Blue Lions hold on to defeat Hillsboro
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
WASHINGTON C.H. — Big plays by the Washington Blue Lions, along with a few breaks of the game that didn’t go the direction of the Hillsboro Indians, made for one exciting and electrifying final few minutes at Gardner Park on Friday night.
In each team’s South Central Ohio League opener, the Indians could have easily allowed themselves to go with the flow of the first half as they trailed at halftime by a 28-13 score.
They didn’t, and they made the undefeated Blue Lions sweat a lot in the second half, with the visiting Indians playing with a lot more intensity and drive in the final two quarters. Their physicality and athletes with the run game, mixed with big passing plays of their own, made it a whole new game in the second half.
Hillsboro did all they could, even scoring a touchdown in the final minute of the game to get to within a two-point conversion of tying the Blue Lions. Unable to convert the two-point conversion and running out of time on the Washington possession left the Indians with a 35-33 loss in Week 4 of the ’16 season.
The loss moves HHS to 0-1 in the SCOL and 1-3 overall, while Washington moves to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the SCOL.
The Indians totaled 470 yards of offense, compared to Washington’s 386, with HHS quarterback Hunter Chain passing for 213 yards (10-of-14) with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Washington had a total of 253 yards passing, with three touchdowns and one interception.
“We tell them to play every game like it’s your last play, and don’t leave anything out on the field, and they did it (Friday),” HHS head coach Jack O’Rourke said. “We made a few adjustments, but more than anything, we got our kids settled down. We’re a young group of kids, with a lot of inexperience out there. We’ve got a lot of sophomores playing out there.
“We were over pursuing in the first quarter, and we started settling down in the second quarter and then continued with that. What we talked about basically at halftime was just to work on what we practiced all week, and that was trying to box those receivers in on those quick screens and limit the gains. Once we did that and kind of set down the kickoff returns, they still got good field position, but our defense played a heck of a ball game. Our offense rallied for us, and a lot of kids stepped up on the offense.”
Defensively, Gary Vincent led HHS with seven tackles, while Smith and Devon Gallimore each had 6.5.
Hillsboro trailed by as many as 22 points (a 35-13 score) with 8:15 left in the third quarter following Washington’s fifth touchdown of the game, as the Blue Lions went 52 yards on the drive with the Blue Lions’ Jacob Rice racing 15 yards on a second down play. Rice totaled 18 carries for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
Following that touchdown, the Indians began their drive to make the game as close as possible. A solid kickoff return by Josh Keets gave the Indians the ball on their own 42-yard line with 8:08 left on the third-quarter clock. Nine plays and 58 yards later on a drive that included 20- and 16-yard gains by Brian Smith, Devon Gallimore scored a touchdown on a third-and-2 play for four yards through the middle of the Blue Lions defense with 3:55 left in the quarter. Devon Gallimore led HHS with 19 carries for 89 yards. He also had four receptions for 58 yards.
The Indians failed to convert a two-point conversion, leaving the score at 35-19.
During the fourth quarter, Hillsboro’s defense began to shine as they stopped the Blue Lions on a fourth-and-5 play from the Indians’ 26-yard line when Laith Maxwell made a tackle for loss with help from pressure by Vincent. Maxwell finished with two sacks.
It only took the Indians one play to reach pay dirt. On a first-and-10 from the 28-yard line, Hunter Chain found Sajoun Jones near the Hillsboro side line, who then took the ball and cut across the field, with the Blue Lions defense pursuing him but to no avail. Jones went 72 yards with a monster play with 10:06 left in regulation to get the Indians closer to the Washington lead. HHS then converted the two-point conversion for a 35-27 score.
Jones led the Indians with 96 yards receiving on two receptions.
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The Hillsboro defense wasn’t finished yet, either. With the ball on their own 47-yard line, the Blue Lions gained a first down, but four plays after that, it was Hillsboro’s Smith who came up with a strong play on fourth down to get the Indians possession of the ball with 8:58 on the clock. That defensive stop also included a big third down stop by Deegan Boris and Max Conover, who forced the aforementioned fourth down play with a timely stop.
After turning over the ball on a fumble, seven plays into the Washington drive the Indians got it back, with Chain intercepting the pass from around the HHS 20-yard line and racing back to the 47-yard line with 4:20 left in the game.
