Former Tyrone Area High School football star Brandon Hoover has left the nationally-ranked Lackawanna football program after one year as backup quarterback.
Lackawanna head coach Mark Duda said he was sorry to hear of Hoover’s decision to pass up both football and his classes at Lackawanna.
“Brandon is a great kid, a great quarterback and a good person,” said Duda. “You don’t like to lose someone who has all of those things. I think that he needed school and that he needed football. We wish him the best.”
Hoover, a 6-1, 190-pound sophomore, made his decision early this week after participating in preseason practice, which officially got under way on August 17. He came into preseason camp as the Number One quarterback following an outstanding performance in Lackawanna’s 2001 finale.
In that game, a 49-21 loss to Ricks College of Pocatello, Idaho, in the final Real Diary Bowl in Pocatello, Hoover came off the bench to replace the Lackawanna quarterback, who suffered a concussion early in the game.
Hoover proceeded to complete five of 14 passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns and was not intercepted. Two of the completions were scoring strikes of 71 and 28 yards. He also carried eight times for a minus 18 yards. Those statistics represented Hoover’s statistics for the 2001 season, which saw the Falcons ranked Number Nine in the final National Junior College Athletic Association poll.
At Tyrone, Hoover passed for 1,408 yards and 16 touchdowns as a junior in leading Tyrone to the State Class AA championship. A two year starter in football, he also participated in baseball and basketball at Tyrone
“I have decided to take a semester off,” explained Hoover. “I just wasn’t really happy with the way things were going at Lackawanna, didn’t have a feel for the program. Transferring to IUP was one option, I thought about this year, but wasn’t sure at the time if I could. I just felt, I needed to take some time off and think about what it is that I need to do. Hopefully, I will find a job and get some money put back and then apply at IUP in the spring. I want to talk to the IUP football coaches and find out about the possibility of walking on the team next fall.”
