Hoover 31 - Louisville 13

September 19, 2025

Josh Weir, Canton Repository

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LOUISVILLE — The second half of a tight rivalry game — with his standout signal caller injured — was a heckuva time for Hoover’s Jack Andes to restart his quarterback career. 

Apparently, athletes the caliber of Andes can figure things out on the fly. 

The speedy senior receiver moved over to wildcat QB and helped the visiting Vikings pull away for a 31-13 win Sept. 19 in the 103rd edition of the North Canton-Louisville high school football rivalry.

How many practice reps had Andes received at quarterback this season before Friday night?

“Zero,” he said. 

In fact, Andes hadn’t played the position since eighth grade. But after John Collins went down with an ankle injury early in the second quarter, the deflated Vikings were fortunate to limp into halftime tied 7-7 in this matchup of undefeated rivals. 

“At halftime, we were like, ‘We’ve got to do something,'” Andes said. “We had to execute more plays, because we weren’t moving the ball.” 

Brycen Beyer returned the second-half kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown to put Hoover back in the lead. Andes and a relentless Vikings defense took it from there to move to 5-0 on the season. 

It’s the sixth straight Hoover win vs. Louisville, marking the longest streak in the series since the Leopards won six straight from 1991-96. Hoover has won nine of the last 10. Louisville leads the all-time series 56-42-5.

Andes ran 17 times for 86 yards and two touchdowns, with all but three of those carries and 6 of those yards coming in the second half. 

His 3-yard TD run midway through the third quarter pushed Hoover’s lead to two scores. His 30-yard TD down the left sideline on fourth-and-4 early in the fourth quarter felt like a knockout punch.

Michael Lammlein added some hard-earned yards to take some of the load off Andes in the second half for the Vikings, who initially went with senior Luke Whitaker when Collins went down. Whitaker is more of a conventional drop-back QB. 

“We felt like we had a speed advantage and we wanted to take advantage with that,” Hoover coach Brian Baum said of the move to Andes. “We had two offenses ready to go that half, but we stayed in the one because we were having success with it.” 

Added a chuckling Andes, who hadn’t even practiced the handoffs to Lammlein, “It was new for me. I’m kind of amazed by it.”

He did throw a pass, and he completed it for 26 yards to Preston Coblentz to convert a third-and-12. But the fluttering ball was not a thing of beauty. 

“I was not warmed up. My grip was terrible. I’ll definitely be working on that,” Andes said, adding, “It’s been a long time.”

The dynamic Collins spent the second half on crutches. Baum stayed positive after the game, saying the injury is not believed to be serious. 

It certainly felt serious when Collins hobbled off after the second play of the second quarter and Hoover looked collectively dazed. 

“We were feeling that on the sideline,” Baum said. “I said, ‘We’ve just got to get it to halftime, so we can get in there and regroup.’ We came out and played Hoover Vikings football. We ran the ball hard and grinded it out. We played great special teams. And the defense stepped up.” 

“Basic fundamental mistakes. Not identifying who to block. The snaps,” Louisville coach Chris Kappas said. “Coming into a big game, the nerves got to us and our best players didn’t play like our best players.” 

The Beyer kickoff return was a bolt of lightning out of the dark after a disjointed first half by both teams.  

Louisville senior QB Gabe Stoffer completed 12 of 30 passes for 165 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. He was under constant pressure from a Hoover pass rush led by David Tully. Carter Lukens and Aidan Kish got the interceptions for Hoover. 

Owen Wilson ran for a first-half TD for Louisville but barely played in the second half because of a leg injury.

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Source: Canton Repository