Hamm’s 4 TD passes fuel decisive fi rst half

CANTON — Freshman quarterbacks aren’t supposed to play varsity football, let alone shine in a state-championship game.

But Shane Hamm, who threw four first-half touchdown passes in Akron Hoban’s 42-14 rout of Cincinnati Winton Woods in Thursday night’s Division II title game at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, apparently isn’t your everyday freshman.

“He’s been a dumb freshman until now,” Hoban coach Tim Tyrrell deadpanned, “but now he’s a smart freshman. I get on him a lot in practice, but he puts up with me. Seriously, it’s been fun to watch him mature like this.”

Hamm completed 8 of 13 passes for 243 yards and four scores and also was the Knights’ leading rusher with 57 yards on nine carries.

On the opening play, he connected on a 73-yard bomb to Garrett Houser to send Hoban (14-1) on its way to a third-straight state title. The previous two were in Division III.

“It wasn’t exactly scripted, but we knew they liked to play a lot of man coverage with no safety, and we gave Shane the freedom to check off to a pass whenever he saw that coverage,” Tyrrell said. “When we have Garrett one-on-one, that’s an obvious checkoff. He can beat most people in that situation.”

Clearly frazzled by the stunning start, Winton Woods (13-2) made an errant snap over quarterback Kenny Mayberry’s head on its opening play for an 11-yard loss.

On fourth down, Hoban’s Da’Viaun Pete stormed in and blocked a punt by Cornell Beachem, and Donny Swaim scooped up the ball for a 28-yard TD return.

“They lined up close to the line of scrimmage, and we noticed on film that teams got close before,” Tyrrell said. “We let two guys go free, and fortunately we were able to get a defensive tackle through, and Da’Viaun got a hand on it. That was a huge play for us.”

Hamm threw two touchdown passes each to Houser, who had four receptions for 141 yards, and to Mason Tipton, who snared his two late in the half. After the wild first half, the second half was scoreless.

“Early in the season, we asked Shane not to make mistakes … just don’t try to do too much,” Tyrrell said. “He understood he was just a freshman, and he earned the guys’ respect. Once we saw he had the smart side of quarterbacking mastered, we opened it up a little with him.”

Miyan Williams rushed for 175 yards on 20 carries to pace Winton Woods.