Vikings rout Bears for Federal title
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Josh Weir, Canton Repository
NORTH CANTON They huddled in the end zone with helmets raised,
chanting like warriors inside a sloppy Memorial Stadium.
“Who believes? We believe. Who believes? We believe.”
It’d be hard not to after the Hoover Vikings’ performance Friday night.
The Vikings were as persistent as the rain, rolling over rival Jackson,
31-0. Hoover clinched the Federal League high school football title
and likely earned its first home playoff game since 2003.
With so much at stake and the Polar Bears (4-6, 3-4) playing out
the string, the Vikings (8-2, 6-1) could have been excused for
playing tight.
“We just did what we’ve been doing all year,” Hoover senior
Matt Wakulchik said. “We’re not going to back down and be
passive. We just wanted some good momentum going into
the playoffs, and we did it.”
Tight? Please. Gene Kelly might as well been hopping puddles
on Hoover’s sideline.
“These kids have been through a lot of tough things the last three years, lots of tough wins and losses, lots of injuries,” Hoover coach Donnie Hertler Jr. said. “It’s kind of coming together for them.”
Hoover gained almost 250 yards of offense to Jackson’s 17 in the first half, sprinting to a 24-0 lead. And that was with three turnovers, including two muffed punts.
With Jackson geared to stop Erick Howard, QB Jared Wackerly sliced them up. He completed 10-of-16 passes for 171 yards and three touchdowns. Two scores went to Wakulchik, who finished with five grabs for 100 yards.
“It wasn’t easy (with the conditions), but those guys are pretty good at what they do,” Hertler said.
Wakulchik’s 2-yard TD catch capped a 13-play, 73-yard drive on the night’s first possession. He then booted a 28-yard field goal late in the first quarter for a 10-0 lead.
“You want to get a lead on a night like this, force them to come from behind,” Jackson coach Thom McDaniels said. “They did what we wanted to do.”
Hoover’s defense continued its stellar play behind James Georgiades, Mitch Rose, Mike Kohler, Greg Tischler and others. The Vikings had allowed 7 points in five of its last six games. The other? They allowed 21 points in Week 6 to Lake — Stark County’s highest-scoring team entering the night.
The Vikings outgained Jackson 381-83 while picking off three passes, recovering a fumble and gaining their first shutout of the season.
“Our defense this second half of the year has been a little underrated,” Hertler said. “We’ve come along a lot.”
Jackson star back Carlin Isles was averaging 185 yards his last five games. But Isles had only three carries of more than 2 yards and finished with 15 yards Friday.
Jackson showed signs of life early in the second quarter. Mike Benroth picked off a Hoover pass in the end zone. But Georgiades got a tackle-for-loss, then knocked down a pass to help snuff that drive.
Jackson ran two plays in Hoover territory during the first half. The first was a false start penalty. The other was an overthrow that Dan Nettleton intercepted.
That set up Wakulchik. A play after going 25 yards on a screen, he grabbed a pass up the left seam, stumbled in the mud and stayed on his feet for a 53-yard TD reception.
Another Hoover pick, this one by Jeff Meek, set up another score.
Howard rumbled 35 yards inside the Jackson 10. Wackerly rolled right on the next play, bought time with a fake, then took it in for a 7-yard TD and a 24-0 Hoover lead.
Howard finished with 84 yards. Older brother Phil Howard saw his most extensive action of the season and responded with 90 yards.
“With their running, all it does is open up the pass game,” Wakulchik said.
Isles sent a jolt through the Jackson crowd with a 71-yard kickoff return in the third quarter. But that possession ended in another Jackson interception, this one grabbed by Rose. The Vikings turned that into a 3-yard Kevin Dahl TD grab from Wackerly.
Hoover clinches title with Jackson shutout
Jared Wackerly throws for three touchdowns, runs for one as Vikings dominate
Nate Ulrich, Akron beacon Journal
Saturday, Oct 27, 2007
NORTH CANTON: Upsets and surprises made the Federal League championship race as clear as mud this season.
