Hubbard uses all its weapons in 37-8 victory

By John Bassetti

HUBBARD — The bands made noise, the players made plays and the scoreboard made it known that Hubbard had won, 37-8.

Andre Givens ran for three touchdowns, Tommy Jackson had his first two-touchdown game — both via receptions from Matt Shelton — and Blake Novotny had his second varsity TD — a 57-yard run, to power the Eagles (6-1).

Jackson acknowledged that his name was called quite a few times in the huddle.

“We were trying to work the ball around and use all our weapons,” the wideout/defensive back said of his TD catches.

Hubbard’s game plan was to go to the air, but East wasn’t giving Givens much space on the ground, either.

“Yeah, they had 7 or 8 players in the box trying to stop the run, so we opened up to the pass and did it pretty successfully,” Jackson said. “But they came with a lot more enthusiasm than a lot of teams,” the 6-2, 165 senior said of the Panthers.

Of his first TD catch of 20 yards, Jackson said: “The QB made a nice throw, I went up and got it and kept my feet in bounds.”

Of his second TD, a catch that resulted in a 51-yard TD, he said: “The ball was on the money and I tried to use my speed to do the rest.”

Hubbard coach Brian Hoffman confirmed that the Eagles weren’t trying to run the ball much at first.

“We came out with the mindset of throwing the ball, hoping it would open our running game in the second half. We ran the ball close to 100 yards in the second half so the offensive line did a good, solid job. We came into the game wanting to throw because we felt like we could, so we came out and took advantage of what they were giving us, defensively.”

Of Jackson, Hoffman said the wideout/defensive back played well on both sides.

“He was able to find some open seams in their coverage and those were big plays [momentum-changers in the first half].”

The 6-3, 205-pound Novotny’s 57-yard run put Hubbard ahead, 25-0 late in the second quarter.

He was the middle man in a stack-I formation on a 4th-and-1 attempt, called a “blast” play.

“I was only looking for a yard, but it turned into something big,” Novotny said of following upback Dan Moffitt as he jetted toward the space on the right side of Hubbard’s line vacated by guard Robert Melczak and tackle Joe Banko.

The junior’s only other career TD was a 2-yard run.

Hoffman said of Novotny’s run on the off-tackle lead play: “We put it in this week because we weren’t real sure about the conditions [sloppy]. It was a big conversion, but he broke it open and we felt good going into halftime up, 25-0.

Novotny also plays middle linebacker on defense.

East coach Brian Shaner said that his defense has come a long way since the Panthers’ opening game against Liberty.

“We’re starting to get after it. I’m not saying that we’re not catching breaks, it’s just that we’re missing somewhere. I can’t put my finger on it, but our kids are playing hard and not giving up.

“We’ve played some really tough teams, so I can say my hat’s off to Hubbard. We made some decent plays in tough weather, but for Hubbard to be able to move the ball the way they did in tough conditions says a lot.”

Shane addressed his team’s 2-5 record.

“It doesn’t say how hard these guys play. You go into every game every week being a big underdog and totally undersized and our guys just don’t care. They come ready to play and I’m proud of them.”

Kendell Peterson was one of those defensive players giving an all-out effort. The 5-11, 225 senior stalked the line of scrimmage, making vicious hits whenever possible.

Hubbard also beat the Panthers in week 7 a year ago, 23-6.