Bev Facey Falcons' running back spent football season crushing records, and he's only in Grade 11
By the time Bev Facey Falcons running back Chuba Hubbard finishes his high school football career, he will have re-written the Edmonton Metro League’s football record books.
“He crushed our single-season rushing record by mid-season and the big joke was whether or not he’s going to break our school’s career all-time rushing record before he’s done Grade 11, and he’s just 158 yards away,” Falcons head coach Curtis Martin said.
“He’s only eight touchdowns away from our school’s career touchdown record. He’s done all of this in basically one season. It’s ridiculous.”
On Saturday, Sherwood Park’s Falcons play Calgary’s Notre Dame Pride at Foote Field in an Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association’s semifinal. Kickoff is 2:30 p.m.
Football Alberta technical director Tim Enger has watched high school football from the stands for 26 years, and was a receiver for Harry Ainlay High School in the early 1980s.
“He’s definitely the best that I’ve seen,” Enger said.
“He comes from one of the best football programs in this province. Bev Facey has had some incredible running backs come through their system and he’s the most dominant. The Edmonton Metro League has some of the best football teams in this province period, and they simply can’t stop him.”
Hubbard rushed for 2,243 yards and scored 27 touchdowns in only eight games. He’s averaging over 20 yards per carry and 280 yards per game, and, he’s still got another year left.
He finished the season with 1,563 more rushing yards and 12 more touchdowns than the next leading rusher and scorer in the top tier Carr Division, which includes Edmonton-area schools with student populations of 1,250 or more.
The crazy thing is there’s another sport that Hubbard may be even better at. He is a world class track athlete. He represented Canada at the 2015 IAAF world youth championships in Cali, Colombia, this summer, where he finished in fourth place in the 100 M final. He is expected to take part in the 2016 world junior track and field championships in Kazan, Russia.
His best time in the 100-metre event is 10.55 seconds. To put that into perspective Canada’s top sprinter Andre De Grasse’s personal best is 9.92 seconds.
“I love football and track so much, and both have helped me become the athlete I am,” Hubbard said. “I get my aggression, push and drive from football and I get my speed in football from track.
“I feel like I’ve been gaining more and more out of football. but I don’t think I’m at my full potential yet. I’ve got lots to learn.”
Having a world class sprinter in the backfield means the Falcons are receiving plenty of attention from college football scouts across North America. Every major university sports program in Canada has inquired, and 19 Division I schools in the U.S. have come calling. Schools can’t officially start recruiting Hubbard until next year.
Hubbard is being mentioned as possibly the best football prospect to come out of Western Canada since running back Rueben Mayes left North Battleford, Sask., and went on to spend seven seasons in the National Football League.
“It’s something I’ve definitely thought about a million times. I want to be able to pursue both (football and track) at the next level,” said Hubbard, who plans to take either business or law in university.
“The school has to be the right fit for me both academically and athletically, and I’m just starting to wrap my head around it.”
Despite all the accolades and record-setting performances, Hubbard is humble. Deep down he’s just a kid having fun with his friends.
“You watch him in warm-up and he’s dancing around doing his thing having fun, but once those lights come on, it’s go time for him and he’ll carry the ball three times and get 150 yards,” Martin said.
“That’s who Chuba is. He’s a free spirit and the more he embraces it the better he gets. Hands down he’s the best player I’ve ever coached.
“At some point he’s going to have to make a decision between track and football and I don’t think he wants to choose and when people try to force him to make a decision, I think it pushes him to want to do both even more.”
