Tipton wide receiver Blake Hoover was able to put up solid numbers last season playing alongside Kokomo Tribune All-Area MVP Jake Dye, earning first-team honors after a season that included 45 catches for 822 yards and eight touchdowns.
Hoover didn’t have the luxury of a playmaker like Dye on the opposite side of the formation this season. That didn’t stop Hoover from compiling even more gaudy numbers on his way to leading the Blue Devils to their first double-digit win season in over a decade.
For his well-rounded play in all facets of the game, Hoover is the Tribune’s 2012 All-Area MVP.
“There were a lot of great players out there this year,” Hoover said. “I just wanted to be the best player I could be. Coach [Aaron Tolle] always says ‘Be a good player on a great team’ and that’s what I always tried to make my mindset. This is the No. 1 individual award for me [in my career]. With all the great players around here this year, it’s a big honor.”
Hoover was Tipton’s No. 1 option at wideout with the departure of Dye a season previous, and he didn’t disappoint. The six-foot, 170-pound senior caught 59 passes for 984 and 16 TDs. He added 10 carries for 96 yards and another score for an offense that averaged 38 points per game and scored 40 or more eight times.
At defensive back he was just as impressive, finishing the season with 31 tackles (28 solos) and seven interceptions, four of which he returned for TDs. He was also the Blue Devils’ go-to guy in the return game, where he returned three kickoffs and a punt for scores.
“I expected him to have a big year, but he had an even better year than even I anticipated. And, I had really high expectations for him,” Tolle said. “What makes him the best player in the area has to be the fact of how well-rounded he is and everything he brings to a football team. Everybody knows he’s a great wide receiver. He’s been that for three years for us. He started in the secondary for three years, and has been our best cover guy for the last two. He returned kicks and punts. He holds for our extra points, and was our kicker at certain times during the year. You’d be hard pressed to find a guy who’s more valuable to a team than that in our area or even state. He’s just a great athlete, and it makes it even better that he’s coachable and is a great team guy.”
He led the area in catches, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns and scoring, and tied for the area lead in interceptions with Cass’ Drew Shepherd and Carroll’s Brandon Dillon. His 25 touchdowns ranked second in the area to Tri-Central’s Martavius Hunt, who scored 26.
“Having Jake by my side last year was a big help,” Hoover said. “It helped me out my junior year, and I tried to work as hard as I could so I could pick it up as a senior and have stats that were comparable to his from [2011]. The most important stat to me was the wins, but individually, the touchdowns [stand out] because obviously more touchdowns lead to more wins.”
Hoover’s great statistics came in a season where Tipton finished with an 11-2 record, its best since the Blue Devils also went 11-2 in 2001.
The Blue Devils opened the season with a 19-14 victory over eventual Class 3A state runner-up Hamilton Heights at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Tipton’s lone regular season loss came to eventual Class A state champion Lafayette Central Catholic, 24-13 on Sept. 21 in Lafayette.
The Blue Devils won six straight after that, claiming their third straight Class 2A sectional championship after a 35-17 win at Benton Central.
The season came to a gut-wrenching end in the regional round in a 22-12 loss to eventual Class 2A state champion Fort Wayne Bishop Luers, a game in which the Blue Devils led 12-7 with seven minutes to play.
“We had high expectations coming into this season,” Hoover said. “We were successful the last couple seasons, but the core group of the football team really wanted more than what we have been. That really helped us set high standards for our football team.”
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MVP: Tipton’s Blake Hoover enjoyed an unparalleled season in 2012, leading the area in receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, scoring and interceptions. Hoover, seen here returning a kickoff against Fort Wayne Bishop Luers in this season’s Class 2A regional contest, is this season’s All-Area MVP.
Discussion
Tipton’s Hoover earns All-Area MVP honors
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GASKINS: Hibbert’s block was thing of beauty
For the better part of the NBA season, ESPN devoted all kinds of time on SportsCenter episodes to replays of two dunks. Anyone who watches any ESPN at all surely knows the two to which I’m referring: 6-foot-11 DeAndre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers posterizing 6-3 Brandon Knight of the Detroit Pistons, and 6-8 LeBron James of the Miami Heat hammering home a dunk over 6-2 Jason Terry of the Boston Celtics.
