And, most of all, confident that a winning performance tonight can herald a long-awaited turnaround under second-year Coach Chris Long, who is seeking his first win at Hoover and ultimately to guide the team to its first winning season since 1987.
“We’re very excited, we think we’re ready,” Long said. “We expect to win. [The players] believe and they feel it. Our confidence is sky-high this year.”
At least some of that confidence has to do with the fact that Hoover finds itself in the unfamiliar position of being favored by some to win this game. The high school football website calpreps.com has the Tornadoes as three-point favorites over the Dons entering the contest.
“We feel good about that,” Long said. “It’s probably the first time in years that Hoover was favored to win a game, so they’re excited and they want to make that prediction come true.”
Sierra Vista went 4-7 last season and 0-4 in nonleague contests. The Dons then lost their first two Montview League games to start the season 0-6, but won their last four down the stretch of the year to finish third in league and make an appearance in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Mid-Valley Division playoffs.
Eighteen seniors departed from that team, however, while Hoover returns its linebacking corps and a host of two-way linemen, as well as running backs Ivan Tello and DeVaghn Williams and quarterback AJ Pule.
“We’re gonna run the ball a lot and we’ve just gotta tackle,” Long said. “Running and blocking and tackling are gonna be the key for us.”
