Team

Poland

Record	Div.	Conf.
8/3	Div. III	All-American Conference Red Tier

Team

Hubbard

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

By John Bassetti

sports@vindy.com

HUBBARD

It was a disappointing senior night for Hubbard, a team that entered the season with a long and proud 25-game regular-season winning streak.

After Friday night’s 35-7 loss to unbeaten Poland, the Bulldogs now own a 14-game regular-season winning streak.

Dylan Garver ran for two touchdowns and had 154 yards on 24 carries and Cole Kosco was 7 of 13 for 144 yards in the air in the All-American Conference, White Tier game that should have cemented Poland’s postseason qualification.

The Bulldogs (9-0, 6-0) scored first on Anthony Calcagni’s 44-yard pass from Kosco and Colt McFadden’s extra-point kick, but Hubbard (5-4, 3-3) tied it on an 18-yard run by Brandon Rios and PAT by Colin Burdette.

About three minutes later, Garver scored from 58 yards out with 7:10 remaining in the second quarter and the visitors were never threatened. The win was payback for those Poland players who took a 54-28 beating at the hands of Hubbard in 2014.

Late in the fourth quarter on Friday, the Eagles started showing some signs of frustration when Rios, who finished with 172 of Hubbard’s 173 rushing yards, dished out some extra punishment on an approaching Poland tackler en route to a 25-yard gain for a first down.

When the Poland sideline reacted with an outburst toward the officials, the Bulldogs were hit with two 15-yard penalties that gave Hubbard a first-and-10 at Poland’s 25-yard line.

Hubbard continued to advance until being awarded a first-and-goal at the 1. On the next play, Rios had trouble with the handoff and fumbled into the end zone. Poland swarmed around the loose ball and recovered and a touchback was signaled.

Hubbard was without George Hill, who had 1,006 and 12 TDs through last week’s loss to Struthers. Reportedly, Hill was kept out as a precaution from a concussion.

Alec Catsoules’ 51-yard run up the middle to give Poland a 21-7 lead was smooth as silk for the sophomore.

After getting the handoff from Kosco, Catsoules ran over the turf vacated by Kyle McCree, Poland’s center who took his defender out of the picture.

Before he reached the end zone, Catsoules looked back to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

“I wasn’t touched at all and I’ve got to thank my line for that completely,” Catsoules said of the 20-trap call that sent him up the gut and into the end zone.

Poland noseman Ted Sacco and outside linebacker Nick Miller combined for a big sack of Hubbard quarterback Cam Ingram on the last play of the third quarter. The third-down play forced the Eagles to punt.

“I don’t want to take all the credit, because it was team defense that held them to seven points,” said Sacco, who didn’t mind the bruising and banging style in the game’s closing minutes.

“I thought that was the best part of the game,” Sacco said of the tense moments after Rios’ run and after the penalties against the Bulldogs and before Poland held the Eagles to zero points in the second half.

Poland coach Mark Brungard said of Hill’s absence: “We had heard and, honestly, we were looking forward to the challenge of tackling him, but Rios fits into that category of difficult to tackle. He’s a very physical runner.”

Hubbard coach Brian Hoffman said that not having Hill made a difference, but he didn’t have any excuses.

“With George out of the lineup, the others guys played their tails off — top to bottom,” Hoffman said. “We took points off the board and gave them another shot. It was a tight game for the most part and I’m proud of the way our kids played and represented themselves tonight. We’ve got to come back Monday and prepare hard for our last game.”

Hubbard defensive lineman and fullback Tyreek Daniels has disrupted many an opposing offense, but he wasn’t in the mood for praise when the season has been less than satisfactory.

“I don’t think we’ve been playing to the best of our ability team-wise, play-style wise, effort-wise,” he said.