Archbishop Hoban keeps streak alive against St. Vincent-St. Mary with 28-14 win

AKRON, Ohio – If the Akron Holy War is indeed coming to an end, Friday night’s game was a great way for it to go out.

Behind 219 yards rushing and three touchdowns from Lamar Sperling and six forced turnovers by the defense and special teams, Archbishop Hoban took home the Shillelagh Trophy with a 28-14 win over St Vincent-St. Mary.

With the teams locked in a scoreless tie in the third quarter, Hoban (8-0) recovered a muffed punt by STVM and cashed in on the turnover with a Sperling touchdown from six yards out.

It looked like STVM (5-2) had scored a touchdown to tie the game on the ensuing possession, but a penalty took the touchdown off the board and the Knights forced a fumble two plays later.

The Knights then took a 14-0 lead on a 29-yard touchdown run by Xavier Williams on the first play of the fourth quarter.

On the next possession, it was Sperling again. The senior running back took a handoff and bounced out to the left side and made multiple defenders miss on his way to a 42-yard touchdown.

STVM got on the board when Markelle Carter ran for a 13-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter to make it 21-7.

After a successful onside kick, the Fighting Irish scored again, this time on a 43-yard touchdown pass from Carter to Torell Hopson.

The STVM defense forced a Hoban punt, but the Knights were able to turn over the Fighting Irish on downs.

Sperling then capped off the night with a 35-yard touchdown run in the final minute.

The STVM defense kept Sperling bottled up for the most part in the first half, only allowing the University at Buffalo commit to run for 64 yards on 13 carries. But Sperling didn’t allow the first half to change his mindset.

“It was frustrating, but I kept my cool,” Sperling said. “I knew we still had it in us because it was still 0-0.”

Sperling came out in the second half and showed why he is one of the best closers in football, rushing for 155 yards and all three of his touchdowns in the final two quarters.

“When we need it the most, I got it,” Sperling said. “I tell the coaches ‘give me the ball every time’ because I want that. I want to be the one to close, to pick the team up and be the leader on the field.”

Sperling was able to gain some traction in the second half behind an offensive line that was shifted around at times due to missing a player with injury. While they struggled a bit in the first half to open up holes, they made adjustments in the second half.

“The O-Line did a lot better in the second half,” Hoban head coach Tim Tyrrell said. “Of course, (Sperling) doesn’t stop. He is just as good on the last carry as he is on the first carry. We are blessed to have him.”

Being able to run the ball in the second half was important for Hoban, as the rain and wind picked up late in the game and made it more difficult to pass.

“I think we played how we wanted to in the second half,” Tyrrell said. “With the weather, (we wanted to be) able to run the football and move it, keep the ball out of the air.”

The Hoban defense was on a mission, getting to the STVM quarterbacks regularly and recovering four fumbles. The Knights held the Fighting Irish to just 212 total yards.

“Throughout the whole week, we told ourselves we have to get locked in,” Hoban junior linebacker Rickey Williams said. “It was a little personal. We came in with the attitude that we have to do what we have to do.”

The win was the 10th in a row for Hoban in the series – eight straight in the regular season to go along with two playoff wins.

“It feels great,” Sperling said. “It’s a relief.”

After lopsided games in the series over the last few seasons, this year’s game between the two Akron rivals was more like the games that Tyrrell had earlier in his tenure as Hoban’s head coach.

“My hat goes off to St. V, they played tough and hard, it’s a rivalry game,” Tyrrell said. “We always get the same thing. It’s usually a pretty close game, so this is what we expect out of the game.”

Hoban will go on the road again next week to face Benedictine, while STVM remains home for a game against Cleveland Heights.