After its most successful start in nearly 25 seasons, the Hoover High
football team stumbled to losses in its last two games.
Those ills were remedied on Thursday.
It didn't come without the scare of yet another setback, though,
as the Tornadoes overcame a late bout with fumblitis to stave off
visiting Blair for a 38-30 nonleague victory at Glendale High's Moyse
Field.
After building what seemed like a commanding 38-14 lead against
the winless Vikings (0-5) with five minutes left in the game, three
Tornado fumbles equated into a rollercoaster finish.
"They're never easy at Hoover," smiled Tornado Coach Dennis
Hughes, who coached Hoover to its best mark through five games since
a 3-2 start in 1983. "Every win at Hoover feels good. Whenever you
get a win, it feels good. I've never had a bad win and I refuse to
let this be a bad win."
The 38 points were a season-high for Hoover, but so too were the
30 for Blair.
Prior to the fourth quarter, there were spells in which the
Tornado offense, particularly the running game, looked unstoppable.
Led by Terran Sprewell, who had a season-high 193 yards in 28
carries, the Hoover rushing attack gained 448 of its 486 total yards
on the ground.
Sprewell's three-yard dive early in the second quarter gave the
Tornadoes a lead they would never relinquish.
Sprewell and Garry Argueta, who had 77 yards in 12 carries, each scored twice. Alex Pantoja also had a stellar night, carrying 19
times for 110 yards and a touchdown.
Argueta's seven-yard scoring run with 3:48 left in the third gave
Hoover a 38-14 advantage.
Then things began to unravel for the Tornadoes.
Their final four possessions ended with three fumbles lost and a
punt.
The first fumble was returned 69 yards for a score. The second was
shortly returned to Hoover as Blair committed one of its five
turnovers -- Argueta, Sprewell, Armen Shekerdemian, Aram Nazarian and
Stanley Woo notched the takeaways. The third led to another Blair
score and a second two-point conversion.
"That's momentum. Once things start to turn, you get tighter,"
said Hughes, whose team opens Pacific League play next week against
Crescenta Valley. "We're gonna be up against it. [The Falcons will]
be ready to play."
* GRANT GORDON covers sports. He can be reached at (818) 637-3225
or by e-mail at o7grant.gordon@latimes.com.
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