Team

Hubbard

Record	Div.	Conf.
5/5	Div. IV	All-American Conference White Tier

Team

Girard

Record	Div.	Conf.
9/2	Div. IV	All-American Conference Blue Tier

By Jon Moffett

jmoffett@vindy.com

Girard

Hubbard High’s Mike Lopuchovsky is used to running up and down the court for the basketball team.

But he found himself doing just that in Friday’s 27-24 victory over Girard.

Lopuchovsky, a senior, passed and ran for long touchdowns, and had two game-sealing interceptions in the thriller. He said games like that, which had a 14-point, fourth-quarter comeback by the Indians, are what athletes live for.

“It wasn’t nerve-wracking; that’s what you play for,” he said. “You can’t simulate that in a practice or anything. That’s exciting.”

The two interceptions, on back-to-back series with only a few minutes left in the game, were just “icing on the cake,” Lopuchovsky said.

The Eagles (4-2) scored on two big plays by Lopuchovsky. The first was, depending on who you ask, a broken play. Lopuchovsky fumbled a handoff to tailback Daniel Duvall, but picked it up and ran around right end for 65 yards. Later he connected with basketball teammate Kory Hopkinson for a 64-yard score.

“It was a fake to [Duvall] but Michael keeps the ball,” said Hubbard coach Brian Hoffman.

Lopuchovsky begged to differ.

“Oh, it was a broken play,” he said. “It was supposed to go to Danny, but there was a bad snap. He made a huge block on the play, and sprung me into the end zone.

“But if [coach] doesn’t want me to say anything I won’t,” he joked. “I don’t want to get in any trouble.”

The Indians (4-2) had a little trouble of their own.

The team had seven possessions inside the Hubbard 20, but came away with only 24 points. Quarterback Dan Graziano was intercepted in the end zone, wide receiver Landon Smith lost a fumble, and the Indians turned the ball over on downs in three of those drives.

Coach Nick Cochran said it was his fault the offense struggled.

“Our kids played their butts off, and they played hard,” said Cochran, who is in his first year as head coach at Girard. “... Those mistakes are my mistakes ... You can’t take it away from these kids because of a few bad play calls.”

Hoffman credited the defense, saying it bent but did not break when the team needed it most.

“When their backs were against the wall, they made some great plays,” he said.

The quarterback side of Lopuchovsky could appreciate the defense. His defensive back side was beaming.

“We came up big when we had to.”