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Hubbard gets team effort
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Matt Shelton threw three TD passes for Hubbard in a 35-14 win over Warren JFK.
By JOHN BASSETTI
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
HUBBARD — It’s a given that Hubbard running back Andre Givens draws the lion’s share of the attention from opponents.
But the Eagles have been fortunate to have enough talent to avoid being one-dimensional.
It’s showing again this year with the play of Matt Shelton, Mike Lopuchovsky, Kurtis Drummond, Tom Jackson and Dan Duvall.
After Givens’ 44-yard touchdown reception just over a minute into the game, the 5-foot-10 senior’s contributions were limited to two short TD runs.
His compatriots, however, were busy picking up the bulk of yardage.
The collective result was Hubbard’s 35-14 win over Warren JFK to event the records of both teams at 1-1.
Aside from his TD toss to Givens, Shelton’s other two touchdown passes of 54 and 31 yards were to Jackson and Drummond, respectively.
Other substantial-yardage passes to Drummond, Jackson and Duvall put the Eagles in scoring position. Shelton completed 10 of 17 for 281 yards with no interceptions.
“They were giving us the passing zones, and the routes were open, and we took advantage of that,” said Hubbard coach Brian Hoffman.
“Matt did a nice job tonight, especially hitting the deep balls. Those are difficult throws. A week ago, he who took some negative attention [in the loss to Poland], but he turned it around this week. He made some big plays at critical moments.”
Hoffman didn’t leave the field 100 percent satisfied.
“We had two golden opportunities [late] in the first half after the interceptions and didn’t capitalize on those,” he said of fizzled drives after Jackson and Lopuchovsky picked off passes 21‚Ñ2 minutes apart before halftime when Hubbard came away empty.
“We definitely have some things to clean up as we prepare for Southeast next week.”
Hubbard took a 21-7 lead into the locker room, but JFK was still in a position to close the 14-point deficit.
That’s when Jackson and Anthony Nadeja rushed JFK punter Colin Smedi and blocked his kick. Chase Myers recovered at JFK’s 22 with 7:41 remaining in the third quarter.
Shelton’s 31-yarder to Drummond followed, and Hubbard sailed the rest of the way.
“We have to keep things balanced,” Hoffman said. “Like tonight, teams are going to make a concerted effort to take Andre [Givens] out of the game, so we have to utilize our other weapons. When they loosen up, we’ll get the ball back to Andre, but it’s nice to have those options. We’ll do the best we can to keep it balanced.”
Shelton said that his receivers were the difference.
“They’re quick and got behind the defenders. Our speed overtook everything. I tried to hit the short routes and just take what they gave us. I tried to spread it out and make everybody happy.”
Shelton’s perfectly placed long passes helped.
“We were awful against the pass,” JFK coach Tony Napolet said. “They threw four on us in key situations.”
When still within 28-14 and driving, JFK had a drive stall on fourth and 1 at Hubbard’s 17.
“I thought we got the first down, so I didn’t agree with the spot of the ball on that fourth-down try,” said Napolet.
Offensively, Napolet said, JFK is still inconsistent moving the ball.
“You’ve got to make plays every snap. We’re not consistent with that. We get a turnover, and we can’t stuff it in the first half. Then we take the ball and move in for a score.”
bassetti@vindy.com