Senior Signing Spotlight: Hyrum Boren

This is No. 3 in a month-long series of profiles of Arizona high school seniors that signed with four-year colleges. Here's the full list (currently totaling 273) of players from within the state moving on to the next level.

SPOTLIGHT: 2/10/20

Hyrum Boren knew the Air Force Academy was the right fit for him when he stopped to look at the big picture.

The Red Mountain senior had a couple of Division I offers, but was enamored with Air Force from the beginning. It was also important for Boren to stay relatively close to his Arizona roots.

"(Defensive assistant) Coach (Alex) Means had me sold on the program and I fell in love with the opportunity to play there," Boren said in an e-mail interview. "The biggest thing about Air Force is that it sets you up for life after football. It's a 40-year decision and Air Force allows me to be able to have the life I want."

Boren received his first Division I offer from Northern Arizona on Jan. 21. A week later, the Air Force offer came and on Jan. 30, there was another one from Navy. Boren announced his commitment last Tuesday. He celebrated with his RMHS teammates on Wednesday as a total of seven Mountain Lions will be playing football in college.

Boren, who has a grandfather that served in the Air Force and fought for our country in the Vietnam War, has been doing his homework and learning about what life as a cadet will be like at the academy.

"I have a friend that's up there who wrestles that I've been talking to a lot about Air Force and the lifestyle," Boren said. "I've also gotten on the phone with Max Massingale and asked him about his time there and the daily life."

Massingale, a Saguaro alum, signed with the AFA in 2018. Like Boren, he's a quarterback that has trained with Mike Giovando at the Elev8 QB Academy for a while.

Some may notice that the academies "sign" a lot of players. In actuality, scholarship limits are waived for Army, Air Force, and Navy as all students receive full scholarship and stipend packages from the U.S. Government for attending the academy. Service academies don't have athletic scholarships.

While other colleges put out their lists of signees, Air Force coaches aren't allowed to comment about recruits until this summer when they arrive on campus. According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, there are at least five quarterbacks in this class (two from Arizona) and a total of 95 recruits. While that number seems very high, there is more attrition and transfer rates are higher due to the rigors of classes and military training than you see at other Mountain West schools. That applies not just with athletes, but regular cadets.

To prepare for the academic side of things, Boren has been enrolled in college classes since his junior year. He has a 3.75 weighted GPA.

"The teachers at Red Mountain are amazing," Boren said. "They both challenge me and are there for me with anything I need at the same time. They're always pushing me to get my grades the best they can possibly be."

On the field, Boren led the Mountain Lions to their first conference title game in 18 years. A 6-1, 190-pound dual-threat QB, he threw for 2,283 yards and 30 touchdowns. Boren also rushed for 886 yards with 11 TDs and had 100-yard efforts against Basha and Desert Ridge. RMHS was 9-1 at the end of the regular season with Boren having just two interceptions. His high game was 276 yards against Liberty in the 6A title game (a 34-28 loss in overtime).

Boren started just one year at quarterback for the Lions. As a junior, he started at linebacker. He calls the change in position a "grind", but had people in his life pushing him to get better all the time.

"Coach Gio is someone who has helped me improve my game and I will always be thankful for him," Boren said. "Even during the season, I was still getting in with him every week and he helped me make that transition smooth."

Despite the 9-1 record, the strength of schedule wasn't quite high enough to get Red Mountain into the first Open Division tournament. However, the Lions were the top seed in the 6A bracket. After a 43-14 win over Corona del Sol in the first round, Desert Ridge was awaiting a rematch in the quarterfinals. Way back in Week 1, Red Mountain began its year with a victory over the Jaguars. Boren's favorite football moment at RMHS was beating Desert Ridge in the playoffs.

"They were a very solid team and it's hard to beat a good team twice, but we did it (49-35)," Boren said. "We started off down 14-0, but we never quit and our offense did its thing. Someone I'd like to shout out in that game was Deonce Elliott, who we couldn't have won the game without. He left everything on the field that night, scoring on three of his five touches and it ended up being his last game (injury). I'll never forget the love and competitiveness he brought to that game and our team too. My line was incredible as well all season and we wouldn't have been who we were without them."

Air Force closed out 2019 with an eight-game winning streak and an 11-2 record. The Falcons' season finished in the Valley with a 31-21 victory over Washington State in the Cheez-It Bowl. Air Force was ranked No. 22 in the final Associated Press poll, its first season-ending ranking since 1998. The 11 wins marked a six-game turnaround from 2018. In addition to the win over WSU, the Falcons won their other Power Five matchup against Colorado (30-23 in overtime).