Team Prospect Report: Jordan Hubmen

Using the fact that only two panelists in northstarfootballnews.com's playoff pick ‘em contest selected the Jordan Hubmen to win Saturday night as motivation (not kidding, two of the three guys I talked to post-game mentioned it) the underdog Hubmen avenged an early season loss to Fairmont to advance to the 2A semi-finals. While many players played great for the Section 2AAA champions, two of the Hubmen stood out. Running back Tariq Butler started the game with a run up the middle. He showed power and good feet running behind Cody Fossen and Tyler Buesgens. He demonstrated the patience to let his linemen set up their blocks allowing him to pick up eight yards. His combination of quickness and power was on display with a run up the middle. He had to make a guy miss at the line of scrimmage but then at the second level lowered his shoulder to run through a pair of tacklers for two additional yards. Behind Calvin Menke, Thomas Gutzmer and Fossen he started a run up the middle and bounced it outside for a first down. "Tariq wears it on his sleeve," Jordan head coach Bo Wasurick said. "You can see he plays with passion and runs the ball as hard as anybody." Late in the game with the Hubmen clinging to a lead, the senior caught a screen near the sidelines but was immediately bottled up behind the line of scrimmage. Likely the best single play I have seen all year - somehow Butler spun out of a group of defenders, came all the way across the field to pick up 20 yards. Butler can throw too. They ran a halfback option pass that he didn't complete, but it was thrown well enough to force a pass interference call. Like most Hubmen players, Smith plays both ways and is a big hitter from the safety spot. Most impressive was his open field tackle on a pass into the flat. When Smith wasn't running the ball, quarterback Jonathan Draheim was throwing it. He was especially effective when the chips were down – on third and fourth down. On fourth and one his quarterback sneak behind center Gutzmer kept their first scoring drive alive. On 4th down and ten, a diving catch by Noah Schmitt on a crossing route for 15 yards kept the drive alive. Draheim put the ball where it had to be because of the coverage. Running out of shotgun most of the time Draheim threw a bullet to Marlon Wiley who beat single coverage for an 18-yard touchdown. The Hubmen's second touchdown also came via the pass. On 3rd and 8, Draheim hit Adam Kreuser in stride resulting in a 40-yard touchdown. "He can throw any ball you need to throw," Wasurick said. "He is the leader of the offense and does a phenomenal job." Continuing to come through in the clutch, on 3rd and nine from their two-yard line Draheim connected with Ryan Friedges on a crossing route for a first down. Later in the drive, the Hubmen faced a 3rd and 11. Draheim calmly connected with Friedges on a crossing route for 12 yards and a first down. Later Draheim found Wiley again, this time on a skinny post for 15 yards. Wiley also threw a solid block on a screen pass and then Draheim called his number. Wiley caught a ball in the flat, made a move near the line of scrimmage and instead of a short gain turned it into a twenty-yard completion. The offensive line gave Draheim time to throw all day. "Our line stepped up, and I had great protection all night," Draheim said. "They were allowing me to get the ball off." Kreuser caught a slant, made a guy miss in the open field and scored a 17-yard touchdown. Defensively he undercut a route and knocked down a pass. Wasurick gave a lot of credit to improved defensive play for the reason the Hubmen could turn an early season 41-26 lost to Fairmont into a 20-13 victory ten games later. Defensive tackle Menke forced the quarterback out of the pocket allowing defensive tackle Buesgens to get a sack. Buesgens showed great pursuit down the line of scrimmage later in the contest. Buesgens also read a screen and forced a bad throw. Linebacker Jon Huss came across in coverage to knock a pass down. Then he read a double pass and came up with an interception. Offensively, coming out of the backfield he caught a pass in the flat and broke a tackle for a first down. Huss is a power runner but showed he could make people miss on an inside run. Marcus Houdek and Buesgens stopped a run up the middle, Houdek later showed excellent pursuit on a throw to the flat. The defense never stood taller than during a critical sequence late in the first half. With the Hubmen up 14-0 Fairmont worked the ball all the way down to the one-yard line. On 1st and goal at the one, Menke stopped a quarterback sneak on the goal line. That led to Buesgens and Huss making a tackle for loss on a run to the outside. To complete the goal line stand Schmitt came up with a one-handed interception in the end zone. Jordan will likely be the underdog again in the semi-finals when they face undefeated Pierz.