Glendale blankets Hoover

Hamlet Nalbandyan

The first play resulted in 57 yards. The next went for 17.

Two plays later, the Hoover High football team found itself on the

2-yard line, ready to put the first points on the board in Friday

night’s contest against visiting Glendale at Moyse Field.

But the 74th meeting between the fierce rivals took a turn for the

worst for Hoover on the next play.

A fumble gave the ball to Glendale, and three plays later, a

68-yard run set up the first of four scores for the Nitros in a 31-0

Pacific League victory.

Hoover (2-7-1, 0-5 in league) accumulated 237 yards of total

offense, but six turnovers -- five courtesy of fumbles, three in the

first half -- took Rob Swartz’s squad out of the game.

It also didn’t help the fact that the Tornadoes had no answer for

Glendale’s rushing attack, which totaled 283 yards, thanks to a

career-high 170 from 5-foot-6 tailback Sargis Khodabakhshyan.

“We couldn’t stop their run and we gave the ball away,” said a

disappointed Swartz, who has lost all three meetings in his tenure

against Glendale. “The bottom line is, you can’t beat anybody playing

the way we did. This was our worst game of the year.”

Glendale (4-6, 1-4) had 48 plays from scrimmage Friday, and ran 42

of those times.

But thanks to Khodabakhshyan and fullback Vladimir Paniouchkine --

who finished with 80 yards in 11 carries and his 11th rushing

touchdown of the season -- the one-dimensional game plan didn’t hurt

Loi Phan’s squad.

“So we can’t throw,” Phan said. “But we ran the ball pretty good.

“I’m just proud of the way our guys stepped up. We played really

well all the way around, and this is a good way for our seniors to go

out.

One of those seniors was Khodabakhshyan. He came into the contest

with just 210 yards rushing on the season, but he looked like an

All-CIF player against the Tornadoes.

In addition to runs of 68, 22, 21 and 10 yards, Khodabakhshyan

also had a pair of three-yard touchdowns, both in the first half.

He also played well on defense from his outside linebacker

position, forcing a fumble and collecting Glendale’s lone sack of the

game.

“This means everything to me,” said an emotional Khodabakhshyan.

“I’m going to remember this the rest of my life. I didn’t play in

this game last year because I was injured, and this year was revenge

for me.”

Another big-time performer on defense was junior Shearson Unda.

Making his first start of the season for the injured Narek Gharibyan,

the 5-6, 165-pounder recovered two fumbles and forced another.

But there were more heroes for the Nitros.

Converted wide receiver Christian Sandoval did a nice job at

quarterback. He passed for just 10 yards, but was effective on the

option, scoring Glendale’s second touchdown of the game on a two-yard

run with 11:14 left in the second quarter.

The 6-foot, 175-pound senior also intercepted his fourth pass of

the season in the fourth quarter, ending what could have been

Hoover’s lone score of the game.

Hoover had its chances to make it a closer game, especially in the

first half. But anytime the Tornadoes seemed like they had something

going, a turnover or a penalty gave the momentum back to Glendale.

In addition to fumbling on its first drive, Hoover -- which has

lost 11 of the past 13 meetings against Glendale and now trails the

series, 43-29-2 -- turned it over on its next possession, punted on

its third and fumbled on its fourth.

“You can’t fumble on the one-foot line,” Swartz said, alluding to

the turnover on the first possession, which was forced by

Paniouchkine, who also recovered the loose ball. “If we get that

score, it’s a different game. That was just a real big letdown for

us.”