Catholic – but posted their best season result since Hodges quarterbacked the team to a 10-2 campaign in 2021. In that year, Hodges slung the ball for more than 3,000 yards in the air and another 1167 on the ground. 

 

“Those were just ungodly numbers,” Tisa said about his former quarterback’s production. 

 

In last week’s game – Hodges went 1-for-5 for five yards – and racked up 50 yards on the ground in 20 carries. 

 

The Academy

With the impending graduation of Josh Johnson, the Falcon’s starter this year, Hodges looks to be the man in the driver’s seat – at the very least as a specialist. 

 

Hodges carried the ball 14 times for 87 yards in the Academy’s final game of the season: a 42-21 win over Colorado State to finish the season with a fourth win. 

 

Perseverance through adversity continues to serve as the throughline that creates football players into a team of officers who can lean on their shared experience to do great things. “It’s nice knowing that once we do commission and possibly have to do things in the military that some people don’t want to do – you know that those guys around you that care about you and are gonna help you and are willing to fight for you,” Hodges asid, “I don’t regret any decision i’ve made about coming here or staying here – or committing to serve my country. I’ve just enjoyed being here – even through the suck.”