By Kevin Connelly

kconnelly@vindy.com

RAVENNA

It was an ending the Hubbard Eagles would rather not remember, but won’t soon forget.

Senior Matt Jones stood on the blue turf of Gilcrest Field at Ravenna High School on Friday night, staring at nowhere in particular, shaking his head back and forth. He had just been a part of one of the most improbable endings to a football game, ever.

Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary trailed 23-19 with less than a minute remaining in the fourth quarter of the Division III regional final.

The district’s offensive player of the year, Larry Scott, had just rushed for his 208th yard of the game, setting up a third-and-2 for Hubbard just across midfield.

On the ensuing play, Scott was stopped for no gain, forcing a fourth down with 50 seconds left. The Eagles lined up to go for it, but jumped offsides, forcing coach Brian Hoffman to send out the punt team.

“We knew we had a minute chance,” SV-SM senior Patrick Oliverio said. “But that’s what Irish football is all about. It’s that Irish fight.”

Or that Irish luck.

Markus Hurd tracked the punt back inside his own 20-yard line, but was met by a host of Eagles players. Trying to fight through tackles, Hurd had the ball punched out of his hands.

With multiple Hubbard players trying to bring down Hurd, Oliverio picked up the loose football and started running downfield.

“I just had an intuition,” Oliverio said. “I knew that ball was coming out.

“When that happens, you’re not thinking — you’re not there — you wake up and you’re in the end zone.”

Oliverio returned the fumble 80-plus yards for the game-winning touchdown, to give the Irish a 26-23 victory.

It was a nightmare ending to an otherwise impressive performance by Hubbard.

“That was the best we played all season,” Jones said. “What happened at the end — I know I shouldn’t blame anyone, but I think he was down and you could clearly tell he was down — but it wasn’t meant to be.

“But we played a hell of a game.”

The loss extends the Eagles’ postseason losing streak versus the Irish to three games. It’s also the second consecutive regional final defeat for Hubbard, which entered the game as the top-ranked Division III team in the state.

“It’s devastating, that’s all I can say,” Hoffman said. “Honestly. Our kids played their tails off tonight — they did.

“They deserved this, but it’s a shame.”

Momentum shifted back and forth the entire second half, with the biggest swing of them all the game-winning score.

Earlier in the quarter, Hubbard defensive back Isaiah Scott sat on a pass from SV-SM backup quarterback Terry Hennessy and stepped in front of the receiver for an interception he returned 25 yards for a touchdown. The score made gave the Eagles a 16-13 lead with 6:50 remaining.

His brother took over from there. Larry Scott had 35 carries for 208 yards and two touchdowns — the second giving his team a 23-13 lead with 3:14 left.

“I’ll tell you, wholeheartedly, that we outplayed them,” Jones said. “The score doesn’t show that, but we outplayed them.”

SV-SM quarterback Dom Davis quickly drove his team down the field and connected with Sonny Parella for a 20-yard touchdown to cut into the Eagles’ lead with 1:47 remaining. A blocked extra point made it 23-19.

That set up the fumbled punt, which nobody will soon forget.

“I thought I was down and then I just saw Pat running and I was like, ‘I guess I wasn’t down,” Hurd said. “The greatest moment of my life, probably.”