Hoover grinds out 30-20 win over McKinley

Hoover impressive in taking out McKinley

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Chris Beaven, Canton Repository

A wide-open offense, a gambling defense — that’s not Hoover High School’s style.

A punishing ground game, a sneaky passing game and a strong defense — that sounds

like the Hoover Vikings who came into Fawcett Stadium on Friday and grabbed hold of

first place in the Federal League.

The Vikings pounded out a 30-20 win over the McKinley Bulldogs (5-3, 5-1) in front of

13,654, snapping the home team’s five-game winning streak. Hoover (7-1, 5-0) extended

its winning streak to six games and owns first place in the league all to itself.

“It wasn’t necessarily a pretty game but we played extremely hard,” Hoover head coach

Don Hertler Jr. said in a familiar refrain.

Junior tailback Erick Howard led the offense with 188 rushing yards and three touchdowns

on his way to 270 all-purpose yards on 44 touches.

“It all starts with the boys up front,” Howard said, referring to his offensive line that controlled

the line of scrimmage. “They got it going.”

Junior quarterback Brett Tulodzieski added 128 yards passing, all in the first half.

Then there was the defense. The Vikings came up with four turnovers, including three

fumble recoveries. They also scored a safety on defense.

“We’re a real smart team, we listen well, we respond well and we fly to the ball,” senior

linebacker Tim Hartzell said, crediting defensive coordinator Glen Cummings for the

unit’s performance.

Hartzell led the way with two tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. Jake Mann and

Tyler Mann also fell on McKinley fumbles. Howard came up with a nice third-quarter

interception. Two-way lineman Dom Boyle added two sacks, the second one helping

to close out the game.

“We just got to the ball and tackled well,” Hertler said.

The Vikings, aside from Howard, don’t overwhelm anyone with talent.

“But when we play hard, we’re halfway decent,” Hertler said.

Playing hard was no problem Friday. The Vikings knew first place in the league was on the

line and played with that type of intensity nearly the entire game.

They took a 30-7 lead into the final 2 1/2 minutes before two McKinley touchdowns and two

recovered onside kicks made things interesting.

The defense also wanted to atone for last week when Hoover had to outlast Fitch, 45-42 in

double overtime.

“I was so upset with our performance last week, we all were,” Hartzell said. “We know

what we can do when we focus and we play as well we can.”

McKinley was left to be upset with its performance Friday.

“We didn’t play well at all,” McKinley coach Rob Johnson said. “That falls into my lap.

I’ve got to do a significantly better job of coaching.”

Hoover controlled the ball much of the first half, but an odd first quarter ended with the

Bulldogs leading, 7-2, despite running just four plays from scrimmage. Their first two

offensive plays each resulted in scores — one each way.

Hoover’s defense smothered Monterae Williams in the end zone for a safety with

7:11 left in the quarter after a McKinley interception stopped a Viking drive.

Just over three minutes later, McKinley’s offense got the ball back. Williams again got

the call. This time, he got loose around left end, eluding two defenders and taking off for

a 73-yard TD run down the sideline.

Hoover cut its deficit to 7-5 on A.J. Sarbaugh’s 36-yard field goal early in the second

quarter after a McKinley fumble. He later added a 42-yard field goal.

Game Note: Hoover's defense shut down the ground game of McKinley. McKinley had

87 rushing yards on 20 carries. Subtract the 73 yard TD run and you have an outstanding

defensive effort by Hoover - 14 yards on 19 carries.

Box Score

Hoover 30, McKinley 20

at Fawcett Stadium

Hoover Vikings 2 18 0 10 30

McKinley Bulldogs 7 0 0 13 20

H-Safety, running back tackled in endzone

M-Williams 73 run (Gage kick)

H-Sarbaugh 36 FG

H-Howard 15 run (Howard run)

H-Howard 14 run (Sarbaugh kick)

H-Sarbaugh 42 FG

H-Howard 1 run (Sarbaugh kick)

M-Powell 20 run (Gage kick)

M-Morrow 22 pass from Ohradzansky (pass failed)

Game Stats

First Downs: Hoover 17, McKinley 8

Rushes-Yards: Hoover 48-196, McKinley 20-87

Comp-Att-Int: Hoover 8-19-1, McKinley 15-25-1

Passing Yards: Hoover 128, McKinley 129

Fumbles-Lost: Hoover 0-0, McKinley 4-3

Penalty Yards: Hoover 99, McKinley 11

Records 7-1, 5-0 5-3, 5-1

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Hoover Vikings Football

Hoover Vikings Football

Canton McKinley Game Review