North Canton Hoover 13, Twinsburg 10

Howard and friends lead Vikings

North Canton defense forces turnovers to aid victory

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Jonas Fortune, Akron Beacon Journal

CANTON: North Canton Hoover football wasn't all about junior running back Erick Howard this week.

He got some big help from his friends.

The Vikings forced four turnovers on defense and rode the legs of Howard to hold off Twinsburg 13-10

in Saturday's Division I Regional 2 semifinal at Fawcett Stadium.

The Tigers' offense proved to be a surprise on any given play. Six players carried the ball. Senior

Cory Eden and junior Dion Johnson took turns at quarterback, and both are able runners. Eden was

also a proficient passer in a five-receiver formation.

It was some of that trickery that led the Tigers to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Johnson came in at

quarterback and rushed 2 yards into the end zone one play after junior Joe Hiller found a seam in the

Vikings' defense for a 49-yard run.

The Vikings' defense was up to the task the rest of the night, though, intercepting Eden three times.

Each turnover ended drives deep in Hoover territory.

''Our defense hung in there and kept it at 10 and gave us a chance to get one game-winning drive,''

Hoover coach Don Hertler Jr. said.

There weren't nearly as many surprises with the Vikings' offense. Howard got a lot of carries and a

lot of yards, no matter if the Tigers brought eight men to the line of scrimmage or not. He finished

with 168 yards and two touchdowns on 32 rushes.

Ten plays after Hoover junior Dan Nettleton scooped up a deflected Eden pass on the Vikings'

19-yard line — the first play of the second quarter — Howard bulled his way up the middle and into

the end zone from 15 yards out.

A 24-yard field goal by Twinsburg's Matt Curwin on its next possession left the score at 10-7 heading

into the locker room.

It was another Vikings interception that led to the next score. With the Tigers driving deep into Hoover

territory again, Eden threw a jump ball in the corner of the end zone. Senior defensive back

Jeff Meek outpositioned and outmuscled the Twinsburg receiver for the interception and a touchback.

''I think that they got a little more stout in the red zone,'' Twinsburg coach Mark Solis said. ''We just

didn't execute. We got to do a little better job of executing in the red zone.''

As he has done so many times this season, Howard found the end zone. The 1-yard touchdown run,

which was set up by a key run by junior quarterback Brett Tulodzieski, gave Hoover its first lead of

the game. The drive took 17 plays.

A procedure penalty pushed the extra-point attempt back 5 yards, and the wide attempt forced the

Vikings to nurse a 13-10 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

On third-and-9 from the Vikings' 49, Hoover senior defensive lineman Dom Boyle burst through the

line, sacking Eden for a 9-yard loss.

On the following play, senior Jake Mann stepped in front of an Eden pass, and his interception

— Hoover's third — with less than two minutes remaining sealed the outcome.

Hoover finds itself in a familiar position next week in the Division I regional final. The Vikings reached

the third round last year as well, but lost to Brunswick 24-17.

The opponent will be familiar, as well: Federal League neighbor GlenOak, which dominated

Brunswick 28-3 on Saturday.

The Vikings narrowly defeated the Eagles 14-10 in a Week 9 matchup at Memorial Stadium on their

way to the league title.

''That's exactly what we wanted because they said it was a fluke last time we beat them,''

Howard said. ''This game is about to show whether it was a fluke or not.''

NETWORK

Erick Howard (RB)

Dan Leek (DE)

Nate Dodds (C) and

Brett Tulodzieski (QB)

Dom Boyle (DE)

Hoover Vikings Football

Hoover Vikings Football

Twinsburg Game Review