On Halloween night in Flagstaff, Arizona, the lights felt a little brighter. The Idaho Vandals’ playoff hopes hung by a thread, tied 29-29 with Northern Arizona in overtime. After NAU’s field goal gave the Lumberjacks a 32–29 lead, Idaho’s offense had one last chance to keep its season alive.
It was something out of a movie. Running back Elisha Cummings burst through the line on the first play of Idaho’s possession, racing 24 yards down to the one-yard line. The Vandals huddled quickly, and the call was a handoff to redshirt junior Hayden Kincheloe, a bruising short-yardage specialist from Homedale, Idaho.
“We’re winning this game with this play. We’re done after this,” Kincheloe said. “Everyone’s eyes were freaking coming out of their eyelids, and everyone was on the same page that this game needs to end.”
The ball was snapped. Kincheloe took the handoff, surged forward, churning his legs as a wall of linemen helped him plow his way across the goal line. Just like that, Kincheloe’s score sealed the first road victory in head coach Thomas Ford Jr.’s young career.
“I’m like, ‘dude, please tell me my knee didn’t touch the ground,’” Kincheloe said. “Once he gave the touchdown call, it was a huge sigh of relief that we made it out of that game with a win.”
For the Vandals, the 35–32 victory kept their playoff hopes alive for one more week. For Kincheloe, it was a validation of the work he’d put in to carve out a role on Idaho’s roster, a role built not on flash or speed, but on grit, leverage and the kind of effort that doesn’t always make highlight reels. He was carried off the field on the shoulders of his teammates as they celebrated their Halloween upset victory.
“I could care less that it was a touchdown,” Kincheloe said. “The way people talked to me and supported me after was what made it special. Seeing everyone’s joy, seeing guys be so over-the-top happy for me, it just showed me how great the culture is here. That’s what made it special, honestly.”
Before he was Idaho’s short-yardage specialist, Kincheloe was a household name in Homedale, Idaho. At Homedale, he was a do-it-all back who rarely left the field, piling up 1,637 yards and 22 touchdowns his senior year while averaging 9.1 yards per carry. He led the Trojans to the 3A state semifinals and was named Idaho’s 3A Player of the Year.
When Kincheloe first arrived in Moscow, he was primarily used on special teams and on scout team in practice.
“My role when I first got here was just kind of a scout team guy,” Kincheloe said. “But now it’s suddenly evolved into like a fullback, short-yardage, goal-line type back.”
That evolution didn’t happen overnight. He spent his first two years developing and finding his niche in Idaho’s physical offensive system. In his sophomore year, Idaho installed a fullback play, which they ran against Sacramento State inside the five-yard line. Kincheloe laid a great block on a defensive tackle on the play, and that is where he earned his signature nickname.
“One of the offensive linemen at the time, Tigana Cisse, came up with it,” Kincheloe said. “He posted a picture on his story and put like ‘The Homedale Hammer.’”
The nickname fit perfectly. Shorter and heavier than most of Idaho’s running backs, Kincheloe became a bowling ball with pads — a battering ram built for the gritty duties no one else wanted to take.
This season, Kincheloe’s responsibilities are clear. On third-and-one or fourth-and-goal, offensive coordinator Matt Linehan doesn’t overthink it.
“Handoffs on third and short — I think it’s a good role to have,” Kincheloe said. “I don’t have to do much thinking. I just have to run really hard. It’s kind of a stress-free role.”
Still, he admits the moments before the snap can be tense.
“There’s a lot of pressure pre-snap because the whole drive is riding on this one play,” he said. “The only thing I have to focus on is just taking a direct step vertical, not false-stepping at all, which can be kind of hard with all that adrenaline.”
That mental precision — taking the correct first step, staying low and trusting the line — defines Kincheloe’s job. He credits the offensive line for making his life easier.
“The o-line always does a great job knowing the down and distance and giving me a push to make something work,” he said. “I’ve got so much respect for those guys.”
He also prides himself on doing the dirty work few others notice: blocking in the open field, sealing edges and sacrificing his body for others’ success.
“I have to work on open-field blocking more than most other running backs,” Kincheloe said. “I take a lot of pride in my role. It’s a huge blessing because it’s just fun. People are so supportive of anyone that’sphysical. Like, they think it’s awesome, and they think it’s tough. That’s what football’s all about.”
That physical edge has become part of Idaho’s offensive identity, a team that blends speed with raw physical dominance up front. In short-yardage situations, the Vandals impose their will.
“To be a guy on this team that has to represent that physical side of football — I’ve got to take a lot of pride in that,” Kincheloe said.
For all the power in Kincheloe’s runs, his proudest moments aren’t about numbers or scores. They’re about relationships and about the people who celebrated that Halloween touchdown with him like it was their own.
“I saw sides of some guys that I haven’t seen. That level of support, they were so genuinely happy for me. It just shows the type of people we have on this team; so selfless,” Kincheloe said. “Some guys would be jealous, like, ‘Oh, that should have been me.’ But every other running back in the room was patting me on the back and so happy for me. Seeing their genuine reactions was just amazing.”
Kincheloe credits that unselfishness as being what separates Idaho’s locker room.
“It kind of gave us a sense that we can beat anyone as long as we play our game and stay true to ourselves,” he said. “It opened my eyes to how great this sport of football is and how great the culture is in Idaho.”
David Bradford
Awesome read!!