Nov 7, 2024 By Rob Burchianti 5 min read

Name: Deakyn DeHoet

School: Jefferson-Morgan

Class: Junior

Sport: Football

DeHoet’ week: DeHoet had five receptions for 134 yards and two touchdowns and also a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the Rockets’ 39-30 loss to South Side in a WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game at Parker Field on Friday night. DeHoet would’ve had an even bigger game but Jefferson-Morgan was flagged by officials 19 times for a whopping 175 yards. Penalties negated an 83-yard touchdown pass by DeHoet from quarterback Houston Guesman and a 41-yard kickoff return. DeHoet, who caught scoring passes of 38 and 64 yards from Guesman, went over the 1,000-yard receiving mark for the season after the latter reception. He ended the year with 52 receptions for 1,038 yards and totaled 130 points with 21 touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversions.

DeHoet also played a key role in J-M’s 28-27 win at California the previous week which earned them the Tri-County South Conference championship and completed an undefeated regular season for the first time since 1989. DeHoet had touchdown catches of 70 and 23 yards in that game as well as a 38-yard reception that set up another TD.

“The undefeated season meant a lot to me because I grew up with this team,” DeHoet said. “I’ve been playing football here all my life. The California game, we felt great up 28-7 going into the locker room at halftime. Coming back out though it was like everyone was flat and they came back. Everyone finally woke up in time and started playing again so we managed to hang on and get the win.” The Trojans scored with one minute left to get within one point but fell short after a failed two-point conversion attempt. “It just felt great to be able to make history here by going undefeated,” DeHoet said.

The 16-year-old son of Jay and Krysta Ferencak said his team had set its sights on the game with the Trojans long in advance.

“Everyone kept talking about the California game for weeks it seemed like,” DeHoet said. “Our coach (Shane Ziats) had to make sure we kept concentrating on the game we had next but it was hard for the players not to look ahead some weeks. Our coach did a great job to keep everyone focused and in line before each game.”

As for the slew of penalties in the loss to South Side, DeHoet said, “They didn’t really affect me in the game. I was just trying to get my teammates back in check and get them focused again every time we had one because I could tell it was bothering everyone a lot.”

DeHoet has a good relationship with Ziats. “I really like him,” DeHoet said. “He’s a really big guy but he’s not a mean coach. He knows what he’s talking about. He knows how to take a defense apart, that’s for sure.”

As for his 1,000-yard receiving season, DeHoet said, “That feels great to achieve that. That was my individual goal for the season, to have 1,000 yards receiving. I wasn’t able to get that last season. But the team comes first. I’m just very thankful for my teammates and the coaching staff, everyone who’s helped me become the player I am.”

DeHoet, who is 6-foot and 175 pounds, has returned three kickoffs (two for 99 yards, one for 85 yards) and a punt (74 yards) for touchdowns this season, the most among area players.

Position switch: DeHoet wasn’t always a wide receiver. “In elementary school I was a running back,” he said. “When I came up to middle school the coaches wanted to try me out at receiver and my position got changed to that. I’ve been a receiver ever since.”

DeHoet has worked hard at his craft. The speedy, shifty, agile junior has great hands and has made several circus catches this season.

“Houston and I practiced a lot in the offseason going into this season,” he said. “We played flag football together in the offseason as well. So he’s got a lot of trust in me. If I have to go up in the air to get the ball I’m able to do that a lot of times. I work on making tough catches in practice. I’ll have Houston throw me jump balls and we have a Jugs machine I’ll use. I’ll put myself in difficult positions and try to catch the ball.”

Next level: DeHoet, who is also a defensive back for J-M, would like to continue playing football past high school. “I’m hoping to go on and play in college but I haven’t had anyone talk too much to me about that yet,” he said. “I like playing defense, too, but I like offense a lot more. I prefer to play receiver in college but I wouldn’t be against trying to do both.”

Tidbits: DeHoet also likes welding, weightlifting and flag football. “I love playing flag football in the offseason,” he said. “As for welding, I went to the Career Technology Center down at Waynesburg for a ninth-grade tour and saw the opportunity for that. I was always interested in welding so I applied for it.”… DeHoet is a two-sport athlete. “I used to wrestle, too, but not anymore,” DeHoet said. “This year I’m just doing football and baseball.” … DeHoet has two siblings, younger brother Ethan Ferencak and older sister KeAnna DeHoet who lives in Florida.

Compiled by Rob Burchianti