Hoover vs Louisville

Canton Repository

SITE: North Canton Memorial Stadium, 7:30 p.m.

RECORDS: Louisville 2-0; North Canton Hoover 0-2.

LAST WEEK: Louisville 41, Kent Roosevelt 14; Buchtel 36, Hoover 16.

LAST MEETING: North Canton won 38-7 a year ago.

WHAT TO WATCH: North Canton has to find itself this week. Last week, Hoover turned the ball over four times in its loss. In the first week of the season, a crucial turnover late in the game led to the game-winning score for Green. The Vikings have to do a better job running the ball and taking care of it. QBs Jason Foote and Sean Kostelnik threw 35 passes last week and connected on just eight, and three of those went to Joe Pope for 78 yards.

Louisville is clicking offensively and defensively. Louisville needs to put North Canton in obvious passing downs, and that will mean trying to control North Canton RB John Bertsch. Look for Louisville LBs Austin Powers, Brian Whaley and Justyn Beadling to figure in key roles defensively. They may be the best starting LB combination in the county. A key player for the Leps is WR-DB Drew Kuhn. Louisville head coach Paul Farrah has reminded Kuhn he was picked on in this game as a sophomore. Now Kuhn is a year older and is establishing himself as one of the area’s better players. Big players step up in big games.

Louisville won’t do anything fancy on offense. The Leopards will spread out Hoover’s 5-3 defense and try to pick it apart on short and intermediate passing routes. For that to happen, the Leps better seal off the ends, which is something they struggled to do a year ago.

Opposite ends of the standings: 2-0 Louisville visits 0-2 Hoover

Thursday, September 9, 2004

Todd Porter, Canton Repository

LOUISVILLE —— Consider the engine tuned up.

Friday night against North Canton Hoover, Paul Farrah knows he will get his first chance to give his tires a good kick and find out exactly what’s under the hood of his Louisville High School football team. The Leopards are 2-0, but have wins over Poland and Kent Roosevelt really tested Louisville’s spread offense and 5-3 defense?

Not like the Vikings will.

The Leopards beat Poland in their opener in a game that was postponed for a day because of lightning, then beat a young Kent Roosevelt team still trying to find itself.

Hoover probably won’t enter Friday’s rivalry game against Louisville in a good mood. The Vikings are trying to avoid their first 0-3 start in 10 years.

“We’re going to need a lot more intensity than last week against Kent Roosevelt,” Farrah said. “Our kids know this is a huge game for them. We need to set the tone from the first snap and show that we can play with them. We can’t sit there and watch things happen.”

Farrah agreed the win over Poland isn’t a good gauge because of the weather. And last week against Kent?

“We were able to take care of business like we should,” he said. “This week we know going in if we don’t play our best, we’re going to get our lunches handed to us. ... Coach (Don) Hertler and the Vikings bring the best out of us, and we bring the best out of them.

“This is our best test of the year because we’re playing a Federal League team who is very physical and who has won as many games as we have on tradition. ... The kids don’t like each other very much, but they respect each other. It’s the cleanest game we play all year. You’ll see kids battling until the whistle.”

Maybe the echo of the whistle in some cases.

Louisville’s defense often gets overlooked. The unit is giving the Leopards great play, particularly at linebacker. That group, Farrah said, is as solid as he’s seen since arriving at his alma mater.

Linebackers Austin Powers, Justyn Beadling and Brian Whaley are the keys to the defense. They don’t miss many tackles.

Of course, they haven’t been tested with the likes of Hoover. The Vikings will counter with a dose of running back John Bertsch, who is 6-foot-1, 205 pounds and doesn’t go down easily.

It is safe to say the Vikings have been better tested than Louisville. Hoover lost to Green, which will contend for the Suburban League title, and unbeaten Buchtel, which won at Massillon in the opener. The Griffins led by less than a touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter last week.

The Vikings need to play more consistently on offense. Head coach Don Hertler Jr. is searching for the right mix.

“We have to make better decisions in our passing and catch the ball more consistently,” Hertler said. “We’ve had a few fumbles that need to be eliminated. The margin of error for us is not very big. ... our kids are still practicing hard and trying to improve.”

North Canton’s quarterback rotation of Jason Foote and Sean Kostelnik seems to be working. But Hoover needs to develop consistency at wide receiver and keep defenses off balance.

“North Canton is going to run the ball ... and they’re going to do it well,” Farrah said. “We’ve got to keep pressure on the quarterbacks. If they’re able to sit back, set their feet and throw it all night, we’re in trouble. If you can do that against a 5-3, you’re gonna tear it apart.”

Farrah wants to see how junior receiver and defensive back Drew Kuhn reacts to playing in this game. A year ago, the Vikings seemed to go after Kuhn, then a sophomore.

Kuhn is a year older, and one of the better underclassmen in the county.

“In two games, he’s had one pass thrown at him,” Farrah said. “They picked on him last year and burned him a couple of times. I would have thrown at him last year, too. This is a big game for Drew Kuhn because he wants to establish himself as one of the best players in the county.”

Offensively, Kuhn has been impressive. He has caught five touchdown passes. Quarterback Mark Gulling is coming off a 12-of-14, 140-yard. Running back Aaron Scott ran for 120 yards last week.

But it remains to be seen how well Louisville’s offensive line adjusts to losing starting guard Jon Burris. Stephen Ropp, a 6-7, 295-pounder, has ample size to replace him.

A win this week, and Louisville is set up nicely to begin NBC league play. Last year, the Leopards were in the same situation as North Canton. They were trying to avoid an 0-3 start, and they didn’t.

“It’s nice sitting in a room when you’re not 0-2, and everybody wants to hang you from the nearest pole in Louisville,” Farrah said. “The biggest thing is No. 1, get a win. I don’t care if it’s by 1 point or 20. This is the second-best rivalry in Stark County. There are a lot of people who don’t think we can play with a Federal League team.”

The Vikings need a win to regain confidence. They’ve had a tough start, and this will be the final non-league game before Hoover begins a tough seven-week stretch of league opponents.

“Our big concern is that we play the best we can, whatever that is,” Hertler said. “We need to find guys to compete together every down. We’re not down on ourselves. We want to win. Is this a must-win? It’s not ... but it’s a rivalry game. Next week we start 0-0. If we get better this week we’re in good shape.”

Things are different in Louisville. The Leopards are unbeaten and would like to keep this momentum going, build on the confidence and set themselves up for a strong run through the NBC.

“Confidence wise, we’d like to send our kids a message that we can play with anybody,” Farrah said. “It’s two different things knowing you can play with anybody and doing. .. our kids actually have to get on the field and take that swagger out there with them.”

NETWORK

Hoover Vikings Football

Louisville Leopards Game Preview