So it seemed fitting that North Canton Hoover finally made everything clear on its muddy home field by defeating Jackson 31-0 on Friday night to clinch its first outright Federal League title since 2003.
Hoover (8-2, 6-1) entered its game against Jackson with a guaranteed playoff spot in Division I, Region 2. With their victory over the Polar Bears (4-6, 3-4), the Vikings finished the regular season with three consecutive wins and dramatically increased their chances of securing homefield advantage for the postseason.
''To win this league outright anytime is a great accomplishment,'' Hoover coach Don Hertler Jr. said. ''We'll probably have a home playoff game. We wanted to gain momentum heading into the playoffs, and hopefully we're doing that.''
Senior quarterback Jared Wackerly and senior wide receiver Matt Wakulchik connected for two first-half touchdowns to help carry Hoover to a 24-0 lead at halftime. The Vikings struck during their first possession, when Wackerly hit Wakulchik with a 2-yard touchdown pass with 6:12 left in the first quarter. Wackerly then found Wakulchik for a 53-yard scoring strike with 4:04 left in the second quarter.
Wakulchik also contributed to the lopsided first half with a 28-yard field goal in the first quarter, and Wackerly added an 8-yard touchdown run with 18.8 seconds left before halftime.
To bury any hope Jackson
had of showing life in the second half, Wackerly found senior tight end Kevin Dahl for a 3-yard touchdown pass that put Hoover ahead 31-0 with 3:23 left in the third quarter.
''The league was crazy this year,'' said Wackerly, who completed 10-of-16 passes for 171 yards and three touchdowns. ''The Federal League is a great league, and you have to come to play every week. This year, every week we had a great week of practice. It took all 11 guys every time, and we really put it together.''
Hoover's defense was just as impressive as its offense.
Jackson senior running back Carlin Isles had 161 carries for 1,167 yards heading into Week 10. Dahl, who also plays linebacker, senior defensive end James Georgiades, senior linebacker Mitch Rose, junior defensive back Jeff Meek and sophomore defensive back Dan Nettleton helped Hoover's defense limit Isles to 15 yards on 11 carries.
''We didn't run a lot of perimeter stuff,'' Jackson coach Thom McDaniels said. ''We tried to run downhill because that's they way you're supposed to run in this (weather). We needed to block better to move the ball on the ground in this stuff.''
The Vikings allowed just six first downs and had four takeaways (one fumble recovery and three interceptions) en route to their second shutout of the season.
''To shut anybody out with the athletes they have is a great effort by our defense,'' Hertler said. ''Our defense in the second half of the year has been a little underrated.''
Hoover's only league loss was in Week 7, when the Vikings suffered a 7-6 defeat to GlenOak at home. Hoover, however, regained momentum by defeating Austintown Fitch, Perry and Jackson to end the regular season.
Box Score
Hoover 31, Jackson 0
North Canton Memorial Stadium
Jackson 0 0 0 0 - 0
Hoover 10 14 7 0 - 31
H-Wakulchik 2 pass from Wackerly (Wakulchik kick)
H-Wakulchik 28 FG
H-Wakulchik 53 pass from Wackerly (Wakulchik kick)
H-Wackerly 7 run (Wakulchik kick)
H-Dahl 3 pass from Wackerly (Wakulchik kick)
Game Stats
First Downs: Jackson - 6, Hoover - 15
Rushes-yards: Jackson - 24-29, Hoover - 42-210
Comp-Att-Int: Jackson - 9-21-3, Hoover - 10-17-1
Passing yards: Jackson - 54, Hoover - 171
Total Yards: Jackson - 83, Hoover - 381
Fumbles-Lost: Jackson - 5-1, Hoover - 7-3
Records: Jackson 4-6, 3-4; Hoover 8-2, 6-1
NETWORK
REPOSITORY RAY STEWART
MEEK SHALL INHERIT ... Hoover High School’s Jeff Meek intercepts a pass intended for Jackson’s Mike Smith during Friday’s Federal League game at North Canton Memorial Stadium. The Vikings dominated in a 31-0 win. They earned the Federal League championship outright and likely will host a first-round Division I playoff game next Saturday.
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