The 2008 All-Federal League football team,
as chosen by the league’s coaches.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Chris Beaven, fridaynightohio.com
First Team
LB Drew Blinco, Jackson 5-10 201 Sr.
OL Dominic Boyle, Hoover 6-0 210 Sr.
OL Erik Carlson, Jackson 6-4 251 Sr.
DB Joe Cerreta, Hoover 6-1 187 Sr.
OL Nathan Dodds, Hoover 5-10 240 Sr.
P James Forsythe, McKinley 6-3 170 Jr.
LB Andrew Garman, GlenOak 6-0 200 Jr.
DB Sylvestry Gibbs, Fitch 6-0 189 Sr.
DB Derrick Gordan, McKinley 5-8 176 Sr.
LB Tim Hartzell, Hoover 6-2 175 Sr.
WR Zach Hatchett, GlenOak 5-11 172 Sr.
RB Erick Howard, Hoover 5-10 210 Jr.
DB Casey Irwin, Jackson 5-9 165 Jr.
RB Mike Kohler, Hoover 6-2 2-5 Sr.
RB Caleb Laps, Perry 6-0 187 Jr.
DB Jamon McClain, McKinley 5-11 177 Jr.
LB Pat McFall, Boardman 6-3 240 Sr.
DB Jeff Meek, Hoover 5-10 185 Sr.
OL Dillon Miller, Lake 6-3 275 Sr.
DE Steve Miller, McKinley 6-4 201 Soph.
K A.J. Sarbaugh, Hoover 6-0 185 Jr.
LB Jewone Snow, McKinley 6-2 237 Jr.
TE Adam Steiner, GlenOak 6-2 211 Sr.
LB Travis Talkington, Lake 5-10 191 Sr.
OL Aaron Williams, GlenOak 6-2 270 Sr.
RB Monterae Williams, McKinley 5-10 183 Sr.
Second Team
WR Ramon Brown, Jackson 5-7 174 Sr.
K Andrew Gage, McKinley 5-8 219 Sr.
OL Cory Christensen, Perry 6-0 195 Sr.
P Ryan Christiansen, Lake 6-2 185 Jr.
RB Tyler Crowl, Lake 5-9 185 Sr.
DB Brice Everett, McKinley 5-7 143 Jr.
LB Ronald Gillom, McKinley 5-9 193 Jr.
LB Nick Groat, Fitch 5-11 216 Sr.
LB Jimmy Hanlon, Jackson 5-8 172 Sr.
DE Brad Holt, Jackson 6-0 208 Sr.
RB Damien Jarrett, Boardman 5-8 180 Sr.
OL Corey Linsley, Boardman 6-4 285 Sr.
DB Jake Mann, Hoover 508 162 Sr.
QB Brandon Martin, GlenOak 5-9 160 Jr.
DL Jamaal McClain, McKinley 6-0 254 Jr.
DL Joe Monnot, GlenOak 6-3 200 Sr.
DL D.J. Moss, Fitch 5-11 266 Sr.
QB Kyle Ohradzansky, McKinley 6-0 187 Soph.
DB Andrew Oravec, Lake 6-0 178 Sr.
QB Max Paulus, Jackson 6-0 179 Sr.
DB Brian Sengos, Perry 6-1 173 Sr.
WR Chris Smaldino, Fitch 5-8 160 Sr.
DB DeWuan Spencer, GlenOak 5-10 170 Sr.
LB Spyro Spondyl, GlenOak 5-7 185 Jr.
QB Brett Tulodzieski, Hoover 6-2 173 Jr.
OL Mark Wiley, Hoover 6-2 195 Jr.
Honorable Mention
BOARDMAN Alex Antonucci, Sr.; Rob Boyd, Jr.; Alex Lipinsky, Sr.; J.T. Moore, Jr.
FITCH Sam Mariano, Jr.; Jon Ballard, Jr.; Chris Miller, Sr.; George Thomas, Jr.