Day after day, ESPN commentators lavished endless praise, which quickly grew tiresome. The dunks were strong, but Jordan and James were much taller and heavier than Knight and Terry and the dunkers also caught perfect alley-oop passes with the defenders in poor positions to defend. Still, ESPN commentators loved these plays.
I kept wondering if a great defensive play would receive the same kind of love. -
Coons, Walker, Glassburn reach Victory Lane
When the dust settled Sunday evening at the Kokomo Speedway, a pair of drivers who have visited Victory Lane in the past at the local oval found themselves there once again while a talented up-and-comer hit the hallowed ground for the first time.
Jerry Coons Jr. had his way in the sprint car feature and Craig Walker seemed to get faster as the laps wound down to win the Street Stock main event, however Kokomo High School sophomore Kory Glassburn had to scratch and fight before scoring the first feature win of his career in the Thunder Car A-main. -
Field is set for Indianapolis 500
After being bumped from the starting field while sitting on the qualifying line on pole day, Josef Newgarden turned the fastest time on bump day, assuring himself a spot in the Indianapolis 500.
The field of 33 cars will have one final opportunity to practice on Friday before next Sunday’s 97th running of the 500.
One year ago the Sarah Fisher Racing Team withdrew Newgarden’s entry on the first day of qualifying and had to qualify on bump day. This year the team decided not to make another qualifying run and got bumped. -
Athlete of the week
Cole led the small-school Comets to the Kokomo Sectional title, their first title since 1998.
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Kats regain tennis throne
At 10:51 a.m. Saturday morning, the bulk of Kokomo’s girls tennis team sprinted from the viewing hill to the east entrance of the tennis courts to mob No. 1 singles player Morgan Mohr as she came off the court following her 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Eastern’s Courtney Clark.
The No. 3 singles match was still raging, but the team match was already won. The Wildkats had reconquered the throne from two-time defending champion Eastern and were once again champions of the Kokomo Sectional. -
Eastern boys track claims first sectional title since 1998
The boys track and field coach at Eastern High School from 1987 until last season, Paul Nicholson’s parting message to his team was simple: “Don’t deny the gift.”
That motto left such a lasting impression on the Comets’ returning athletes that they had it screen printed on their 2013 season T-shirts.
With Nicholson in attendance to celebrate with them, new coach Austin Roark and the Comets outlasted host Kokomo to win their first sectional title since 1998 Thursday night, topping the Wildkats by 3.5 points, 124.5-121.
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Eastern, Kokomo favored in boys track sectional
Some of the names and faces have changed, but the plot remains much the same.
The Kokomo boys track and field sectional, much like last year, will likely be a two-horse race between the host and three-time defending champion Wildkats and Eastern, a team looking to break through and win its first sectional title since 1998. -
Cole to jump at Miami University
Eastern athlete Grant Cole has only been a long jumper for two seasons, but being turned on to the event late in his career has landed him a scholarship to Miami University.
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Comets roar to sectional title
As the old adage goes, it’s harder stay on top than it is to reach the top.
Eastern’s girls track and field team entered the 2012 postseason hoping to put in a strong enough effort to claim the program’s first sectional title.
Having done so, the Comets entered Tuesday’s postseason opener — the Madison-Grant Sectional — with a much larger bull’s-eye on their backs than in previous years.
Eastern proved up to the challenge, scoring a landslide victory to repeat as sectional champions with 125 points. -
Dexter leaving Eastern
Eastern girls basketball coach Jeremy Dexter has stepped down from the Comet program after accepting the AD job at Churubusco last week. Churubusco is in Whitley County about 15 minutes west of Fort Wayne.
Dexter led the Comets to a Class 2A state runner-up finish this past season. - More Sports Headlines
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