The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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2012 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE Sione Houma took a handoff at the 25-yard line, burst through a hole and was gone. On the 22nd carry of his career, he reached the end zone for the first time, going 75 yards as part of a 35-point second-quarter outburst by Salt Lake City Highland High School. Houma's long gallop was the sort of breakout play Five games into his junior year, reserve running back Fullback Sione Houma Stepped Up For His Team that should have led to greater opportunity, but the Utah native was fumbling the football too often, and his penchant for turnovers threatened to derail a prom- ising career. "Great kid, hard worker, and we really liked what he was doing in practice, but if you can't take care of the football, you're not going to be someone we trust hand- ing the ball off to in game situations," Highland head coach Brody Benson said. "Sione worked really hard on that. He wanted to be someone we could count on. "A few weeks later, we're playing East in our last regular-season game, and if we lose, we don't make the playoffs. Our starting running back had been bat- tling illness all year, and we needed one of his backups to really step forward and take charge. "Sione ran like we expected him to. He took ev- ery handoff like he was shot out of a cannon, and he wouldn't stop, running over four playoff teams in helping us win the state title." The 6-0, 215-pound ball carrier had 113 yards, in- cluding a 54-yard touchdown, on 15 rushes in a 42-14 victory over East. A week later, he had 99 yards in a round-one win, and then, his breakthrough perfor- mance — a 288-yard, two-touchdown effort in a 48-44 Class 4A quarterfinal victory over Pine View. In total, Houma finished with 760 yards rushing and five touchdowns — including scoring runs of 80, 63 and 62 yards — on 92 attempts (8.3-yard average) dur- ing the four-game playoff march. "It means a lot to me that I stepped up because my Houma, a three-star prospect and the No. 5 fullback nationally according to Rivals.com, rushed for 1,026 yards and eight touch- downs in six career high school playoff games. Houma's hometown, but with support from his par- ents, distance became a non-factor. "A lot of people that grow up in Utah just stay in PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM Utah and go to one of the colleges here," he said, "but I want to be different, explore and make a name for my- self somewhere else, away from home." With his decision made in July, Houma focused on team needed my help," Houma said. "To be a success- ful offense, we need to run the football, and it felt good to help us become state champions." Without his strong play late in the year, Houma probably wouldn't be a Wolverine today. After Benson had cultivated a relationship with Brady Hoke and some of Michigan's coaches — lending his field to San Diego State for a walkthrough practice before a game against Utah — he posted Houma's highlight reel on Youtube, which caught the eye of U-M special teams/ tight ends coach Dan Ferrigno. "They were looking for a fullback, a kid with some his senior season, but his task became more difficult when dual-threat quarterback Anthony Smithson suf- fered a season-ending injury six games into the 2011 campaign. Houma, who missed two full games with his own injury, did his best to compensate, rushing for 511 yards and six touchdowns in five games without the Rams' starting signal-caller, but Highland was ousted in the second round of the state playoffs. "We were desperate to get Sione back because he versatility that could play multiple roles in their of- fense, and they really wanted Sione to visit last sum- mer," Benson said. "When he went out there, I told him to have an open mind and see what they had to offer. "He loved it. He came back excited, and felt Michi- gan was best for him. The best fit academically, and how they wanted to use him." More than 1,500 miles separate Ann Arbor from 56 THE WOLVERINE MARCH 2012 was our whole offense," Benson said. "We couldn't surround him with any complementary pieces, but he never complained even when teams were loading up with eight, nine guys in the box to take him away. "I'm proud of him. The thing people don't realize about Sione when they meet him, talk to him — be- cause he's very quiet and unassuming — is that he's a very competitive kid, but someone that doesn't get rattled, doesn't feel the pressure of the big moment. "He will be a great asset to the Michigan football program." — Michael Spath