Hubbard — In what was a well played scrimmage by both sides, the Italy Junior High Football team (7th & 8th) traveled to Hubbard to take on the Jaguars this past Thursday.

There were hard hits, long runs, pass completions, nice blocks, tenacious tackles and an interception. Everything you would hope to see when watching a football scrimmage occurred during the matchup.

Hubbard’s offense executed several positive plays on offense but Italy’s offense came the closest to scoring thanks to solid blocking at the point of attack and a powerful burst by running back Lance Peck. Leaving a pile of Jaguars in his wake, Peck covered over 50-yards before being caught from behind by Hubbard’s Brandon Simpson inside the Jag’s 20-yard line.

Ryan Connor, who split time with John Escamilla at quarterback, completed a sideline pass to Levi McBride two plays later near the 10 but Italy’s offensive set ended and the drive stalled.

Other mainstay ground gainers for Italy were Cody Boyd, Coby Bland and Tony Wilson.

Defensively, both sides showed they had big hit capabilities. Perhaps none more famous than ‘The Unknown Gladiator’ whom Italy fans recognized as Bland but his jersey number was not listed on the Hubbard announcer’s roster, thus, the unique monicker.

Not to be out done was cornerback Chace McGinnis who was a rookie to football last year but played like seasoned veteran against the Jaguars on Thursday. At one point, Hubbard tried two consecutive runs to the McGinnis side of the field and the speedy 8th grader stuffed both attempts for negative yards.

With a crunching hit on the Jaguar quarterback already to his credit, defensive tackle John Byers had a tackle in the backfield as well. As did Kyle Fortenberry who initially dove for a loose ball and ended up tackling the Jaguars for a loss.

Tyler Vencill registered two quarterback pressures forcing the Hubbard quarterback to exit the passing pocket while Kelton Bales controlled the line of scrimmage throughout the contest. Noticeable defensive hustle plays were displayed by Colton Petrey, Ty Windham and Caden Petrey who recorded a couple of solo tackles. Overall, every Gladiator played and each one showed no hesitation when it came to making a tackle.

When asked how he felt about the Italy Junior High team’s performance after the scrimmage, 8th grader John Byers stated, “Actually, I think we’re pretty good.”

I certainly agree.

Go IJH Gladiators!