North Canton mentor hopes his team can break through against league champion
By Keno Sultan
Stark County Prep Press writer
www.starkcountypreppress.blogspot.com
NORTH CANTON--North Canton Hoover's last football win against Canton McKinley seems like ancient history.
It was 60 months ago at Memorial Stadium that the Vikings shut out the Bulldogs 24-0 and used that game as a springboard to an outright Federal League title.
McKinley once again is on the top of the food chain and the Vikings are yet another hunter trying to subdue a Bulldogs team that has recorded nine consecutive league victories.
It was one thing for Jackson two seasons ago to deprive McKinley of an outright title, which they ended up sharing with the Bulldogs. Now North Canton has a chance to put a dent in the standings Friday night and they make the short voyage to Tom Benson Stadium for a key showdown against a McKinley team that has been a runaway freight train thundering non-stop through multiple railroad crossings.
Veteran Vikings patriarch Brian Baum Sr. knows what his team is capable of attaining while respecting McKinley at the same time.
"Both teams play hard and bring out the best in each other. We have to play hard for four quarters and it will take our physicality to match their talent," Baum Sr. said.
McKinley has won the last four contests with three of those being in single digits with the 2022 game being the outlier in a McKinley 42-9 win.
Last season, the Vikings nearly pulled out an improbable win as McKinley fumbled the ball attempting to run out the clock, which was recovered by North Canton but four straight incompletions quashed their threat as the Bulldogs escaped with a 21-20 victory.
"We had our chances to win at the end. We needed someone to make a play and it didn't happen," Baum Sr. recalled of that frenetic sequence.
Under McKinley general Renzy Parnell, the Bulldogs have registered five straight running clock victories and are a week removed from a 35-0 caging of Green.
One thing that Hoover has going for them is their special teams. In Baum's 12 contests against McKinley, the Vikings have registered three kickoff returns for touchdowns, something that has kept them in the game and a reason why they have been close at the end of contests.
"We rely on our special teams as that is the third phase of the game. We try to win that phase along with our line play and defense creating turnovers. It's important to get a play in one of those phases," Baum Sr. noted.
Last week, North Canton got off to a fast start against GlenOak and maintained their advantage in a win against the Eagles. They will need that against a McKinley team that aside from a 22-8 loss to Lakewood St. Edward has everything going their way.
McKinley has been paced by junior running back Kyelin West, who has caused grief and sorrow to defenses with his athletic prowess. Their defense has caused that same quagmire as they are only allowing seven points in league competition and overall, just 29 points with shout-out wins over Warren Harding, Sandusky, Perry, and recently Green.
If North Canton can get the game into the fourth quarter and put McKinley's back to the wall, it will shape up for another frenetic finish between the league heavyweights.
"We have to keep it close and get it into the fourth quarter with a chance to pull it out and if we get it to that point, we want to go for it and go for the win," Baum Sr. said.
One thing that has always been a staple of Hoover Viking football has been the eschewing of the superstar athlete. There has been not a single player dubbed as such under previous coach and 1981 alumnus Don Hertler Jr. and there isn't one under Baum Sr.
North Canton Hoover athletes come from well respected families that always bring their hard hat and lunch pails to work each day and week and is a reason why Baum applied and eventually became the leader of the football program.
The cohesiveness that he has viewed is one he will be counting on as the Vikings get ready for the biggest trial of the season and it will be one that will determine whether they will still be in the hunt for a league title or be in the rearview mirror of the leading Bulldogs.
"We have to play together as one and we have to have that we and not me approach. North Canton athletes work hard all year and you have to be smart to compete in a game like this," Baum Sr. said.
North Canton Hoover's win against McKinley four years ago seems like ancient history. A win might provide new history and push the Vikings closer to a league crown.
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