By Adam Hurwitz
Sports Reporter
The Newton South football program suffered two major losses on Saturday. On top of falling 49-23 to Lexington in the devastating season opener, senior captain Sasha Hoban left with an injury.
“I got tackled out of bounds and my foot got twisted underneath the defender’s body,” Hoban said.
Luckily, the injury is just a sprained ankle, but the Lions may be without their superstar quarterback, tight end combo for up to two weeks. If he heals quickly in the next few days, Hoban is leaving the door open to returning to action this weekend against Brookline, but the team will most likely have to play their next game without a crucial offensive weapon.
Hoban currently has division one offers to play football in college at Brown University, Columbia University, Boston College, Fordham University, Princeton University, Dartmouth College, and Yale University. He was also a member of the Boston Globe 2016 Preseason MIAA All-State Team.
Hoban’s injury isn’t only negatively impact the team in the game, but in the week of preparation leading up to Saturday.
“Losing him is a big deal. He’s one of the best players in the state, but we’ve really adopted the next guy up mentality, so confidence is still where it should be. From a leadership standpoint, losing a captain participating in practice is always tough, but he will still be around to help the older guys teach the younger guys,” Co-captain Dylan Meehan said.
If Hoban is not back for next week’s matchup against the Warriors, the Lions will be led by junior Luc Cloud under center. Cloud had an impressive debut against Lexington, throwing for two touchdowns.
“He [Cloud] played pretty good, he changed the flow of our offense which helped us put some points on the board,” junior running back Charles Holley-Jones said of the junior quarterback.
The Lions are hoping it will be a quick return to the field for Hoban, but his absence will have many repercussions on the team until his sprained ankle is healed.
