Morgan Park made sure Hubbard’s homecoming at Gately Stadium on Thursday had a negative aspect to it.
In a matchup of the two best teams in the Public League, the 19th-ranked Mustangs collected nine sacks and put the Greyhounds’ running game in reverse for a 27-7 victory.
On the ground, Hubbard had 31 carries for minus-31 yards.
“We had blitzing from the safeties, the linebackers — we just tried to come hard,” said linebacker Earnest Leonard, who had two of the sacks and finished with seven tackles.
The victory gave Morgan Park (6-1, 4-0) control of the Illini Prairie State conference race. Hubbard fell to 5-2, 3-1.
Hubbard’s best offensive weapon turned out to be Triviyon Seay. His 95-yard interception return with 4 minutes 55 seconds left in the first quarter gave the Greyhounds a 7-0 lead.
That held up until a 20-yard touchdown pass from Morgan Park quarterback Victor Scott to Desmond Powell tied the game 7-7 with 7:12 left in the first half.
That same combination struck minutes later in unusual fashion. Scott threw a lateral to Powell, who dropped the ball but picked it up and ran 48 yards for a 14-7 lead with 3:35 left in the half.
“It looked like they gave up because they thought it was a forward pass,” said Powell, who had an explanation for his mishandling of the ball.
“It was supposed to be a running play, but the quarterback saw something, switched it and I’m like, ‘Man, the ball is coming my way.'”
Morgan Park’s other scores came in the third quarter on a 16-yard run by Dominique Bell and a 55-yard fumble return by Antwain Windhom.
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asutton@tribune.com
