By Joe Scalzo

The Spartans had their opportunities, but fell 20-9 in Federal League play.

NORTH CANTON — Today’s paper will report that Boardman lost 20-9 to Hoover on Friday night, but don’t let the final score fool you. This one was close.

The Spartans — who seem to be star-crossed, hexed and just plain unlucky whenever it plays Hoover in football — finally had the ball and the momentum and the opportunity to seize the Federal League by the throat.

All they had to do was squeeze.

Heck, North Canton coach Don Hertler had even gift-wrapped a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty that gave Boardman the ball deep in Hoover territory with about four minutes left.

Then the snake bit.

On second and 9 at the North Canton 33, Boardman junior quarterback Rob Boyd — who was playing one of the best games of his career to that point — fired a pass to the left sideline ... and straight into the arms of Vikings senior linebacker Tim Hartzell, who returned it 52 yards. At that point, it was 14-9 Hoover.

One play later, Hoover junior Erick Howard clinched it by breaking through a weary Spartan defense for an 18-yard touchdown.

“That kid just made a great play on the ball,” Boardman coach D.J. Ogilvie said. “In big games like this, someone steps up to the plate and makes a big play like that.

“We had a couple opportunities for our kids to step up and make a big play and we didn’t. They did.”

After a Week 2 loss to Louisville, Hoover (5-1, 3-0) is in the driver’s seat in the Federal League. Boardman (5-1, 2-1) is stuck in the rear view mirror, but there’s hope.

“It’s almost impossible to go undefeated in this league,” Ogilvie said. “I told the kids, the only thing this means is we can’t go 10-0.”

Hoover’s defense is a big reason for that.

Last week, the Spartans rolled up 400 yards rushing and 63 points to beat Perry. This week, they managed just 49 on the ground. Last week, Damien Jarrett had 200 yards and five touchdowns. This week, Jarrett had 28 yards on 15 carries and another 21 on five catches.

“It’s a tough place to play here,” said Hertler, whose team has defeated Boardman every year since 2002. “We don’t have a lot of all-county-type guys, but they play well together and they play really hard.

“Give Boardman credit, they’re sort of snakebit against us. D.J. is doing a great job with that team and we made a couple more plays than they made.”

Hertler almost cost his team the game when he walked across the field to complain about a call to the officials. The call gave Boardman a first down at the Hoover 28. Hartzell’s pick came two plays later.

When asked whether he was relieved by Hartzell’s interception, he said, “Why, because I got a penalty? All I wanted to do is ask the official why he wants to call six penalties on us and he flagged me. I didn’t know I couldn’t ask him a question. I was very respectful when I asked him.”

Howard, a 5-foot-11, 205-pound bruiser, led the Vikings with 100 yards on 25 carries with three TDs. They were flagged seven times for 55 yards, compared to eight penalties for 59 yards for Boardman.

Boyd finished 18 of 28 for 153 yards and two interceptions for the Spartans, who scored their lone TD on a 5-yard run by Cameron Shaffer on their first drive. The score was set up by Sam Porter’s interception on the Hoover 38.

Boardman’s other score — a 31-yard field goal by Trevor Ragan that gave the Spartans a 9-7 lead late in the third quarter — was set up by a botched punt snap on Hoover’s previous series.

“I expect us to bounce back,” Ogilvie said. “I expect nothing less than for us to have a great performance next week. There’s too much at stake and we worked too hard in the offseason to let an opportunity like this to slip away.”

scalzo@vindy.com