If it were a Friday night in Hubbard, Ohio, between 2011 and 2014, and you were a high school teen or parent free at 7 pm, you would have been at a Hubbard football game watching L.J. Scott do his thing, terrorizing opposing defenses.  Scott has moved on to a professional football career, but he captivated the small town of Hubbard for more than one season.  The same could be said of this HHS football season as the Eagle offense has been scoring relentlessly and the defense has been consistently stopping other teams. The 2018 season has been nothing short of hugely successful for the HHS football team. Coming off a 5 and 5 season and a rare miss of the playoffs, Coach Hoffman and his experienced seniors quickly flipped the script and notched a 9-1 record during the 2018 regular season. With a win over Indian Creek and Steubenville in rounds one and two respectively, the next test for the football team is against Girard in the regional final, Saturday November 17th. With two games down and three more to go, the football players have their eyes set on the state title.

The HHS impressive 9 and 1 regular season record has drawn a lot of attention around the area. In the same season that Coach Hoffman notched his 100th career win here at Hubbard, the Eagles high octane offense has scored a whopping 439 points while the defense has allowed a minimal 97 points. Not including the first two playoff games, the offense produced a staggering 44 points per game while only allowing 10 points against, which included a stretch of four straight shutouts.

When asked about his expectations going into round one of the playoffs, Junior Safety Cam Resatar said he’d like to “Put up 50 and keep them under 2 touchdowns…I know we can beat them.” Cam’s expectations were nearly met perfectly as the team easily won 51-21. After a 30 point blow out in the class of 2019’s last ever home game (a home playoff game), it was on to round 2 against the reigning state champions, the “Big Red”.  Cam was also asked about his expectations going into round two, to which he replied: “It’s going to be cold, but we’re going to be ready to play and advance on to the regional final.”

The boys delivered and did just that, upsetting the number two seed Steubenville Big Red and advancing to the team’s first regional final since 2014.

Co AAC white tier players of the year, Davion Daniels and Lukas Mosora, have been leading the team as captains since this past summer. When asked about the mindset he has to have going into a rematch against Girard in the regional final, Daniels said: “The past doesn’t matter. We are both better teams,  and we have to treat them like we’ve never played them before. Our mindset is that we respect them just like any other competition but at the same time we will fear none!” The senior quarterback followed that up by simply stating: “We have to make history…” Daniels also answered a follow up question regarding his position as a team captain. When asked what he’s going to tell the team in preparation for Saturday’s game, he kept it simple: “Nothing in the past matters; we have to dominate at all times.”

With the offense quarterbacked by Daniels and the defense directed by Mosora, the entire team looks to make history chasing the highly sought after regional championship at Bo Rein Stadium in Niles. To the entire team and coaching staff, good luck!

(David Dermer/ the Vindicator)