By John Bassetti

sports@vindy.com

HUBBARD

The scoreboard made it look close and Girard made an all-out effort to catch up, but Hubbard’s dominant rushing attack subdued the visiting Indians, 30-16, on Friday night.

Hubbard outgained the Indians in total yards, 380-160, with sophomore Rafael Morales and junior Tyreq Moorer combining for all of the winner’s 380 yards.

They each scored two touchdowns while Colin Burdette’s 39-yard field goal and three PATs accounted for Hubbard’s other points.

The Eagles attempted just five passes for no yardage.

“We did a nice job running the ball, so give credit to the offensive line, the tight ends and the split ends and the execution of our backs, who ran hard between the tackles,” Hubbard coach Brian Hoffman said.

“We put ourselves in some bad situations and we had some penalties that we’ve got to clean up,” the coach said.

Hoffman was referring to an illegal motion penalty that negated a sizable gain and stalled a Hubbard drive early in the third quarter before Girard took possession and eventually scored on Jamil Bannister’s 3-yard run with 4:43 remaining in the third period.

Hubbard (2-0) was flagged for 11 penalties that totaled 80 yards.

With center Hunter Meyer leading the offensive line, the Eagles had a 16-0 lead after Burdette’s 39-yard field goal as the first half expired.

Another underclassman who fed the frenzy, defensively, for Hubbard was freshman defensive back Bray Donlow, who broke up passes and had an interception late in the game.

“We have a young, talented team, led by great senior linemen,” Moorer said of the excitement being generated by the youth.

“We can go far,” said the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Morales, who flashed the first sign of excitement when he dashed 59 yards to put Hubbard on the board at 3:55 of the first quarter.

“I just saw a seam and capitalized on it,” Morales said.

Girard coach Pat Pearson liked that his team was within eight points at 16-8 with 4:43 left in the third quarter because it was a far cry from Girard’s 55-7 thumping at the hands of Hubbard in 2015.

“We have a young group and it’s growing up fast, so I’m proud of our guys’ effort,” Pearson said. “We’ve just got to execute better. We’ve had two weeks in a row of great effort, but we’ve just got to get better at executing in practice. But we’re going to work hard and do it. These guys are going to be special when it’s all said and done.”

Sophomore cornerback Terrance Davis played well for the Indians (0-2).

“He’s getting better each week,” Pearson said of the 6-3, 160-pound Davis.

Of quarterback Mark Waid, another sophomore, Pearson said: “He’s our leader and he’s going to take us a long way.”

Waid completed 8 of 33 passes with one interception. His main receivers were Nick Hall (whose TD catch covered 53 yards), as well Kenny Walters (two receptions for 44 yards) and Michael Belcik (three for 22).