Girard vs. Hubbard

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Girard vs Hubbard Sept. 30, 2011

Girard vs. Hubbard

Video

Video highlights from Girard's 48-13 win at Hubbard on Sept. 30, 2011.

Team

Girard

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

Team

Hubbard

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

By Joe Scalzo

scalzo@vindy.com

Hubbard

The Hard to Please Hall of Fame already features worthy entries such as “My ice cream is too cold”, “I don’t like the color of that supermodel’s bikini” and “Boy, the government sure took a lot of my Super Lotto winnings.”

On Friday night, Girard High football coach Nick Cochran added another.

His Indians scored on the first two plays from scrimmage and took a three-touchdown lead after one quarter against Hubbard, but when asked if he could have asked for a better start, he said, “We could have scored the two times we didn’t. That would have been a better start.”

Oh.

Thanks to Dan Graziano and a dominating defensive performance, Girard was somehow able to overcome two early missed field goals and keep its blowout streak alive, rolling past the Eagles 48-13.

The Indians (6-0) have outscored every team this season by at least 30 points.

“You’re never satisfied because there’s so many mistakes out there,” said Cochran. “You’ve got to keep on getting better.”

Graziano connected with Branden Byrd for a 49-yard touchdown pass on the game’s first play, then followed with a 36-yard TD run after Hubbard fumbled away the ensuing kickoff. Graziano ended the first half with 174 yards rushing and four touchdowns and 203 yards passing with another touchdown.

“He wants it, you know what I mean?” Cochran said of Graziano. “Today we didn’t have as many guys make plays as we should have. Our line got a little complacent.

“Once we got the lead, we have to finish people. We didn’t play the second half like we should have.”

Girard scored the game’s only second-half touchdown, a 6-yard run by Ahman Eggleston, early in the fourth quarter, as both teams seemed to lose their edge in the second half.

Byrd finished with three catches for 99 yards and Eggleston added 19 carries for 45 yards for the Indians, who entered the game ranked first in the Division IV, Region 13 computer ratings and eighth in the Associated Press poll.

“We’re playing as a family,” said Graziano. “We thought it was going to be a close game but, I guess, dominant offense [took over].”

The Indians now have three straight home games against Niles, Campbell and LaBrae, but when asked about the rest of the season, Graziano said, “We’re just looking at Week 7. Nothing more.”

Freshman Larry Scott carried nine times for 27 yards and a touchdown for Hubbard (4-2), which entered the game in 13th in the brutal Division III, Region 9 standings. The Eagles will likely need to win out to have a chance at the postseason.

“They [Girard] played a good game tonight and we made a lot of mistakes,” said Hubbard coach Brian Hoffman. “We were down 28-7 before we knew what was going on. We had miscues on special teams, miscues on defense, not very good tackling.

“They’re a good football team but by the same token, we’re not happy with our performance tonight. We’ll get it right and get ready for our game next week against Jefferson.”