Akron Hoban's Lamar Sperling is Ohio Mr. Football

COLUMBUS — Akron Archbishop Hoban senior running back Lamar Sperling has been named Ohio Mr. Football by the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association. He is the 36th winner of the award and will led his team into the OHSAA Division II state championship game Thursday night against Toledo Central Catholic. Sperling, 5-foot-10-inches and 190 pounds, totaled 141 points in the statewide voting by OPSWA members. Cincinnati Wyoming senior running back/defensive back CJ Hester was the runner-up with 101 points. He will play in the Division IV state championship game Saturday night. Other Mr. Football finalists included Darreon Fair, Cleveland Heights; Diore Hubbard, Gahanna Lincoln; Jordan Marshall, Moeller; Connor Walendzak, Perrysburg; and Mason Wolfe, Millersburg West Holmes. Sperling enters Thursday with 3,511 rushing yards and 55 rushing touchdowns, both school records, on 377 carries in 15 games this season. Sperling, a University at Buffalo recruit, also has one receiving TD. The Ohio Mr. Football Award was given by the Associated Press from 1987-2016. It has been given by the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association since 2017. The All-Ohio teams will be announced beginning Monday. When Sperling enrolled at Archbishop Hoban High School in Akron in 2019 he was a "pretty confident" 14-year-old who loved playing football. "I wanted to be the best player on the field on every play," Sperling said Tuesday in an interview with the Akron Beacon Journal. "Freshman year, I played whatever the coaches asked me to play. I played special teams and a little bit of running back on the varsity team. On the freshmen team, I played running back, cornerback, safety and wide receiver. My expectations were to come in here and be the best I can be and then progress as the years go on." "It is a good feeling," Sperling said of winning Mr. Football. "People see my true talent and they know what I am capable of, and that is what I have been trying to do my whole high school career." Sperling's high school career concluded Thursday night in Canton when Hoban (14-1) meets Toledo Central Catholic (14-1) in the Division II state final at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, at 7 p.m. "This is a tribute to Lamar and a tribute to everything he has done up until this point," Hoban coach Tim Tyrrell said. "He is one of the hardest working kids around and he is one of the more humble kids I have ever met, which is even better when you get an award like this and you are so humble." Sperling is in his third year as a major contributor to Hoban's varsity team, and is the latest in a long line of talented running backs to suit up for the Knights. Ryan DeGeorge, Tony Sutton and Tyrell Sutton were standout running backs in the late 1990s and early 2000s at Hoban. The Knights have featured running backs Todd Sibley, Tyris Dickerson, DeaMonte Trayanum and Victor Dawson during a run of five state championships since 2015. Sperling helped Hoban win a Division II state championship as a sophomore in 2020 and finish as the Division II state runner-up as a junior in 2021. He surpassed Tyrell Sutton, the 2004 Ohio Mr. Football, atop the Hoban single-season rushing record this season. Sutton went on to star at Northwestern and play in the NFL and CFL. Sperling said his offensive linemen have played a large role in his success this season: seniors Drew Holt, Zardakar Zaramo, Keon Johnson, Sal Brugnano and Grant Thompson, junior William Satterwhite and sophomore Nate Cross. Four different fullbacks — juniors Dominic Bush and Deon Rodgers, sophomore Nick Crawford and freshman Ace Brown — have helped block this season. "Playing with my teammates is fun," Sperling said. "Getting all of these yards and racking up touchdowns and winning as a team is fun." Sperling ran for 278 yards and four