Perry aims to slow down Hoover's Mr. Football

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Chris Beaven, Canton Repository

When the Perry High School football team last saw Erick Howard, the Hoover star tailback churned out

323 yards from scrimmage in rain and mud.

That performance a year ago put Howard well on his way to becoming Ohio’s Mr. Football.

Friday night at 7:30, the Panthers get another crack at Howard and the Hoover Vikings in the

Federal League opener for each team at North Canton Memorial Stadium.

“We’re going to bring it to the table on Friday and give it our best shot,” Perry head coach

John “Spider” Miller said.

Stopping Howard — Stark County’s fifth all-time leading rusher — is not easy, though.

Aside from Louisville, which held Howard in check each of the last three years, no area team has

enjoyed any success in slowing him or the Vikings. But that does not mean the Panthers don’t have

a plan.

“You’ve got to swarm to the ball, and you’ve just got to gang-tackle him,” Miller said. “Our guys have

to read their keys and ... try not to let him get his motor going. Once he gets his motor going, he’s a

great back, no question.”

Howard is well on his way to a third straight 1,000-yard season after a 278-yard performance last week. Still, his coach thinks Howard is just getting warmed up.

“I don’t think he’s close to where he was last year from midseason on,” Hoover head coach Don Hertler Jr. said. “I think he’s just starting to get there.”

Hertler saw signs of that last week during a big second half when Howard kept getting carry after carry.

“He’s a guy that gets stronger as the game goes on,” Hertler said. “He starts getting a feel for where the holes are, who’s willing to keep tackling and who’s not.”

Miller thinks his Panthers will accept the challenge of tackling Howard. He just wishes Howard didn’t have so much help around him.

“It’s not just him,” Miller said. “He’s got offensive linemen that do a great job, a quarterback that does a great job and a fullback, too. They’ve got the whole package.”

One way to slow down Howard will be for Perry to get its own 1,000-yard rusher — Caleb Laps — grinding out the yards.

“The best defense is if our offense can keep the ball out their hands,” Miller said.

The Panthers run the wing-T, but also mix in some I-formation and spread formations.

“I’ve been impressed by their quarterback (Adam Offenberger) and their passing game,” Hertler said. “It’s tough to prepare for them because they’re doing a lot of different things.”

Both teams enter the game 2-1. The Panthers lost, 37-21, at unbeaten Brunswick last Friday and are looking to bounce back.

“We played with an attitude, and we played with effort,” Miller said. “The stuff we need to correct we can correct. We were able to see it on film, and we know what we have to do.”

The Vikings won, 41-20, at Lexington last Friday, erasing a 20-7 deficit to bounce back from a loss at Louisville the previous week.

“We played more like I’d like us to play,” Hertler said. “We hustled around more, played together better and that translated into us executing better and playing with more energy. ... It’s a small step forward, but it’s a first step. And now the real season begins.”

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Erick Howard - Mr. Football Ohio