LOUISVILLE, Ohio — Louisville settled a seven-week-old score Friday night, beating North Canton Hoover 21-7 in a Division II, Region 7 first-round playoff game — the Leopards’ first playoff win of any kind since 2015 and their first home playoff win since 2008, according to The Repository’s live coverage of the game in Louisville.
Senior running back Lucas Neff scored all three Louisville touchdowns, on runs of 8, 7 and 20 yards, as the No. 7 seed Leopards (9-2) won their sixth straight game and avenged a 27-18 loss at Hoover in Week 5. The Repository reported it was the 105th meeting between the longtime rivals and the first ever in the playoffs, with Louisville leading the all-time series 56-43-5 despite having lost seven straight to the Vikings before Friday.
Louisville struck first after an early takeaway. On Hoover’s second offensive play, Michael Lammlein fumbled and the Leopards recovered at the Hoover 47, and Neff finished the short drive with an 8-yard touchdown run on a spin move with 6:02 left in the first quarter, The Repository reported. A recovered onside kick gave Louisville a chance to double the lead, but Hoover’s defense forced a three-and-out.
Hoover answered in the second quarter behind senior quarterback Nolan Bonner, who powered in from 1 yard out with 4:49 left before halftime to tie the game at 7-7 after converting a pair of third-and-longs with his legs on the drive, according to The Repository. Neff put Louisville back in front 14-7 with a 7-yard scoring run with 1:27 left in the half, on a drive kept alive when Hoover was called for pass interference on a fourth-and-3.
The game’s turning point came in the third quarter. Hoover drove to the Louisville 5 with a second-and-goal chance to tie the game, but Bonner fumbled the ball away and the Leopards recovered to protect the 14-7 lead, The Repository reported. On the final play of the third quarter, Louisville quarterback Cody Zahler hit Drake Wilson for 36 yards to set up first-and-goal from the Hoover 10.
Neff closed the scoring early in the fourth quarter. After a Zahler touchdown run was negated by a holding penalty, Neff ran 20 yards for his third touchdown a play later, and Parker Daum added the extra point for a 21-7 lead with 11:44 remaining, according to The Repository. Neff also sacked Bonner late as Hoover turned the ball over on downs at its own end in the closing minutes.
At halftime, Neff already had 55 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries, The Repository’s live stats showed, on a night when Louisville’s ground game — which had produced 2,145 rushing yards in the regular season behind an offensive line featuring UConn commit Aden Norris — again carried the offense. Zahler added 44 rushing yards in the first half and finished the key third-quarter connection to Wilson, the Leopards’ top receiver this season.
Hoover’s offense never recovered from losing Lammlein, its 626-yard senior running back, who left on his first carry of the game and did not return, according to The Repository. Freshman Alex Lakota filled in, and Bonner — who had accounted for four touchdowns in Hoover’s Week 5 win over Louisville — was held to a single rushing touchdown as the Vikings finished 5-6.
The win ends a long postseason drought in Louisville. The Repository noted the Leopards had lost four straight home playoff games since beating Columbus Independence 60-24 in 2008, and their last playoff win anywhere came at Poland in 2015. This season’s team has now won nine games, the program’s most since the 10-2 season in 2015.
Elsewhere in the region’s opening round, Hudson routed Euclid 52-12 behind six touchdowns from its quarterback, and Ridgewood rumbled past Fairland 49-6 after a long playoff road trip — results that underline how quickly the bracket tightens from here.
What happens next is the hardest assignment in Region 7. Louisville plays at No. 2 seed Big Walnut next week in the regional quarterfinals. The Golden Eagles are 10-0 and the two-time defending regional champions, having knocked Massillon out of the playoffs in the regional finals each of the past two seasons, according to The Repository.
For Hoover, the season ends at 5-6 with a senior class led by Bonner, who finished the year with 781 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns entering Friday, per The Repository’s pregame notes. For Louisville, a rivalry win, a drought ended and a trip to face the region’s standard-bearer — all in one night.
Photo: SilentMatt Psychedelic, CC BY-SA
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