HAGERSTOWN, Md. – Michael Stewart certainly had an appetite to play in the 70th edition of the Hub City Gridiron Classic.
“I was hungry,” said North Hagerstown’s featured running back.
Ravenous may have been a better word. Stewart ripped through South Hagerstown’s defense like a sugar-fueled Trick or Treater to rush for 249 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries on Friday as the Hubs overwhelmed the Rebels 49-13 to take the city championship trophy back to Pennsylvania Avenue.
Stewart put up North’s first touchdown on a 4-yard run and added the exclamation mark with a 71-yard burst up the middle in the fourth quarter to put the wrapper on the victory, which was North’s highest scoring output in this rivalry series.
“It was just run … move your feet … lower your shoulder and get what you can get,” Stewart said. “The line … They were parting the Red Sea for me. I’m not going to lie.
“I just wanted another one. I got a 1,000-yard season because of this game, so I’m really happy.”
But Stewart only lit the fuse on the evening as his 4-yard TD was the shortest of the seven scored by North in the game. The rest ranged from 15 to 88 yards with three drives lasting 96 seconds or less. Two others came off big returns that only took seconds.
A lot of the success had to go to North’s defense, which held South to minus-36 yards rushing.
“The group of linebackers and D-line … the whole group, in general, has been unstoppable whenever it comes to the run game,” said North linebacker Liam Kline. “We have been locking up all year and it was no different this game.”
The two teams were locked in a 7-7 game – slogging through a series of missed opportunities – until the Hubs took control in the final 3 ½ minutes of the first half.
North scored twice in a 61-second span for a 21-7 lead at intermission. The Hubs scored 28 of the 34 points in the second half, including the last 21 of the game in the fourth quarter to put the game into a running clock for the last 2:15 of the game by holding a lead of 35 points or more.
“We kind of set the tone in the first half, but as a coach, you are never satisfied,” said North coach Nathan Butts. “We got a little sloppy, but I like how we finished.
“It was just basic hardnosed football and we controlled the fourth quarter. The third quarter, I was a little disappointed and we let them hang around a little too long, but I was happy.”
North got on the scoreboard first on its second possession. The Hubs hooked their wagon to Stewart who carried on the last six snaps on a seven-play drive. Those 50 yards – along with a personal foul call on South – were finished off by a 4-yard run through the middle for the touchdown.
Chase Garver added the first of his seven extra-point kicks for the early 7-0 lead with 3:36 to go in the first quarter.
The Rebels evened the game at 7-7 with a quick strike of their own with 5:43 to go in the half.
After forcing North to turn the ball over on downs at the South 11, the Rebels made up for a four-yard loss on the first play with Lucas Semler finding Percell Clay on a fly pattern down the left side that turned into a 93-yard touchdown.
Israel Andino-Guardado tacked on the kick to tie the game.
North stopped South’s next drive on downs at the Hubs 26. Three Stewart runs for 39 yards and a South personal foul moved the Hubs to the Rebels 20. Two plays later, quarterback Ronnie Savage swept around right end for a 14-7 lead with 1:55 left before half.
North regained possession with 1:16 remaining and needed just two passes from Savage to Carter Croft – the second going for 25 yards – to give the Hubs a 21-7 halftime lead with 54 seconds remaining.
The Hubs used a pair of explosive plays to get control of the game in the second half.
The first came on the second-half kickoff with Donald Rivers breaking through the front line of South’s coverage and sprinting down the right sideline for an 88-yard touchdown, giving the Hubs a 28-7 lead in the first 14 seconds.
South scrapped to stay within contact with a drive off the ensuing kickoff. Quarterback Cole Stockman connected on a 37-yard touchdown off a swing pass to Kaimari Burke to make it 28-13 with 9:17 left in the third quarter.
From there, with North’s defense getting a tighter hold on the Rebels, the Hubs scored three times in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
The first one might have stung the most.
On the second play of the quarter, Stockman flipped a pass into the right flat. Kline jumped the route for an interception and ran 35 yards for a body-blow of a touchdown.
“It was just a surreal feeling,” Kline said. “I kind of blacked out once I had the ball in my hands. I knew where I was going.
“I have to thank (the defense) for the interception. They forced it and I was in the right place at the right time.”
The extra point gave North the 35-13 lead with 11:36 remaining.
“(The kick return) was big except for the 15-yarder at the end (unsportsmanlike conduct penalty),” Butts said. “That’s kind of when the game turned back because that’s when we started making mistakes.
“Liam’s interception kind of got us back and we started setting the tone in the second half.”
The Rebels were forced to punt on the next series. On the first play from the North 29, Stewart again broke the middle of South’s defense for his 71-yard score and the 42-13 lead. It came with 10:39 remaining, just 57 seconds after Kline’s interception.
“He’s unbelievable,” said Butts. “You give him a crease and he can take it to the house at any time.”
North closed out the game by keeping the ball on the ground to run out the clock. The Rebels got a steady diet of hard runs by North’s Mykai Bostic, who ran eight straight plays for the entire 70-yard drive, capped by a 15-yard run over right tackle for the Hubs’ seventh touchdown with 2:15 remaining to complete the 36-point victory.
With the City Championship done for another year, both teams turn to prepare for the first round of the Maryland state playoffs. North (4-5) is looking at hosting a first-round game in Class 3A West, while the Rebels (2-7) will be on the road for a Class 4A-3A opener.
“We talked all year about holding this trophy,” Butts said. “We waited a year for this. Last year’s loss didn’t sit well with us. We wanted to make sure we did things the right way and bring that trophy back home.”
