By Doug Chapin

East’s Roncarlos Hilton threw for 145 yards, with Mose Fleeton picking up 70 and Braylon Rogers 48.

HUBBARD — Senior quarterback Sam Bellino put together an excellent overall game Friday night to lead Hubbard High to a 21-6 homecoming victory over the East High Panthers.

Bellino passed for 158 yards and two touchdowns, ran for 56 yards and returned a punt 25 yards to set up the Eagles’ third score.

“In the first half, Sam played very well and we were able to move the ball in the air,” Hubbard coach Brian Hoffman said. “Later in the game that helped Andre [Givens] and Sammy run the football in the second half.”

Givens finished with 63 yards on the ground and a 1-yard touchdown run.

“It’s a solid win,” Hoffman said. “It kind of gives us a little bit of help going into next week against another athletic team in Liberty. It’s going to be a great challenge next week.”

Hubbard (6-1) visits undefeated Liberty next week in a game to decide the All-American Conference White Division.

For East (2-5), Friday night was more of the same. The gutsy Panthers have been close in most of their losses.

“That’s been us all year. We’re undersized, we’re undermanned, but we show up and our kids play hard and with a lot of intensity,” East coach Brian Shaner said. “We often wear down in the second half because teams are just so much bigger than us. But they are gutsy, my guys play hard every night.”

Bellino connected with Danny Duvall on a deep pass down the middle for Hubbard’s first touchdown. The play covered 51 yards and came with 8:01 left in the first quarter.

After an 11-play drive resulted in a missed field goal for the Eagles, Bellino came back with a 25-yard scoring toss to Bobby Thompson, again down the middle of the field.

East’s only score came with 26 seconds left in the first half as Roncarlos Hilton connected with Braylon Rogers on a crossing pattern from 15 yards out. The drive covered 60 yards, with the big play a 31-yard connection between Hilton and Mose Fleeton.

Hilton threw for 145 yards in the game. Rogers caught four passes for 48 yards and Fleeton had two catches for 70 yards.

“This game was a big concern for the coaching staff,” Hoffman said. “They [East] are a very athletic team and we knew that they have the ability to make a big play at any time. We made a real effort tonight to prevent them from getting to the perimeter and make them throw the football. Their quarterback made some good throws, but overall we were able to achieve our goal.”

Hubbard’s defense forced a three-and-out to start the second half, and Bellino came up with his key punt return, taking the ball at the East 38 and working his way down the left sideline to the 13. A facemask penalty set up the Eagles at the 8. Four plays later, Givens scored from a yard out to end the scoring.

Shaner said the Panthers will continue to battle.

“This senior class has a lot of pride and they know we have some tough games down the stretch that we plan on winning,” he said. “They practice hard and my hat is off to my guys. They gave another gutsy performance today and it just didn’t work out.”