Great start to season -- for Hoban
[size=-1]By Terry Pluto[/size]
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High school football arrived in Akron with a standing-room-only crowd, a perfect Thursday night in August and a stunning upset.
It was fans pouring down a hill from Hoban High School to watch Garfield's Chris Wells, considered to be perhaps the premier high school running back in the country. Fans packing the bleachers and lining the fence around the field, sometimes three to four rows deep. Fans learning the name -- Steve Yoak.
You can bet the estimated 6,000 fans didn't know they were being invited to a coming-out party for Yoak. The Hoban sophomore outrushed Wells, the senior Ohio State recruit.
The biggest number was the final score: Hoban 21, Garfield 7.
Yes, Garfield entered the evening ranked No. 1 in the preseason Beacon Journal poll.
The most startling statistics were: Yoak 20 carries for 126 yards,
Wells 31 carries for 105 yards. No one would have guessed that.
The milestone belongs to Hoban coach Ralph Orsini, who gained his 100th career victory while serving notice that there will be plenty of fight and grit for his Knights in the post-Sutton era.
For the last six years, Orsini could always give the ball to a Sutton. First, it was Tony, who set several school records, then did the same at the College of Wooster.
Next came Tyrell Sutton, who was Ohio's Mr. Football in 2004 and now is at Northwestern, already No. 2 on the tailback depth chart.
Yoak is a 193-pound fullback who seems to play bigger and stronger than he looks. Orsini wisely stressed that Yoak will have his own identity, no need to put pressure on him to follow in the exact cleat prints of the incredible Sutton brothers.
``He ran like he was possessed,'' said Orsini. ``But everyone was good tonight. It was a total team effort. It's a great way to open the season.''
Lost chances
After the game, all Garfield coach Bob Sax could do was shake his head and talk about lost opportunities. Four times, his team had the ball inside the Hoban 20-yard line, but could not score.
That indicates Garfield and Wells still have work to do.
Understand that Wells is an impressive physical specimen. At 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds, he is assembled like a Big Ten running back. He seems to have excellent vision, as he usually picks the proper spot to run. He has a knack of being patient, waiting for his blockers to clear some space -- then accelerating in the blink of an eye.
But the senior has to learn the preseason hype and being a Buckeye recruit puts a bull's-eye right next to that No. 28 on his Garfield jersey. He's going to be hit hard on virtually every play. Defenses will be stacked to stop him, which Hoban did shrewdly under the direction of new co-coordinators Cornelius Parson and Renny Parnell.
A year ago, Wells had a hard time against Hoban. He came out of the game a few times and seemed discouraged, according to Sax.
The next week, Sax didn't start Wells on offense. Wells recovered and finished the season with 1,930 yards -- and at the top of nearly every major-college recruiting list.
This game can serve as another reminder to Wells that he's going to be pounded. Yes, his team relies heavily on him, and no one in the opposing uniform cares that Ohio State coach Jim Tressel loves your talents.
Football can be a very hard, unforgiving game. It demands an amazing amount of toughness and commitment to excel each week. And what Wells sees now is nothing compared to what he'll face in Columbus.
The good news for Garfield and Ohio State is Wells is a young man with character who has time to figure this out and continue to mature.
Hoban in good shape
Even better news for Hoban fans is the health of the football program.
The Knights dressed 80 players, sophomore to seniors. They have another 58 on the freshman team.
Quarterback Paul McGough is a 161-pound senior who looks like any kid in the hallway. But he's a scrambler. He is a pretty accurate lefty passer. He seems to have a knack for making clutch plays, as he did finding Brett Talcott for a 24-yard TD pass.
The Hoban defense swarmed all night. It's hard to single out a few players, because the theme was for everyone on the pile. They continually had five, six, seven players hitting the man with the ball.
These guys seemed to be there a lot: David D'Andrea, Stefan Buchanan, Kevin LaJudice, Anthony Congeni, Dave Maple, Otis Stallworth, Will Miller and Dan Garbinsky.
The entire defense deserved a game ball.
And the offense? They weren't too bad, either.
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