Team

Hubbard

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

Eagles special teamers were clutch on Jefferson’s last-minute PAT attempt

By John Bassetti

sports@vindy.com

HUBBARD

Talk about a team effort. A sophomore, two juniors and several seniors, along with a horde of others, gave Hubbard the impetus for its 21-18 down-to-the-wire victory over Jefferson in Friday’s All-American Conference White Tier game.

Junior David Hernandez’s 43-yard kickoff return set up classmate Colin Burdette’s game-winning field goal from 27 yards.

“I knew he [Hernandez] put us in field goal range, so I said, ‘We can make this,’” Burdette said of his first game-winner.

Hernandez and sophomore defensive end Matt Whittenberger helped tackle Jefferson’s Jeremiah Knight on a two-point conversion attempt with 49.1 seconds remaining.

Seniors George Hill and Brandon Rios rushed for 179 and 123 yards, respectively, while senior quarterback Dom Pantone played well as a starter in place of Cam Ingram, who injured an ankle last week.

Hubbard (5-2, 3-1) has won two in a row after suffering consecutive losses on the heels of having its 25-game regular-season winning streak snapped.

The game also commemorated the 100th season of Hubbard High football.

Knight scored three times, had 68 yards on 22 carries and the 5-10, 185-pound junior had four catches for 62 yards for the Falcons (4-3, 2-3).

After Knight’s third TD, a 1-yard run with 49.1 seconds remaining, tied the game at 18-18, kicker Tyler McKee’s extra-point attempt was aborted when Hubbard was called for an offside penalty.

With the ball advanced to the 11/2–yard line, Jefferson tried a 2-point conversion, but failed when Knight was stopped, chiefly by Hernandez and Whittenberger.

“They blocked the first one that we tried earlier in the game and we’d been running that play pretty well,” Jefferson head coach Jim Henson said. “We thought it was that short that we could punch it in.

“It was my call. I thought we’d get it.”

Whittenberger blocked McKee’s PAT after Jefferson’s first touchdown, a 1-yard run by Knight

Burdette oozed cool confidence for his big kick that capped Hubbard’s 11-point fourth quarter.

Was Burdette thinking about overtime?

“No, I knew it was going in,” said Burdette, who also had a 36-yard field goal.

Of his 43-yard return, Hernandez said, “I started going right and I took it left and saw an open valley and said, ‘This is my chance.’ I took it and went.”

Whittenberger was polite post-game, but a bear during it.

“There’s more to come,” he said after his 17-tackle night, which included 12 solos. “We were pumped up. We’ve been through games like this before, so we feel we’re going to get the job done.”

Of his big night, overall, Whittenberger said, “My teammates just opened up holes for me [to get in Jefferson’s backfield], that’s about it.”

Hubbard coach Brian Hoffman told his players that they’re making games interesting.

“It was Friday night football at its best,” Hoffman said. “Dom stepped in this week for our quarterback; George was making plays everywhere, Brandon, too; Matt played a whale of a game and the inside linebackers [Hernandez, Sal Pesce and Dillon O’Hara] were all over the field.”