SMETHPORT — Through everything the Smethport Hubbers have achieved so far this year — an undefeated regular season, the Small School North title — their biggest accomplishment of the 2018 season would be an elusive playoff victory.
On Friday night, they got it.
The Hubbers, for the first time since 1998, won a District 9 Class A playoff game with a convincing 28-0 decision over Union/A-C Valley Falcon Knights at Hubber Stadium.
Despite the final score, Smethport (10-0) had its work cut out for itself most of the evening. The Hubbers fumbled on their first two possessions of the game and struggled to get going offensively until the second half.
But the Hubber defense was up to the task yet again, preventing the Golden Knights from capitalizing on the turnovers, and playing their brand of football that ultimately carried them to another victory.
“Defensively, we just did our jobs,” Smethport coach Adam Jack said. “Everybody was where they were supposed to be. But the guys were where they were supposed to be, and they did their jobs which they have been doing all year. I know it sounds kind of boring, but that’s how we’ve been doing it.”
Blake Kinner put the Hubbers on the board with less than eight minutes remaining in the second quarter, but Smethport went into halftime with just a 7-0 lead over the eighth-seeded Falcon Knights.
But that all changed following the 15-minute intermission.
The Hubbers opened up the Falcon Knights (4-7) with a few passing plays, and it allowed the one-two punch of Kinner and Nathan Hollowell to take full advantage out of the backfield.
Smethport’s first score of the second half came on a 22-yard passing play from Grant Ognen to Hollowell, setting the tone for a dominant final 24 minutes.
“Well, we’ve been a second half team all year,” Jack said. “Once we spread them out a little bit, and again started throwing the ball, that kind of opened up some things for us. Grant made an excellent throw there and Nate made an unbelievable catch for that touchdown.”
Kinner had himself a monster second half, breaking off runs of 49 and 54 yards to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark on the season.
His six-yard touchdown run less than two minutes after Ognen’s passing score put the game on ice.
“Blake is a gamer,” Jack said. “It seems like it takes us awhile for us to get him going sometimes, but once he puts his foot in the ground and makes a cut, things start happening for us.”
“Nate ran really hard there in the second half as well,” he added. “But Blake is a special talent and I’m just really proud of the line too. They opened up some big holes for him in the second half.”
But the Hubbers’ calling card, its stout defense, was the reason they will be advancing to the District 9 Class A semifinal.
Union quarterback Luke Bowser completed just seven of his 25 passes and threw two interceptions on the night — both of which were snarled by Smethport’s Alex Sanderson.
Dale Burdick led the push up front for Smethport, registering seven tackles, a sack and two tackles for a loss.
After two-week layoff, Jack admitted he was slightly concerned with how his team would respond, but the time off certainly didn’t phase the defense.
“I was a little worried about how the kids would respond after being off for two weeks, but everytime that I’m concerned about us overcoming a new challenge, these kids seem to rise to the occasion to make it happen for us,” he said.
Union could only manage 127 yards in the game, including just 55 yards and three first downs in the second half.
“I feel like a broken record, but again our defense played great all night as they have all year.”
Friday’s win was just another triumph on what has been a turnaround season for the Hubber program.
After six District titles in the 1990s, the Hubbers lost each of their last five postseason games, the most recent coming in 2013.
But Jack is happy that his current group of kids have put that in the past and can now add their names to the storied Hubber record books.
“Man, it’s unbelievable,” he said. “I’m so happy for these kids to be able to put their names in the school record books with that ‘W’. I’m so happy for them — all the coaches were — that they were able to walk off this field tonight with the first playoff win in 20 years.”
For as talented as this Smethport team is, they’ll have a good chance to add even more to those record books as the playoffs roll on.
The Hubbers will face fifth-seeded Curwensville (7-4) next weekend at a time and location to be announced. Smethport got past the Golden Tide 20-7 earlier this season, but Jack knows that his team will be in for another stiff challenge with so much at stake.
“Curwensville has been getting better week-by-week,” he said. “They are improving, they are tough, and I have a ton of respect for their coach Andy Evanko and what he’s done with that program over the years. They play outstanding defense and they run the ball really hard. We will have to be on our ‘A’ game next week for sure.”
AT SMETHPORT
BY QUARTERS
Union/A-C Valley 0 0 0 0—0
Smethport 0 7 14 7—28
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs: U-AC: 6, Smeth: 14; Rushes/Yards Rushing: U-AC: 22-60, Smeth: 44-305; Yards Passing: U-AC: 76, Smeth 43; Comp-Att-Int: U-AC: 7-25-2, Smeth: 2-6-0; Penalties: U-AC: 5-41, Smeth: 4-33; Fumbles-Lost: U-AC: 1-0, Smeth: 2-2; Total Yards: U-AC: 127, Smeth: 348 Offensive Plays: U-AC: 49, Smeth: 53
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Passing: U-AC: Luke Bowser 7-25-76-0-2 ; Smeth: Grant Ognen 2-6-43-1-0
Rushing: U-AC: Jonathan Powell 6-6, Noah Cumberland 7-16, Caden Rainey 4-29, Eli Penny 2 (-9), Bowser 3-18 Smeth: Blake Kinner 16-172-2, Nate Hollowell 21-100-1, Braedon Johnson 4-28, Noah Lent 3-5
Receiving: U-AC: Tanner Merwin 5-61, Penny 1-8, Cumberland 1-7 ; Smeth: Alex Sanderson 1-21, Hollowell 1-22-1
Scoring summary
First quarter
No scoring
Second quarter
S: Blake Kinner, 4-yard run (Noah Costa PAT good), 7:25
Third quarter
S: Nate Hollowell, 22-yard pass from Grant Ognen (Hollowell 2-pt run), 8:30
S: Kinner, 6-yard run (Costa PAT no good), 6:29
Fourth quarter
S: Hollowell, 4-yard run (Costa PAT good), 5:57
