Yes, it’s the week of rivalries renewed. The Cleveland Browns play the Pittsburgh Steelers, but more importantly, the Hoover Vikings are on the road at Louisville to play the legendary (HA !) Louisville Leopards. This is the last game for Hoover and Louisville both before league play begins for each (Hoover, of course, plays in the big-school Federal League, and Louisville plays in the medium-school Northeast Buckeye Conference).
Let’s look at the facts…
Hoover (2-0) scored at least 38 points in each of their opening games. They beat a tough D.C. Dunbar team 38-8. Dunbar has won 8 of their last 12 conference titles in a tough innercity league. They also beat a Newark Licking Valley team that, albeit I laughed at them, has made several playoff appearances of-late in Division III AND scored 40 in a losing effort against the first Division I team they faced in school history (Hoover).
Louisville (1-1) beat a mediocre-at-best Ravenna team 35-28, then lost to a now 2-0 Lake team 35-34 that beat Copley the week before (Copley made a good run in the Division II playoffs last year).
That being said, it seems as if Hoover has played the tougher schedule so far, winning by an average 41-24, while Louisville has outscored their opponents by an average 34-31.
But this is rivalry week. Records, numbers, and all that is window dressing, right ?
Wrong.
Hoover rolls big in the Constitution City. It’s a good thing too because the Vikings play a torqued-off McKinley team the following week (McKinley had to forfeit their opening week game and are at this time 0-2).