GLENOAK Adam Garman, Sr.; Bruce Maldonado, Sr.; Collin Mitchell, Jr.
HOOVER Tyler Mann, Jr.; Alex Steenrod, Jr.; Jordan Witt, Jr.
JACKSON Mike Benroth, Sr.; Alex Gorgievski, Sr.; Wyatt Lloyd, Sr.
LAKE Logan Martin, Sr.; Brad Beachy, Jr.; Dalton Beachy, Sr.; Andrew Jones, Sr.
McKINLEY Greg Korocedes, Sr.; Angelo Powell, Jr.; Anthony Snell, Sr.
PERRY Steve Hall, Sr.; Andrew Phillips, Sr.
Getting excited about individual awards is not Don Hertler Jr.’s style. So the Hoover High School football coach kept it low key when talking about an awards sweep by the Vikings in the Federal League.
Federal coaches voted Hertler as the league Coach of the Year, and Hoover junior tailback-linebacker Erick Howard received Player of the Year.
“Anytime anyone gets individual awards it’s because the team has had success,” Hertler said. “It comes from the coaching staff to every player on the team contributing in their way to our success.”
The Vikings have been quite successful the last two years, winning back-to-back outright Federal League titles. After going 10-3 a year ago, a relatively inexperienced Hoover team went 9-1 this regular season to reach the playoffs again.
“We were able to complete a goal and win the league outright two years in a row,” Hertler said. “It takes luck and guys staying with it. And some things fell our way to be able to win some close game even on nights when maybe you’re not at your best.”
Howard strong on both sides
Howard was at his best nearly every week, as he became the Stark County’s dominant runner and Hoover’s second straight league player of the year, joining the graduated Matt Wakulchik. Howard also is a hard-hitting linebacker who is drawing the interest of Big Ten colleges.
“He was a big factor in what we did,” Hertler said.
At 5-foot-10, 210 pounds, Howard mixes power, speed, strength, quickness, toughness and endurance.
“He’s tough to bring down and just wears down the defense,” said GlenOak coach Scott Garcia, who watched Howard rush for 182 yards on 32 carries in a win over the Golden Eagles.
Howard carried the ball 285 times during the season for a county-best 1,795 yards. He added 328 yards receiving on 16 catches, scoring 28 total touchdowns, also tops in the county. He had a career-high 337 rushing yards against Lake on 43 carries.
“He’s a kid — and you hear it all the time — that gets better as the games goes on,” Garcia said. “When you have a guy like that, the runs he’s getting, 2 and 3 yards in the first quarter become 3 and 4 in the second. He’s getting 4 and 5 yards in the third and then 6 and 7 in the fourth quarter. It’s a matter of him wearing on the defense because he goes 100 miles per hour hitting the holes.”
Howard, who rushed for 1,215 yards a year ago, is one of two Vikings to return to the all-league first team. The other is Dom Boyle, a two-way lineman whose blocking helps Howard hammer out the yards.
Other Vikings on the first team are defensive backs Joe Cerreta and Jeff Meek, offensive lineman Nathan Dodds, linebacker Tim Hartzell, fullback Mike Kohler and kicker A.J. Sarbaugh.
McKinley, the league runner-up, placed six on the first team — tailback Monterae Williams, defensive backs Derrick Gordon and Jamon McClain, defensive end Steve Miller, linebacker Jewone Snow and punter James Forsythe.
GlenOak is represented by linebacker Andrew Garman, receiver Zach Hatchett, tight end Adam Steiner and two-way lineman Aaron Williams.
Jackson has three first-team picks — linebacker Drew Blinco, lineman Erik Carlson and defensive back Casey Irwin. Blinco and Carlson also made the first team a year ago.
Lake put offensive lineman Dillon Miller and linebacker Travis Talkington on the first team. Rounding it out are Fitch running back Sylvestry Gibbs, Boardman linebacker Pat McFall and Perry tailback Caleb Laps.
NETWORK
Hoover Vikings Football
Hoover Vikings Football
2008 All-Federal League Selections
