Saturday, September 29, 2001
Anthony Smith carried 25 times for 128 yards and two touchdowns in the 21-0 win.
By BOB ROTH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
CORTLAND -- The Hubbard High football team used a consistent ground game that rolled up 250 yards Friday to defeat Lakeview, 21-0.
Senior tailback Anthony Smith led the Eagles (6-0, 3-0 Trumbull Athletic Conference) with 25 carries for 128 yards and two touchdowns.
The first came on a 28-yard run in the first quarter.
"[The play] was designed to go outside, but their pursuit was so strong, I cut back to my back side blockers and was able to get loose," Smith said.
Hubbard fullback Antonio Owens provided solid blocking for Smith. Owens ran for 85 yards on 15 carries -- most of it in the second half -- to sustain drives.
Smith's second score -- a 10-yard run --culminated an 11-play, 89-yard drive that concluded at the 3:04 mark of the fourth quarter.
"I followed Antonio to the hole and was able to shake off tacklers," Smith said. "We had great blocking up front and Antonio did the job."
No big deal: Owens shrugged off his effort.
"All I did in the second half was try to follow key blocks to get first downs," Owens said. "The guys up front did what they had to do."
David DeSantis scored the other touchdown for Hubbard on a 16-yard pass from quarterback Gabe McKee (16 yards) in the third quarter.
"Gabe's pass was perfect -- right over my right shoulder and their defender's left shoulder," DeSantis said.
Among the many defensive standouts for Hubbard was junior inside linebacker John Dominic, who had two quarterback sacks and seven solo tackles.
"It's tough to play here," said Hubbard coach Jeff Bayuk, whose Eagles are second-ranked in this week's playoff computer ratings for Division III Region 9.
"Lakeview always is tough," Bayuk said. "Tonight our heroes were the entire offensive line because they allowed us to take time off the clock and consistently move the football."
Hubbard also was voted the seventh best team in the state in Div. III in this week's Associated Press poll.
Not enough: Lakeview (1-5, 1-2) threatened to score on three different occasions, but came up short.
Junior quarterback Kevin Rigby completed 9-of-18 passes for 133 yards. Lakeview had just 167 yards overall.
"We had opportunities on offense, but we couldn't take advantage of them," Lakeview coach Tom Pavlansky said. "Our defense played well all night. But give credit to Hubbard because they played hard."