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Winton Woods falls in final

CANTON, ohio – After a nine year hiatus, a trip back to Canton and the Division II state title game Winton Woods was not as memorable as the first go round. The Warriors who were seeking their second crown succumbed to a very impressive Archbishop Hoban squad, 42-14. It was the third straight state championship for the Knights who the first two at the Division III level.

The train came off the tracks early for the Warriors. On the first play from scrimmage Hoban freshman quarterback Shane Hamm connected with Garrett Houser for a 73-yard touchdown.

Things went from bad to worse as Hoban’s Donny Swain returned a blocked Winton Woods punt 28 yards for a score on the Warriors first possession. Just 1:41 into the contest the Knights had built a 14-0 advantage and never looked back.

That was all the scoring in the first quarter but the onslaught was still to come by Hoban. The Knights reeled off four touchdowns in the second quarter. Winton Woods managed a pair of scores in between Hoban’s quartet of trips to the end zone but the damage had already been done.

Hoban’s 28 second quarter points were the most in a quarter in a Division II state championship game besting the 27 that Loveland scored in against Glenville Academy in the 2013 in the state title contest.

By the time intermission had ended so had the points. Neither team scored after the break making it a very painful final 24 minutes of the season for Winton Wooods,

The stage wasn’t to large for the young Hamm who finished his evening 8-13 for 243 yards with four touchdown passes (all in the first half) and a team high 57 yards on the ground. What makes Hamm’s performance so astonishing is that he went just 2-6 for 18 yards and an interception a week before in the Knights state semi-final game.

Houser would end up with four receptions for 141 yards and two touchdowns.

Running back Miyan Williams was one of the few bright spots for Winton Woods. The sophomore ran for 175 yards on 20 carries.

Winton Woods 0-14-0-0-14
Archbishop Hoban 14-28-0-0-42

H: Houser 73 pass from Hamm (Branham kick)
H: Swain 28 blocked punt return (Branham kick)
H: Houser 46 pass from Hamm (Branham kick)
W: Beacham 16 pass from Mayberry (Velasquez kick)
H: Dickerson 2 run (Branham kick)
W: Prince 92 kickoff return (Velasquez kick)
H: Tipton 38 pass from Hamm (Branham kick)
H: Tipton 21 pass from Hamm (Branham kick)

RECORDS: Winton Woods (13-2); Archbishop Hoban (14-1)

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