Central senior athlete DeHart Hubbard admits that his favorite song is “Run This Town,” by Lil Wayne on the No Ceilings album. The song as well as the album are fitting for Hubbard, who figuratively has no ceilings as far as potential on the football field.
Hubbard, who is No. 12 on the Times Free Press Dynamite Dozen preseason all-star team, comes into the season as possibly the area’s best athlete, a 6-foot-2, 205-pounder that played as many as six positions for the Pounders in 2009.
He will start out at running back for Central this year, but will be expected to play wingback, quarterback and receiver at times on offense, while spending time in the defensive backfield as well. He played a lot of quarterback and made strides in former coach David Barger’s veer offense, but feels much more comfortable at receiver – where he’s projected to play at the collegiate level.
“I trust my hands more than anything,” Hubbard said. “They don’t let me down as much. Quarterback was very challenging; the ball is in your hands every play and you control the game.”
The senior is very high on new coach Sam Montgomery, whom Hubbard feels has come in and instilled a new discipline on the Pounders.
“He’s a good coach, with good plays and he’s very smart,” Hubbard said. “We’re more disciplined now. We were in a scrimmage last week and there was nearly a fight on the field because we were dominating the other team, but we did nothing back to them.
“He’s brought in a hard-work ethic and made us more disciplined.”
Said Montgomery: “DeHart is the type of player that can change the game in a minute when he’s on the field. We’re going to put the game on his shoulders when we need a first down or a game-changing play. He’s such an unselfish player and will do anything and everything we ask him to do.”
The collegiate level is definitely an option for Hubbard, but there’s going to be a lot of hard work ahead in the classroom for him to be able to make it there. The University of Tennessee, Auburn, Notre Dame, Illinois and Middle Tennessee State are amongst those vying for his services, and he knows he’s going to have to do some work to get there.
“They’re telling me the main thing is to get my ACT score up,” he said. “I’ve been taking some prep classes and feel there is a strong chance I can make it, but I’m going to have to work hard and put my mind to it.”