‘Hard work and discipline’: Delaware football’s Favour Akih rides talent all the way to Ohio State
Thursday, August 21, 2025
By Michael Rich
mrichnotwealthy@gmail.com
Senior Favour Akih (2), shown running the ball during last year’s game against Big Walnut, is headed to Ohio State after a breakout season in 2024. File photo
Favour Akih knows his way around a computer. So, when he moved to Delaware before his sophomore year, he did some research. He wanted to know when the last time the Delaware Hayes football team had a major Division I college recruit.
Ethan Tucky graduated from Delaware in 2016 and played one season at Boston College before transferring to Cincinnati where he finished out his college career.
What about Ohio State?
Akih had to dig much farther back where he found 1970 graduate Rick Middleton, who went on to play middle linebacker for the Buckeyes from 1971 to ’73.
“I came from (Westerville) Central (where) we had Benny Snell and Nick Vannett,” Akih said. “I was pretty shocked (it had been so long), but I knew that with the way the program was going, there’s eventually going to be another.”
That person turned out to be Akih, a running back who committed to Ohio State this summer.
He didn’t play a snap of football until his freshman year with the Warhawks. Since then, it’s been a whirlwind that’s seen him go from junior varsity as a sophomore to a starring role with the Pacers last season to Ohio State commit going into this season as a senior.
Favour Akih (2) did not play football until his freshman season at Westerville Central. He transferred to Delaware Hayes for his junior year last season where he proved to be a versatile player. Here he gets a tackle during the Big Walnut game in 2024. File photo
This season Akih hopes to help Delaware notch its fourth consecutive winning record – a feat that hasn’t been achieved since the days of Middleton when they did it five consecutive times from 1966 to ’70. That pursuit begins Aug. 22 when the Pacers host rival Buckeye Valley.
Last year, Akih rushed for 1,653 yards and 18 touchdowns on 236 attempts and added 175 yards receiving and three scores on nine receptions to help Delaware go 7-4 overall and 4-3 in OCC-Capital Division play. He was named first-team all-state, all-district and all-league when all was said and done.
“It’s almost refreshing in a way because there’s no bad habits that have been developed,” Pacers coach Ryan Montgomery said. “There’s a lot of questions being asked – and, you know, good questions in the sense of like, ‘OK, coach, I understand this. Now, where do I go next? And it was continually building and building.
Akih wants to pursue something in computer sciences in college, possibly cyber security. It’s what helped him narrow his choices down to Miami (Florida), Southern California and Ohio State before selecting the Buckeyes so he could stay close to home.
When some friends convinced him to give football a try as a freshman, he got on the computer and did his research. He watches old college games on YouTube to learn what others do in certain situations.
Favour Akih (2) rarely came off the field last season for Delaware Hayes, even during special-team play. Here he tries to block a kick attempt during the Big Walnut game last season. File photo
“I put myself in their shoes – seeing what I would have done differently or seeing what works better or what move will work better or how to read the defense and seeing what linebackers are doing and how they react to certain things,” Akih said.
A native of Cameroon, soccer was the sport of choice growing up. He supplemented soccer as a sprinter in track.
He took to football like a duck to water.
“It was tough at first because football is a very intricate game,” Akih said. “You have to be very smart to play football. So, it was a hard time picking it up. But as soon as I did, I just started taking off.”
Montgomery had a clean slate to work with.
“I’ve been coaching football a while,” he said. “But I haven’t been a head coach that long – I’m going into my fourth year. Sometimes we can overcomplicate things for kids. And when you break things down and you focus on fundamentals and you try and drive those fundamentals home, you can then start building more off that and you can see kids have a lot more success when they don’t think as much. When they’re able to go out, they’re able to see, they’re able to react, they’re able to understand.”
Akih takes a simple approach to his success.
“Just really hard work and discipline,” he said. “There’s not really much to me. All I do is just work and just let the work do the rest of the talking for me really. I’m the type to put my head down and just go to work. Even if I’m not seeing success instantly, I’m still working every single day.”