5-alive: Vikings cherish OT win

Monday, November 5, 2007

CHRIS BEAVEN, Canton Repository

NORTH CANTON Somewhere in the middle of five overtimes, Saturday night's Division I playoff game stopped making sense at North Canton Memorial Stadium.

Too many sudden switches in momentum. Too many clutch plays. Too many moments where the game seemed over.

That's why a weary Don Hertler Jr. needed time to collect his thoughts in his office once his Hoover High School football team finally outlasted Toledo St. John's, 40-33.

"I was just trying to figure it all out," the 12th-year head coach said.

A day later, it still seemed a bit unbelievable to Hertler how his Vikings won a game they trailed 16-0 in the third quarter. They were outgained by 102 yards, outsized all night and outplayed much of the first half.

But here the Vikings are getting ready for Week 12. They meet Nordonia at 7 p.m. Saturday in Massillon.

"It was just a pure guts win," Hertler said. "We weren't able to do a whole lot, but our defense kept us in it by holding them to (first-half) field goals and our guys kept fighting. I don't know if we were a better team than them, but we showed a lot of courage and guts."

The Vikings needed a touchdown and a 2-point conversion with 7.2 seconds left in regulation just to force overtime. They needed an assortment of defensive stops and offensive conversions on third and fourth downs to survive the overtimes.

"I don't know how some of our guys made it through, how they were able to function as well as they did at the end of the game," Hertler said.

Senior linebacker-tight end Kevin Dahl credited summer conditioning. Junior Jeff Meek thought of the seniors, and how they couldn't lose their last game on their home field.

But it was more than that.

"I don't know if it was a great performance in some aspects, but it was pure guts," Hertler said. "Our kids obviously didn't want their season to end."

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