Dominique Hubert is known to most Blue Devils fan as being an outstanding senior linebacker, but in true Atmore fashion, Hubert tries to value work in his community as much as football.

“Right after school, I have to do my homework and things like that, but working at home, doing my chores and different things like that,”

Hubert said, of things he does in his free time. “I help around the community at different little things that we might be having. At my church, we will have different events and I go and help there and do different things like that.”

His mother has instilled a positive work ethic in Hubert, but his older brother has been a big influence, too. His brother was the person who sparked his interest in football when he was younger.

“I first started playing football when I was about seven,” Hubert said. “What really got me into it was my brother, my big brother. When I was little, coming to watch his games, I could just picture myself being out there and that really is what made me want to play. As soon as I got to an age where I could play, I made sure I let my mom know I wanted to play. So, I first started on offense, and then offense and defense, and now just on defense.”

Hubert said his mom sees similarities between the two brothers.

“My mom always said that things that I do, I remind her of him and the things he does,” Hubert said. “I used to always want to be around him. I always looked up to him because he was just my big brother. You always want to be like your big brother, and I think I definitely took some characteristics from him by hanging around him and being around him so much.”

Besides being a great student in the classroom, Hubert is always a student of the game of football. He said being good defensively requires a certain amount of athletic instinct and a whole lot of learning, with one of the biggest keys being patience.

It’s like instinct really,” he said. “You kind of get a hang of it where it takes a lot of time. You dedicate study watching film, always be on time to practice, listen to your keys that the coaches give to you and once Friday night comes, you’ve just got to put it on the field.”

With Hubert being one of the top players on defense and a senior, Escambia County head coach Lev Holly has expected him to step up as a leader and Hubert hasn’t disappointed.

“As far as me being a mentor to some of the younger players, it’s been real big,” Hubert said. “The players, they definitely look up to the older guys. The things that we do, you can definitely see that they’re following us or if we don’t do something right, we’ll see that they’re falling off a little bit. The big thing for us is to always be on top of our game or on top of our stuff at practice because it starts with the seniors. If we’re slacking, everyone else will be slacking.”

Hubert is reserved in nature, making him an unlikely candidate to be the leader on defense. But he said once he steps on to the football field, he becomes something totally different than what he is off the field.

“Everyone thinks I’m kind of a quiet guy, so they wouldn’t really expect from me to be a leader, but once the game gets going and the adrenaline gets to flowing it’s like a whole other side of me comes out,” he said. “I’m way more vocal and that’s the time that people look forward to me to give them some momentum in key parts of the game.”