By Doug Chapin

The Eagles came into their own in the second half, scoring on all four of their possessions.

BROOKFIELD — Hubbard High overcame a 14-0 deficit, scoring on all four of its second-half possessions in a 36-14 triumph over Brookfield on Friday night, the Eagles’ fifth straight victory. Hubbard came into the game ranked sixth in the Division III, Region 9 computer ratings.

The neighborhood rivals ran the ball down each other’s throat, totaling 500 rushing yards between them. The All-American Conference teams are in different divisions, but the game had all the feel of a league game for the former Trumbull Athletic Conference schools.

“I commend Brookfield, they came to play in the first half,” Hubbard coach Brian Hoffman said. “We got the turnover at the end of the first half and that really helped build some momentum going into halftime.”

The turnover to which Hoffman referred was an interception by Cory Farcas which he returned 37 yards for the game-tying touchdown with 19 seconds remaining in the first half.

The score came just 1:03 after Hubbard’s first touchdown, a 40-yard bomb from Sam Bellino to Kurtis Drummond. Prior to that, Hubbard (5-1) had first-and-goal situations twice in the first half, but was unable to penetrate the end zone.

Brookfield (2-4) had forged its 14-0 lead on a 4-yard touchdown run by Mack O’Brien less than two minutes into the second quarter, and an 80-yard scamper by Matt Palumbo at the 3:10 mark of the quarter.

Palumbo rushed for 162 yards on 18 carries and O’Brien finished with 63 yards on 15 carries.

The Eagles drove 48 yards in eight plays to open the second half and led 20-14 after a 4-yard scoring run by Andre Givens, who finished with 123 yards on 17 carries. Bellino finished with 105 yards on 10 carries and Drummond caught three passes for 66 yards.

“In the second half, they [Brookfield] really did a nice job sustaining the ball and making first downs. They consumed about 16 minutes [out of 24] of the clock,” Hoffman said. “Every possession that we had in the second half we scored, we just weren’t on the field enough. And again, that’s a credit to the job they were able to do against us.”

Down for the first time in the game, Brookfield drove in the third quarter to the Hubbard 18 before stalling. The Eagles countered, as a 50-yard scamper by Bellino took the ball to the Brookfield 6. Mike Lopuchovsky nailed a 22-yard field goal with 1:49 left in period three to make the score 23-14.

The Warriors then put together a 15-play drive from their own 16 to the Hubbard 9. But Bobby Thompson blocked a 30-yard field goal try by O’Brien with 5:22 left in the game.

On the next play from scrimmage, Givens raced 73 yards for a game-clinching touchdown.

“I’m pleased with the win. Brookfield was game tonight, they were ready to play,” Hoffman said. “We totally respect their program and their coaching staff. We have to get better in a week when we play Youngstown East.”

Brookfield was coming off two straight victories and visits Girard next week for an AAC Blue Division contest.