HAMPSTEAD, N.C.— After missing most of last season for health reasons, nose guard Austin Hobson is back with his team and hungry for an incredible senior year.

Hobson is in his third season as a starting lineman for the Topsail High School Pirates.

Head coach Jack Teachey says Hobson is a big part of the Pirates’ defense.

“I’m expecting a big-time season out of him. He’s one of our leaders,” Teachey said. “Obviously, he’s a great athlete, big, strong kid, and he’s very, very knowledgeable of what we’re trying to do defensively.”

Hobson is following a family legacy of sports. His parents are basketball players and his brother also plays football. So, he started down his path early.

“It’s my whole life — everything,” he said. “My life has revolved around football since I was a little kid.”

Ahead of his junior year, he was listed on the preseason all-conference list, but his season was unexpectedly cut short when his appendix burst.

“Woke up with the worst stomach pains I’ve had in my life,” Hobson said.

Being in and out of the hospital, barely seeing his family and watching games from his bed, hit Hobson hard.

“It sucked, it was terrible,” Hobson said.

Once Hobson was finally cleared to begin working out again, he knew getting back wasn’t going to be easy. What pushed him that extra mile was when he wasn’t highlighted in a local newspaper’s list of players to watch out for.

“It really hit me whenever those players to watch out for came out, and I wasn’t on the list,” Hobson said.

Hobson says there is only one way to prove that list wrong.

“I have to work hard and get down, get dirty with the team and actually, like, put both feet in the boat. Go full speed every single play,” Hobson said.