Isaac Hubert found himself bloodied and exhausted after the first round of his heavyweight bout during Friday night’s Wing Open.

A glimpse of his football teammates turned the tide.

“I knew I was losing,” said the outside linebacker who, for one night, turned into a boxer and beat senior Thomas Kensinger with a referee-stopped victory in the third round at a sold out Clune Arena. “I was super tired. But my corner was facing the football team and I saw them going berserk and bringing the energy, and that refueled me and allowed me to keep going.”

Hubert wasn’t a total novice in the ring. He was exposed to it in boxing class at the academy and his father, Rob Hubert, was on Navy’s boxing team for four years. Last year he entered the competition but lost to Kensinger in the semifinals, missing out on the Wing Open.

He hadn’t intended to try it this year after a breakout junior football season for Air Force in which he made 22 tackles with five sacks. But the heavyweight bracket was short on numbers, so he volunteered.

Hubert prepared by sparring recent Falcon football players Jackson Adams and Chances Carter-Hill and then stepped in the ring in front of an announced crowd of 5,508 spectators.

Then he won in a back-and-forth thriller, following a strategy of body shots early in order to eventually get Kensinger to drop his hands. That played out to perfection, allowing Hubert to land blows in the final round that put Kensinger on the canvas and led to the stoppage.

“It was sheer will,” football coach Troy Calhoun said Saturday morning after a spring practice session in which Hubert – sporting a black left eye – participated. “Those guys who are in the Wing Open, they are skilled. They are highly talented and they have a different kind of stamina. For him to be involved in football practice and the whole bit, it’s a different type of endurance.”

It is rare, but not unheard of, for football players to participate in the Wing Open. Calhoun couldn’t think of any examples off the top of his head, but he didn’t hesitate to give his blessing to Hubert.

“I’m aware of the risk factors that are involved there for sure,” Calhoun said. “But yet when a guy feels strongly about it I’m going to support him.”

The football team was overwhelming in its support, not just in providing a jolt of energy to Hubert during the fight, but also in a postgame locker room celebration that mimicked those that follow football victories, complete with tossed water and the familiar celebratory song.

“It was awesome. It was honestly probably the coolest sporting event I’ve ever been to,” offensive lineman Luke Vonderhaar said. “The (football team) basically filled up two sections at Clune Arena. … Electric atmosphere. Super cool.”