Hoover Vikings at Louisville Leopards Week 2 Football Preview
Hoover Vikings (0-1) at Louisville Leopards (1-0)
SPREAD: Hoover By 7 (According to Stark County Pick’em)
WHEN: Friday, September 6 at 7:00 PM
WHERE: Louisville Leopards Stadium
RADIO: WHBC – 1480 AM
TV: None
HIGHLIGHTS: Will be available following the game late Friday night or early Saturday morning right here on louisvilleleopards.org
SERIES
ALL-TIME SERIES: Louisville holds a 53-32-5 all-time record over North Canton. VIEW FULL ALL-TIME SERIES
LAST MEETING: North Canton defeated Louisville 41-14 in Week 2 of the 2012 season back on August 24, 2012.
LAST MEETING AT LOUISVILLE: Louisville defeated North Canton 50-7 in Week 2 of the 2011 season back on September 2, 2011.
Schedules:
| Canfield Schedule | Louisville Schedule | |||
| WK | Opponent | Result | Opponent | Result |
| 1 | Stow | L 7-14 | Canfield | W 13-10 |
| 2 | at Louisville | 7:00 PM | North Canton | 7:00 PM |
| 3 | at Avon Lake | 7:00 PM | at Ravenna | 7:00 PM |
| 4 | Canton McKinley | 7:00 PM | Salem | 7:00 PM |
| 5 | Perry | 7:00 PM | Carrollton | 7:00 PM |
| 6 | at Lake | 7:00 PM | at West Branch | 7:00 PM |
| 7 | at Boardman | 7:00 PM | at Minerva | 7:00 PM |
| 8 | Central Catholic | 7:00 PM | Marlington | 7:00 PM |
| 9 | at GlenOak | 7:00 PM | at Alliance | 7:00 PM |
| 10 | Jackson | 7:00 PM | at Canton South | 7:00 PM |
PREVIEW
Well enough said, its Hoover Week. The 91st Meeting in Louisville’s longest rivalry against North Canton will take place this Friday at Louisville Leopards Stadium. The last time the two met at Louisville the Leopards led 44-7 in the second quarter before winning 50-7, but in last year’s meeting host North Canton led 28-0 in the second quarter before taking thew contest 41-14. The Leopards will continue to deal with the loss of Quarterback Joey Duckworth on offense and the Vikings will look to mature quickly after losing most of their starters last season. In this rivalry anything can happen, so be sure to buckle your seatbelts Friday night.
1964 Louisville Vs. North Canton Highlights
LEOPARDS
OFFENSE: Connor Zwick spearheaded the Leopards offense last week. The Junior Quarterback rushed for 54 yards on 21 attempts and was also 4 of 9 passing for 53 yards and a touchdown. All four of his completions went to Andy Minster and this included their 24 yard touchdown connection. Look for others to get involved in the receiving game as well including Senior Alex Hollifield who was the team’s top returning receiver from a year ago. Runningback Walter Schrock led the Leps in rushing last week with 18 carries for 69 yards. Louisville played smart, conservative football on offense against Canfield and did not turn the ball over. Duplicating this stat will go a long way in helping Louisville get to 2-0.
DEFENSE: The Louisville defense forced two key turnovers during their win last week. Garrett Yoder recorded a sack and led a host of Leopards in creating a much needed Canfield fumble late in the fourth 
quarter. Bryce Mathie alertly recovered the fumble to setup the game-winning drive. Also in the secondary, AJ Minster intercepted a pass and batted away a potential first down reception. Anchored by Dylan Kline & Cory Neff, the Leopards defensive front came up big to stop Canfield on a 4th-and-1 late in the fourth quarter. They also produced a sack and caused pressure on the Cardinals last gasp 4th-and-15 play. Louisville’s defensive line will need to get penetration again if they are going to defeat Hoover.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Kicker Jordan Hughes proved his value in his first Varsity Game by accounting for more than half of the Leopards points against Canfield. He converted on field goals of 37 and 32 yards and also made his only extra point attempt. Zwick averaged 34.3 yards per punt last week on 4 attempts. His longest punt was 51 yards and he also coffin cornered the Cardinals at their own 1 yard line. Since he is also the starting Quarterback look for him to also be a threat on a fake. Yoder will look to take one to the house in the return game this week. He returned a kickoff 27 yards last week and averaged 14.7 yards per punt return as well. His 34 yard punt return setup Louisville deep into Canfield territory. Yoder is a threat everytime he touches the ball.
1992 Louisville Vs. North Canton Highlights
VIKINGS
OFFENSE: Quarterback Luke Grandjean connected with Alex Binnie for a 16 yard touchdown pass in the first quarter last week against Stow. Hoover would fail to score again after that as they were out-gained by the Bulldogs 288-245. Grandjean finished 11 of 27 (41%) for 128 yards and Binnie caught 7 of those passes for 102 yards. Look for this connection to lead the North Canton attack. The Vikings also rushed for 117 yards on 39 carries last week led by Sy Hatcher who rushed the ball 7 times for 74 yards. Look for Alex Welsh to get some carries at tailback as well behind an inexperienced offensive line that includes rising starts Joe Gerber and Drew Gerber.
DEFENSE: Despite the loss to Stow, the Vikings defense forced three turnovers (2 Interceptions, 1 Fumble Recovery) and held the Bulldogs to 2.4 yards per carry (31 rushing attempts, 74 yards). Hoover has eight new starters on defense led by newcomers Ian Baker & Jake Massolini on the line and Dyland Sanderson, Clay Haverfield, & Jake Jajack in the linebacking core. Returners include Binnie at linebacker, Jake Garfield & Nick Graham in the secondary, and All-Ohio Free Safety Luke Granjean.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Andrew Zalewski was 1 for 1 on extra point kicks last week at kicker. The rest of North Canton’s special teams remains a mystery.
