Girard tops Hubbard 30-20 in second matchup
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GIRARD -- It's been a game of musical chairs at the quarterback position for the Girard Indians (8-3) this season.
Girard began the year 5-0 before a shoulder injury sidelined starting quarterback Nic Bengala for the remainder of the season.
Star receiver Stephen Sims stepped in at quarterback, and after a bit of a bumpy start, he helped the Indians get back on the right track.
Then, Sims hurt his ankle against Struthers in Week 9 and the Indians turned to Dominick Tollone to lead the offense.
Now, the playoffs have begun and Sims is back behind center. Tollone played as well when Girard hosted Hubbard on Friday.
With a big-time offensive weapon back on the field, the Indians advanced with a 30-20 victory.
"It's just incredible," Girard coach Pat Pearson said. "It's Week 11. It's a playoff atmosphere. Every time two programs like Girard, and Hubbard get together, it's a slug fest.
"I'm proud of our kids. I'm proud of our seniors. That's a team win. Our goal was to try to get to one more Monday.
"We're going to enjoy it tonight. We're going to get back to work tomorrow, and we're going to enjoy being together as a family again this week."
Hubbard took the early lead on a touchdown by senior Ben Wilcox. However, the Indians quickly answered when Tollone connected with Anthony Bengala for a 72-yard score. It was tied 7-7 at the end of the first quarter.
Girard forced a punt, and Bengala blocked it. The Indians recovered on Hubbard's 11 yard line, but they settled for a 31-yard field goal by Zack Morris and a 10-7 lead.
Senior linebacker Jake Dohy stopped the Eagles offense with a huge tackle behind the line.
Girard got the ball, but Kadin Smaldino intercepted a pass and the score remained 10-7 at halftime.
The Eagles received the second half kickoff and took a 14-10 lead with a long touchdown pass from Nikolas Hendrix to Lavonte Daniels.
Sims gave the lead right back to the Indians after a 62-yard touchdown run. The extra point was blocked and Girard led 16-14.
The Indians added a 24-yard strike, and were up 23-14 heading to the fourth quarter.
After a Hubbard punt, Sims found the end zone again. This time he scampered down the sideline 41 yards to pay dirt to make it 30-14.
"It was a lot of work to come back from my ankle injury, and get it fully healed," Sims said. "Now, I'm good. I'm ready to keep the playoff run going next week. We all stepped up tonight. We want to do whatever it takes to keep our seniors playing."
The season came to an end for Hubbard after seniors Hendrix and Smaldino hooked up for a 27-yard touchdown.
"I'm obviously disappointed that we didn't get the win tonight," Hubbard coach Brian Hoffman said. " But, I'm proud of our guys. I'm proud of our seniors. They played really hard for four quarters. The effort was there. We just didn't make enough plays to get it done."