Hubbard’s defense blanks Niles 36-0 for 9th win in row

By Pete Mollica

NILES — Hubbard High’s defense got a big emotional lift Friday night and the Eagles made the most of it in their regular season final.

Senior linebacker Tim Schiraldi, who broke his arm in the season opening loss against Poland, came back to play in his season final and inspired his teammates, who shut down Niles en route to a 36-0 victory.

Hubbard (9-1), which earlier this season clinched the All-Amerocan Conference White Tier division championship, assured itself of a berth in the Division III playoffs which begin next week.

“It was an outstanding defensive effort tonight and the guys got a huge motivational lift with the return of Tim Schiraldi,” said Hubbard coach Brian Hoffman.

“This was a game that we needed to come out and had a good performance and although we won by a good margin we still didn’t play our best football tonight,” Hoffman added.

“Defensively we did, while offensively we tried to throw the football a little more and we made a lot of fundamental mistakes, but it was a win and I’ll take that any time.

The Eagles finished the regular season with nine straight victories after losing to Poland in the season opener. Would Hoffman like another shot at the Bulldogs?

“Oh, I don’t know,” he said. “We’re just happy that we’re still playing football right now. We’ll let the state decide who we play on Sunday.”

The Hubbard defense held Niles (4-6, 1-3) to just 6 yards rushing and five first downs in the contest. They also forced four Niles turnovers including three interceptions, one which was returned 75 yards for a touchdown by junior linebacker Mike Lopuchovsky in the third quarter.

The Eagles also lost senior tailback Andre Givens with an ankle injury in the second quarter and he did not return.

“Andre tweaked his ankle in the second quarter and still wasn’t ready when the second half started,” Hoffman said. “We sent him to the hospital to have X-rays taken and hopefully we’ll get some good news later tonight.”

Both defenses played very solid in the opening quarter and the only score was a 24-yard field goal by Lopuchovsky off the Eagles first drive of the game.

Hubbard opened the second quarter with a 44-yard drive to score its first touchdown as senior quarterback Matt Shelton completed two big passes, the second to junior Danny Duvall for 8 yards and a touchdown. Givens had a 14-yard run in the drive.

After forcing a Niles punt, the Eagles scored again after holding Niles deep it its own territory and getting the ball at the Red Dragons’ 32 yard line. Again it was Shelton going to the air and hitting Givens with a short pass near the sidelines and he scampered the final 23 yards to the end zone.

Hubbard started the third quarter at its own 45 yard line and this time stayed on the ground with Shelton leading the way. He had runs of 14 and nine yards and then hit Cory Hopkinson with a 10 yard pass to the Niles 6 where Shelton carried over on the next play.

The Eagles made it 30-0 late in the third quarter when Lopuchvsky stepped in front of a Zack Bailey pass and raced down the sidelines 75 yards for the score.

Another interception early in the fourth quarter set up the final Hubbard score, which came on an eight-yard run by Shelton.

mollica@vindy.com