Hoover 27 - Akron Buchtel 21

August 18, 2023

Cliff Hickman, Canton Repository

NORTH CANTON — The Hoover football team dominated the stat sheet. Buchtel made things much closer where it mattered on the scoreboard. In the end, the Vikings hung on for a hard-fought 27-21 victory over the Griffins.

“We were sloppy at times tonight

“He did what he had to do tonight,” Baum said. “He’s the trigger man for our offense and he was able to make some plays with his arms and his legs.”

Dyrlund showcased an impressive spin move that he used on more than one occasion to pick up extra yards and bring the crowd to its feet.

“That’s not a move we teach as a coaching staff,” Baum joked”, Hoover head coach Brian Baum said. “We were extra sloppy at times in fact. We had a lot of self-inflicted wounds and they have some really great athletes that can make some big plays. You just have to keep coaching and keep playing.”

Quarterback Carson Dyrlund ran for two touchdowns to lead the way for Hoover. Dyrlund ran for 106 yards on 18 carries. He was also 16-of-29 passing for 158 yards with two interceptions.

Kyler Miraglia also had a strong debut at running back for Hoover after transferring from Northwest where he was one of Stark County’s top rushers in 2022. Miraglia ran for 125 yards on 26 carries to help Hoover pile up 22 first downs throughout the night.

“I just wanted to come out and have a good game,” Miraglia said. “I’m new here and I wanted to come out and prove myself and prove that I could contribute. The coaching staff put together a great game plan. We had some sloppiness tonight, but that is something we will work on in practice.”

The Hoover defense limited Buchtel to just eight first downs and held Buchtel to 23 yards rushing as a team. The Griffins had 173 yards passing.

Junior Bryce Roach had a big game along the defensive line for the Vikings. Roach made two sacks, forcing a fumble he recovered at the Buchtel 1-yard line on one of his sacks. That set up a touchdown run by Zach Braucher to put Hoover up 27-14 with 1:45 to play.

“I was able to beat my guy off the snap and I just tried to stay on the hip of the quarterback,” Roach said. “I was able to track him down and get a hit on him and the ball fell out and I jumped on it.”

Hoover forced three fumbles overall. Roach had the only Viking recovery of the evening.

“This is a good win,” Roach said. “We started a lot of young guys and this will help us with our confidence. The goal is to continue to get better from here.”

Hoover survived a sensational effort from Buchtel senior wide receiver Zyaire Lewis. Lewis returned a kickoff 71 yards for a touchdown, pulled down an interception on defense and also caught a 76-yard TD with 1:26 remaining to give the Griffins a chance at an onside kick attempt.

“You talk about a kid that wears his heart on his shoulder pads and you’re talking about Zyaire Lewis,” head coach Bryan Williams said. “I know the kids are upset with how the game turned out but its Week 1 and we played a great team. We hung in tough and the great thing about this sport is we have a chance to play again next week.”

Lewis caught six passes for 132 yards and kept Buchtel in the game every time it appeared as though Hoover might pull away.

“We can’t give up and we didn’t,” Williams said. “The kids understand that well. It’s not only like that in the game of football but in life as well. You have to have a next play mentality and just try to build off of that.”

HOOVER 27, BUCHTEL 21

Buchtel – 0 – 7 – 7 – 7 — 21

Hoover – 7 – 3 – 10- 7 — 27

H—Dyrlund 12 run (Koskovich kick)
B—Salaam-Fletcher 2 run (Duvall kick)
H—FG Koskovich 30
H—Dyrlund 2 run (Koskovich kick)
H—FG Koskovich 25
B—Lewis 71 kickoff return (Duvall kick)
H—Braucher 1 run (Koskovich kick)
B—Lewis 76 pass from Diamond (Duvall kick)

TEAM STATS

B H

First downs 8 — 22
Rushes-Yards 14-23— 46-229
Comp-Att-Int 10-23-0— 16-29-2
Passing Yards 173 — 158
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 — 0-0
Penalties-Yards 7-65— 3-20
Total yards 196— 387
Records 0-1 — 1-0

Source: Canton Repository