Herrick denied 100th career win as Hubbard edges Greenville, 8-3

Dan Hiner, The Herald, Sharon, Pa.
·4 min read

Aug. 27—GREENVILLE — The Trojans were in perfect position. They drove down the field with the clock ticking and the ball inside the Hubbard 5-yard line.

But as the clock closed in on the final seconds, Greenville fumbled the snap at the Eagles' 1-yard line. Lavonte Davis grabbed the ball just outside of the end zone as time ran out.

Hubbard outlasted the Trojans 8-3 on Friday night.

"Mistakes. Just little mistakes," Greenville head coach Brian Herrick said. "I'm not blaming ... it's hard to play an Ohio team right off the bat. They have two scrimmages and a game. Little things killed us on offense."

In a battle of Wing-T offenses, the Trojans (0-1) didn't produce much offensively in the first half. But they moved the ball effectively in the second half, amassing 179 total yards.

They drove down the field on the opening possession of the third quarter, which was set up by a 58-yard catch and run from Nick Solderich to Braydon Porter.

The reception by Porter put the Trojans at the Hubbard 9-yard line. But the drive stalled at the 2, so Rasce Stefanowicz got the Trojans on the board with a 19-yard field goal.

After a punt and turnover on downs, Greenville returned to the red zone in its final drive that ended in the fumble.

"They're bigger and stronger, and down inside the red zone, they just stoned us," Herrick said. "Credit to them."

Hubbard (2-0) got on the board with its first drive. The Eagles went down the field and capped an 11-play drive with a 4-yard rollout by quarterback Nikolas Hendrix. Following an offside penalty by Greenville, the Eagles cashed in on a two-point conversion with a run by Ben Wilcox.

It became difficult for the Eagles to move the ball from that point on, however.

"We were getting to the outside better, starting to fill holes better," running back and defensive end Malachi Hyde said. "We were also holding our gaps and making tackles by shedding (blocks)."

Solderich was 5-for-11 passing for 79 yards for the Trojans. Porter caught two passes for a game-high 57 yards. Jase Herrick had two catches for 15 yards, and Hyde had one catch for 7 yards.

Hyde led the Trojans in rushing, finishing with 53 yards on 13 carries. Mason Dickens had 44 yards rushing on 11 attempts an Aden Sasala ran for 29 yards on 29 carries.

Hendrix led the Eagles passing attack, finishing 3-for-4 with 38 yards. He gave way to freshman Braydon Songer, who was 0-for-3 passing, in the second half.

Wilcox finished with a game-high 120 yard rushing on 20 attempts for Hubbard. Teammates Xzander Owens and Garland Warren finished with 28 and 25 yards rushing respectively.

Kadin Smaldino caught a pair of passes from Hendrix for 24 yards, and Yianni Hazimihalis had one catch for 14.

Brian Herrick will need to wait another week to get his 100th head coaching victory. He entered the game with a 99-69 record.

His Trojans team will travel to Wilmington next week. The Greyhounds open their season today at Sharpsville.

"We moved the ball, and we clearly have the defense that it takes," Hyde said. "Right after that first drive, we kept it together on defense and stopping them. We just need to get better at moving the ball and executing."

HALL OF FAMERS HONORED

Before the game, Greenville honored its 2022 Hall of Fame class. The group was recognized just before kickoff and again at halftime.

The honorees were: Andy Blatt, football; Laura (Beatty) Bullock, basketball, track and field and volleyball; Dennis Fell, cross country and track; Glen "Larry" Cooper, cross country and wrestling; Steve Riley, wrestling, football and track; Kenneth A. Scott, football, basketball and track; Colleen (Currie) Taylor, volleyball, basketball and track; Gary Taylor, football, wrestling and track; Norman Walker, wrestling and football; Doug Weaver, wrestling, football and track.

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HUBBARD 8 0 0 0 8

GREENVILLE 0 0 3 0 3

Scoring plays

H — Hendrix, 4 run (Wilcox run).

G — B. Stefanowicz, 19 field goal.

Team stats

HUBBARD GREENVILLE

11 First downs 10

180 Rushing yards 127

38 Passing yards 79

218 Total yards 206

7-3-0 Comp-Att-Ints 11-5-0

1-0 Fumbles-lost 2-1

11-75 Penalties-yards 5-22

Individual stats

Rushing: HUBBARD — Wilcox 20-120, Owens 6-28, Warren 7-25, Hendrix 4-8, Hazimihalis 1-6, Songer 1-4, Kali 1-1, Team 1(-12); GREENVILLE — Hyde 13-53, Dickens 11-44, Sasala 7-29, Herrick 2-5, Solderich 3-(-4).

Passing: HUBBARD — Hendrix 3-4-0 38, Songer 0-3-0 0; GREENVILLE — Solderich 5-11-0 79.

Receiving: HUBBARD — Smaldino 2-24, Hazimihalis 1-14; GREENVILLE ---Porter 2-57, Herrick 2-15, Hyde 1-7.