By Greg gulas

sports@vindy.com

BOARDMAN

Boardman High’s Dayne Hammond has always been one to think several plays ahead of the situation.

Because of that thought process and his preparedness, Hammond took advantage of being in the right place at the right time as he raced 39 yards with a fumble for a score with just 6:40 remaining to lead the Spartans to a 14-10 victory Friday over Akron Hoban on Hall of Fame Night at Spartan Stadium.

“You’re never going to believe this but prior to the play, I kept telling myself to just be prepared if they fumble the ball in my area. Just know what to do with the ball if that happens,” said Hammond.

“Fortunately the ball bounced my way and I had a clear shot to the end zone, so I sprinted as fast as I could and never really looked back until I was at the goal line,” he added.

The Knights (1-2) got on the board first when placekicker Tyler Gerwig kicked a 27-yard field goal midway through the opening quarter.

Hoban increased its advantage to 10-0 just seven seconds into the second frame on a 10-yard dash by quarterback Dan Hinton.

Hinton, who rushed for 36 yards, combined with teammate Xavier Kirksey-Ivery for 168 of the Knights’ 170 rushing yards.

The Spartans (2-1), who managed just 78 yards on the ground, pulled to within 10-7 when tailback Devin Campbell scored from 7 yards out at the 3:55 mark of the second quarter.

“It was all about attitude and effort tonight,” said Boardman coach D.J. Ogilvie. “It wasn’t better X’s or O’s or the fact that we played a better second half than they did. It was all about our attitude and overall effort.”

The Knights had one last chance to secure the victory and got as far as the Spartan 5-yard line with a little over a minute remaining.

With 44 seconds left and the Knights facing a fourth and goal from the Boardman 14-yard line, the Spartans’ Zach Zidian burst through the line to throw Hinton for a 22-yard loss.

“I lined up right on top of their center, going heads up but countered with a swim move and he just wasn’t expecting that,” said Zidian.

“That is how I was able to get to the quarterback. It was tough to lose to Cardinal Mooney last week, but trailing 10-7 at the half and then not allowing a score in the second half was big for us tonight,” Zidian said.

Ralph Orsini, Hoban’s coach and a former YSU player for both Rey Dempsey and Bill Narduzzi in the mid-1970s, said the loss was a tough one to take.

“Our defense played an outstanding game but for the second week in a row our offense gave it away,” he said.

“It’s tough to lose the way we did tonight by giving up just two scores.”