Team

Howland

Record	Div.	Conf.
1/9	Div. III	All-American Conference Red Tier

Team

Hubbard

Record	Div.	Conf.
11/2	Div. IV	All-American Conference White Tier

By John Bassetti

sports@vindy.com

HUBBARD

It’s important for opposing teams to know where Howland’s Victor Williams is on the field.

The 6-foot, 185-pound junior wasn’t hard to miss as he ran for a touchdown, caught another and ran back an intercepted pass for a third TD as Howland beat Hubbard, 34-20, Friday night in an All-American Conference crossover game of Red and White Tier teams.

It was the Tigers’ first win over Hubbard since a 35-14 victory at Howland during the 2007 season.

“My team backs me up everywhere I go and I back them up and it was a nice win,” said Williams, a do-it-all athlete. “It was our time to come back and shine now.”

“It feels great to get this one,” said Howland coach Dom Menendez, whose team took a 7-0 lead early after a 13-play possession.

“We stuck with our game plan and wanted to pound it a little bit — and their guys were gassing a little — so it worked out well,” Menendez said of the pivotal first drive.

Of Williams, the coach said: “He had a little coming-out party tonight and that’s big for our team, but other guys stepped up, too,” he said of Tyriq Ellis, Steve Baugh and the entire defense. “It was a team effort and team win.”

Ellis and Isom Julian had a 2-yard TD run apiece for Howland (3-2, 0-1 Red Tier).

They got blocking from an offensive line of center Nick Bell, guards Jack Lambert and Zach Nites, tackle Ryan Jones and tight end Noah Bell.

Ellis had 132 yards on 24 carries. Julian picked up 57 on 13 tries.

The loss was Hubbard’s second straight after Lakeview stopped the Eagles’ 25-game regular-season winning streak last week.

George Hill and Brandon Rios each scored on a 2-yard run for Hubbard (3-2, 1-1 White Tier) and Hill also ran 64 yards for a TD after taking a lateral from Dom Pantone late in the game.

With Hubbard within seven at 20-13, Williams caught a Jake Lester pass that covered 40 yards. Prior to the play, Hill lined up across from Williams before the Howland receiver ran downfield, then barely got behind Hill before Williams turned around to catch Lester’s well-placed pass.

Hubbard had Lester on the run, but the 5-9, 160-pound sophomore escaped the pocket, saw Williams downfield and made the throw into Williams’ gut.

“He made a great catch against another great athlete,” Hubbard coach Brian Hoffman said of Williams’ effort to gather the ball just beyond Hill’s reach that gave Howland possession at Hubbard’s 24-yard line.

Although Jacob Lowe missed a 34-yard field goal and the Eagles got the ball back with 7:25 remaining, Williams picked off Cam Ingram’s pass on the next play. Lowe’s point-kick put the visitors ahead, 27-13.

Lester was 7 of 9 for 117 yards, while Ingram was 10 of 18 for 66 yards and one interception. Williams had four catches for 102 yards for the winners, while Pantone caught two for 20 for Hubbard.

Hill ran 10 times for 95 yards and Rios had 57 yards on 11 attempts.

“It was a hard-fought — but clean — physical game and, I think, it took its toll on both teams,” Hoffman said of Hubbard shuffling offensive line players and linebackers in and out, while Howland lost two-way standout Tommy Carnifax with a dislocated right shoulder in the second quarter.

“Not capitalizing on the one-foot line hurt,” Hoffman said of the Eagles’ failure to punch the ball in with 4:34 remaining in the first half.

Hubbard’s lack of possession time in the first half hurt, too.

“We really didn’t have many possessions [two] and they were able to control the clock,” Hoffman said. “Coming out in the second half, we felt like we had a decent idea about what we wanted to get done and battled back into the game, but a couple big plays for them sealed the deal.”