By Greg gulas

sports@vindy.com

HOWLAND

Da’Veon Smith rushed for 236 yards and scored all four of his team’s touchdowns as Howland knocked Hubbard from the ranks of the undefeated, 28-20, Friday night at Richard Lombardo Field.

It was the All-American Conference opener for the two American Division rivals

With just 30 yards and 10 carries to his credit at halftime, Smith knew that he would have to kick his game up a notch if the Tigers hoped to increase their 7-6 advantage at the intermission.

“Coach [Dick] Angle told us at halftime to think of the score as being 0-0, then go out and play like we were capable of playing and good things would happen,” Smith said. “Hubbard is a great team so give them credit for their effort tonight as well. Our offensive line also gets the credit for the holes that they opened up for us, as well as the protection that they gave quarterback Eric Lockney.”

Hubbard’s Darnell Tate got the Eagles on the board first with an 18-yard run with time ready to expire in the opening period.

The missed placement left Hubbard (3-1, 0-1) with a 6-0 lead after the first 12 minutes of play.

When Smith scored the first of his four touchdowns with a little over a minute remaining before halftime, the Tigers took a 7-6 lead.

“When you play a team from Trumbull or Mahoning County you’re not going to win by outcoaching them,” Angle said. “You have to go after them and the players on both sides did just that tonight. They spent all night trying to do the right things in order to gain an advantage.”

Howland changed things up in the second half.

“We wanted to try something different by throwing the ball a little more and running between the tackles,” Angle said. “Coach [Dom] Menendez had an excellent offensive game plan and we really played well defensively the entire game.”

he Eagles regained the lead on their first possession of the second half when Aries Shaw scored on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Harb with a little under two minutes gone in the third quarter.

The failed two-point conversion left the Eagles with their last lead of the game, 12-7.

Howland regained the lead for good on a 32-yard run by Smithat 2:13 of the period and Lockney hit Ralph Robinson for a two-point conversion for a 15-12 lead.

Smith’s 5-yard touchdown run at 9:53 increased the lead to 21-12 for Howland (3-1, 1-0). He added a 72-yard touchdown run at the 5:31 mark. The score capped 21 unanswered points by the Tigers.

Harb, who led his team with 85 rushing yards, then scored on a 51-yard run to help pull his team to within 28-20.

Hubbard had one last possession with 1:39 to play.

Harb then led the Eagles to the Howland 9. On fourth-and-8, he found Larry Scott to his left but the Tigers’ defense stopped him for no gain.

“We has a shot to go up in the first half but didn’t take advantage of that opportunity,” Eagles coach Brian Hoffman said. “We battled right to the end and I am just proud of our direction right now.”