By Kevin Connelly

kconnelly@vindy.com

HUBBARD

It took some time for the high-powered Hubbard offense to find its rhythm Friday night, but once they did the Eagles danced to the tune of 401 rushing yards in a 35-0 statement win over Lakeview.

The star of the show was senior running back Larry Scott, who dazzled for 259 yards and four touchdowns. With just 64 of those yards coming in the first half, it appeared Scott just needed a warm-up act.

“I was just dancing around,” said Scott of his first half. “I could’ve just gone and hit them right off the bat, but second half I came out and poured it open.

“We need to start off like that from the start, though.”

Scott wasn’t the only Eagle who started slowly in the season opener. Junior running back George Hill had 11 carries for 54 yards and on the one play he was able to get to the edge and burst down the sideline for a score, the play was called back by a offensive holding call.

Penalties were a problem all night for Hubbard (1-0), totaling 115 yards on 13 infractions — something Eagles head coach Brian Hoffman took note of after the game.

“These are things we address in practice, a lot, so it is frustrating for me,” Hoffman said. “This is something that we spend a lot of time on and try to instill every day, but they’re still high school players and they’re going to get better as the season goes along.”

The offense certainly got better as Friday night’s game went along. The Eagles took advantage of a missed 30-yard field goal on Lakeview’s opening possession, and converted on a fake punt near midfield, to take a one-touchdown lead late in the first quarter.

Scott then made his presence felt on the defensive side of the ball, picking off Bulldogs starter Nick Boldt, to set up Hubbard’s next score — a 20-yard touchdown toss by new quarterback Cam Ingram to Isiah Scott.

“It was just a great feeling,” said Ingram, a junior in his first season with the Eagles.

“I’ve been at three different schools in three years and a lot of talk has been going around, but it felt amazing — first time starting as a varsity quarterback.”

Lakeview (0-1) trailed 14-0 at halftime, but the Bulldogs were visibly wearing down with each punch the Eagles’ delivered.

“Hubbard’s a really, really good football team,” said Bulldogs head coach Tom Pavlansky. “That was our biggest obstacle.

“We had some chances early on that we’ve got to convert, but our kids fought tonight and I’m proud of the effort.”

Lakeview was without junior quarterback Angelo Marino and the offense struggled as a result. They gained just six first downs and totaled 151 yards of offense — not a recipe for success against a powerful Eagles team. Pavlansky declined to comment about Marino’s absence.

“[Larry Scott]’s unbelievable,” Pavlansky said. “He’s the best back that we’ve played and we’ve played a lot of good backs here the last 20 years, that’s for sure.

“He’s on a whole other level.”

Scott had touchdown runs of 10, 4, and 20 in the second half.

“We came out unprepared, but we busted out in the second half to let them know we had to takeover the game,” Scott said. “We still did what we need to do.”