Two-a-day workouts begin as Hoover looking toward new season

August 4, 2009

Todd Porter, Canton Repository

NORTH CANTON — .The alarm clock sounded on the high school

football season Monday morning. Shortly before 8:30 a.m., there

wasn’t a beep, beep, beep.

Instead, the click-clack of football spikes hitting the cement floor

inside the Hoover locker room sounded like a gridiron orchestra.

The words were barely off head coach Don Hertler Jr.’s tongue,

“All right, men. Let’s go,” when players began filing out for a steamy

two-a-day.

The Vikings have had quite a run in the Federal League the last two

years. Hoover has lost just one league game during that span and

is 22-5 overall. The 2008 Vikings helped running back Erick Howard

win Mr. Football, the first player from Stark County to earn Ohio’s

version of MVP.

None of that seems to faze Hertler.

“That was last year,” Hertler said. “This is a whole new year.

You’d think there would be some carryover, but every team has its

own personality. This is all new, and watching this team’s

personality develop ... that’s the challenge of coaching high school.”

Two-a-days aren’t quite the end of the summer for players, but it’s

a clear reminder summer is in its twilight.

Three players during Hoover’s morning practice excused themselves

for a few minutes. They all left remnants of their breakfast on the sideline. Milk and cereal don’t sit well with running in the heat.

You wouldn’t have known that Hoover went farther than any team in the county last fall. The Vikings finally bowed out of the Division I playoffs after a 34-7 loss to Cleveland St. Ignatius in the state semifinals. Ignatius won its 10th state title.

There were a few fans gathered outside the chain link fence to watch the Vikings click-clack into the new season.

“We got grass on the field, and it’s fresh cut,” Hertler said. “What more could you want?”

In two months, that grass will turn to a mixture of worn paths, dirt and mud.

No one was going to win a starting position in the first practice, Hertler reminded the

players. Their goals are simple during two-a-days:

n get in shape and hustle;

n develop leadership;

n create and play in adversity.

“There’s no better place to figure out how to solve problems than a high school football

field,” Hertler told the players.

Howard didn’t look like Mr. Football. He looked like a player trying to impress coaches

and earn a starting position with hustle. Howard didn’t wear his new practice jersey.

He wore was last year’s. Maybe he feels he hasn’t earned it yet.

Howard isn’t a team captain. At least not yet. The Vikings picked tight end and kicker

A.J. Sarbaugh and lineman Mark Wiley. They took charge in the first morning. Their

enthusiasm seemed to wake up the neighborhood.

Click-clack.

Sarbaugh has been coming to Hoover two-a-days since the first grader. His father,

Jeff, is Hoover’s running backs coach. From waterboy to captain, A.J. Sarbaugh has

come a long way.

The 2009 Vikings have a long way to go. Their head coach takes a low-key approach

every year. His practice schedule doesn’t come out of a computer program. It’s

Hertler’s chicken scratch where the 15-minute station-to-station changes are more like

estimates than timelines.

That’s what works at Hoover. The Vikings have been the most successful big-school

team in the county the last two years.

“If you can make it through two-a-days with a great attitude,” Hertler told the locker room full of sleepy-eyed but willing players, “then you can wake up and make it to work when you’re older. If you can do this, you can go on and become a productive member of society.”

They’re learning more than football ... even in the first practice of the season.

Hoover Vikings Football

Hoover Vikings Football

NETWORK

2009 Hoover Vikings Two-a-days

CantonRep.com photo by Bob Rossiter

Hoover senior Mark Wiley works out Monday as two-a-day practices open for high school football teams across Ohio. The Viking captain is looking to help his team repeat last season’s success, which included a Federal League title and a spot in the Division I state semifinals.

Erick Howard works on his foot work during two-a-days.

Phot taken by Akron Beacon Journal