New team, but same old position for Hoover football

Hoover closing in on another Federal League title

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Chris Beaven, Canton Repository

NORTH CANTON Rebuilding appeared more likely than reloading for the Hoover High

School football team this season.

Stars graduated. Newcomers needed to emerge.

A stronger Federal League appeared ready to make things even tougher.

So, of course, here it is Week 9, and the Vikings are right back where they were a year ago

— in good position to win the league and reach the playoffs.

"We're doing it with smoke and mirrors ... and pretty good football players," Hoover head

coach Don Hertler Jr. said.

However the Vikings are doing it, they are doing it well as they head into Friday's Federal

League showdown at home against GlenOak. It's the second straight week the Vikings

play a game with first place on the line, having beaten McKinley, 30-20, last Friday.

"You've got to believe in yourself," junior tailback Erick Howard explained as the biggest

key to Hoover's win last week. "We know they were way better than us athletically.

But we had to come out and stick them, and that's what we did."

Hoover is 7-1 overall and 5-0 in the league. The Vikings have won six straight and sit in

second place in Division I, Region 2 for the playoffs.

They look like a team that's reloaded after winning the league last season, but that

doesn't mean they overwhelm anyone with talent and skill.

"We don't have a lot of great speed," Hertler said. "We're not real big. We have a lot of

first-year senior starters and 15 or 16 juniors starting. And we're not real pretty in what

we do. But when we play hard, we're halfway decent."

The presence of Howard plays a big part in Hoover's success. He leads the Federal League with 1,403 yards rushing. He averages 27 carries a game, but in tight games that total will go well over the 30 mark. Last week, counting receptions and returns, he had 44 offensive touches and also intercepted a pass.

"Erick wears people down, and when the line comes off the ball and blocks well, he has a chance to do that," Hertler said. "He's a tough runner."

Led by returning All-Stark County performer Dom Boyle, Hoover's line has given Howard plenty of chances to wear teams down. Against McKinley, Hoover set the tone early with Howard getting 28 touches in the first half alone, rushing for 118 yards on 23 carries in the opening two quarters.

"Our kids were very physical on both sides of the ball," Hertler said.

Boyle also is a leader on the defensive front. Another returning starter, Tim Hartzell, anchors the linebackers.

Hartzell sees similarities in this year's team to last year's, which reached the regional finals. He sees the same attitude that made that group successful existing on this team.

The Vikings, though, nearly got tripped up two weeks ago on a visit to Fitch. They got into an uncharacteristic shootout, trailed into the late stages before forcing overtime, and won it in double OT.

"We came into the Fitch game big-headed, and we almost let it slip through our hands," Howard said.

Hartzell called "it very important" to come back and play the type of strong defense that the Vikings played against McKinley last week.

Two more tests remain to see if Hoover can complete its journey back to the playoffs. Like last week, the Vikings enter Friday's game with GlenOak considered an underdog by most.

"That just fuels our fire," Howard said.

That fire burns powerfully within all of the Vikings, according to Howard.

"We believe, that's how we're winning," Howard said. "It's our heart, our determination."

NETWORK

VIKING ON THE MOVE Hoover High School junior tailback Erick Howard continues to pile up yardage as the Vikings stand 7-1 overall and an unbeaten 5-0 in the Federal League heading into Friday's game vs. GlenOak.

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Hoover Vikings Football

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