touchdowns on 38 carries on Friday in a 41-20 state semifinal win over Massillon. "You know you're not gonna shut him down," Toledo Central Catholic coach Greg Dempsey said of Sperling earlier this week. "I think you have to get people to the ball, but they're so capable of hitting you on play action. It's not like he's the only weapon they have. "But in terms of weaponry, he's definitely a nuclear bomb. He's dynamic. He's explosive. He's powerful. He's got great balance. He has all the things that defensive coaches hate seeing in a running back." Sperling has 1,425 rushing yards and 23 rushing touchdowns on 152 carries in five playoff wins over Willoughby South, Barberton, St. Vincent-St. Mary, Hudson and Massillon. Sperling ran for 308 yards and five touchdowns on 22 carries in a 57-14 first-round win over Willoughby South and 261 yards and four TDs on 28 carries in a 41-13 regional quarterfinal victory over Barberton. Sperling ran for 285 yards and five TDs on 28 carries to lead Hoban to a 47-7 regional semifinal win over St. Vincent-St. Mary. He ran for 222 yards and three TDs on 34 carries to lead the Knights to a 28-14 win in the regular season over the Irish. Sperling ran for 293 yards and five TDs on 36 carries in Hoban's 41-7 regional final win over Hudson. Two years ago, he ran for 119 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries in a 31-14 win over the Explorers in a regional final. Sperling grew up in Akron and Tallmadge. He played on three youth football teams in Akron – the East Dragons, Ellet Raiders and Northwest Hawks. He also suited up for the Tallmadge Blue Devils pee-wee team. Sperling ran for 158 yards and four touchdowns on 27 carries in a 32-20 win over Walsh in the regular season this year. Hoban beat Walsh twice last year with Sperling running for 272 yards and three touchdowns on 42 carries in 35-34 regular-season win in two overtimes, and running for 357 yards and five TDs on 31 carries in a 49-30 regional final victory. Ohio Mr. Football Winners (including college choice):1987: Buster Howe, RB-DB-K-P, Zanesville, Ohio State1988: Robert Smith, RB, Euclid, Ohio State1989: Robert Smith, RB, Euclid, Ohio State1990: Bobby Hoying, QB, St. Henry, Ohio State1991: Derek Kidwell, QB-DE, Fostoria, Bowling Green1992: Marc Edwards, RB-LB, Norwood, Notre Dame1993: Curtis Enis, RB-LB, Mississinawa Valley, Penn State1994: Charles Woodson, DB-RB, Fremont Ross, Michigan1995: Andy Katzenmoyer, LB, Westerville South, Ohio State1996: Derek Combs, RB-DB-KR, Grove City, Ohio State1997: Tony Fisher, RB, Euclid, Notre Dame1998: Ryan Brewer, RB, Troy, South Carolina1999: Bam Childress, DB-WR-KR, Bedford St. Peter Chanel, Ohio State2000: Jeff Backes, RB-DB, Upper Arlington, Northwestern2001: Maurice Clarett, RB, Warren G. Harding, Ohio State2002: Ben Mauk, QB, Kenton, Wake Forest/Cincinnati2003: Ray Williams, RB, Cleveland Benedictine, West Virginia2004: Tyrell Sutton, RB, Archbishop Hoban, Northwestern2005: Delone Carter, RB, Copley, Syracuse2006: Brandon Saine, RB, Piqua, Ohio State2007: Bart Tanski, QB, Mentor, Bowling Green2008: Erick Howard, RB, North Canton Hoover, Akron2009: Erick Howard, RB, North Canton Hoover, Akron2010: Akise Teague, RB-DB-KR, Youngstown Ursuline, Cincinnati2011: Maty Mauk, QB, Kenton, Missouri/Eastern Kentucky2012: Mitch Trubisky, QB, Mentor, North Carolina2013: Dante Booker Jr., LB, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, Ohio State2014: Joe Burrow, QB, Athens, Ohio State, Louisiana State2015: Keishaun Sims, RB-DB, Massillon Perry, Ashland University2016: Michael Warren, RB, Toledo Central Catholic, University of Cincinnati2017: Joey Baughman, QB, Wadsworth, Elon University2018: Cade Stover, SS-RB, Lexington, Ohio State University2019: Evan Prater, QB, Cincinnati Wyoming, University of Cincinnati2020: Corey Kiner, RB, Cincinnati Roger Bacon, Louisiana State2021: Drew Allar, QB, Medina, Penn State