Like they did in the first half, the Indians built a slow and steady drive where they took chunks of yardage with each play. The first play of the drive was a six-yard run by Keets, followed by Keets catching a pass from Chain for 15 yards. On their own 26-yard line, Luke Gallimore dashed for six yards, and that was followed by Smith racing for a third yard gain for a third-and-1 play. Luke Gallimore finished with 83 yards rushing on 13 carries with two touchdowns.
That third down play was converted into a first down with Keets bashing his way for two yards to the Washington 15-yard line. The Indians lost six yards on a run, but on second down, a pass to Smith as he got ahead of the Blue Lion defense saw him catch the pass and race 21 yards to the end zone with 58.1 seconds left in the game.
On their two-point conversion try, the Indians went one direction, turned around and threw a screen pass in the opposite direction, but Washington was waiting for that pass, stopping the Indians from tying the game, leaving the score at 35-33.
The Indians tried to regain possession of the ball but were unable to get the seconds on the clock and timeout to go their way, as they lost the SCOL opener.
As for the first half of the game, the Indians trailed 14-0 with just over five minutes left in the first quarter as Washington had touchdowns from wide receiver and backup quarterback Dillon Steward on an 8-yard run and Kory Proby on a 56-yard run with 5:05 on the first-quarter clock.
Hillsboro scored their first points of the game with 16.9 seconds left in the first quarter when Luke Gallimore used his speed to catch a pitch from Chain and race around the edge to the end zone for six points. The PAT by Britton Haines made it a 14-7 deficit.
The Blue Lions answered three plays later with an 11-yard run through the middle of the Indians’ defense by Jacob Rice, untouched, for a touchdown with 11:28 left in the second quarter. Washington’s Alex Trombold converted his third PAT of the game for a 21-7 lead.
Hillsboro’s second touchdown of the first half came with 51.5 left in the half when Luke Gallimore went two yards for six points on a first-and-goal play. The PAT was blocked by Washington’s Caleb Rice, leaving the score at 21-13.
In a span of 39.1 game seconds, the Blue Lions somehow built a 49-yard drive and scored six more points. One of the plays that helped was a 25-yard dash, and later a pass to Proby from Steward on a trick play of sorts that was a gain off 38 yards, taking the Blue Lions to the HHS two-yard line. Proby led the Blue Lions with seven receptions for 143 yards.
On the very next play, Steward caught a pass from Jarrett Patton for a touchdown with 0.04 on the clock. Trombold kicked the PAT for the halftime score of 28-13.
Hillsboro (0-1, 1-3) will host the Wilmington Hurricane at Richards Memorial Field next Friday. Washington (1-0, 4-0) hosts the East Clinton Astros at Gardner Park next Friday, as it is also the Blue Lions’ homecoming game. Both games are scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.
GAME NOTES: Devon Gallimore had a 19-yard reception on the opening drive of the first quarter … Around the 4:50 mark of the first quarter, Luke Gallimore had a 31-yard run … Later in that same drive, Devon Gallimore caught a 16-yard reception on a fourth-and-5 play, extending the drive that eventually led to a touchdown … Around the 6:15 mark of the second quarter, Brian Smith had an 11-yard run, followed by Devon Gallimore having a 14-yard run … On a first-and-20 play midway through the third quarter, Sajoun Jones broke up a pass, then on third down, Smith had a big hit that forced a fourth down play … Max Conover had a tackle for loss early in the fourth quarter … Michael Rose forced a third down by stopping a potential big run by the Blue Lions … The next play, the Indians forced a turnover … Prior to kickoff, the teams held a moment of silence in memory of longtime Hillsboro educator Sam Barnhouse.
In each team’s South Central Ohio League opener, the Indians could have easily allowed themselves to go with the flow of the first half as they trailed at halftime by a 28-13 score.
They didn’t, and they made the undefeated Blue Lions sweat a lot in the second half, with the visiting Indians playing with a lot more intensity and drive in the final two quarters. Their physicality and athletes with the run game, mixed with big passing plays of their own, made it a whole new game in the second half.
Hillsboro did all they could, even scoring a touchdown in the final minute of the game to get to within a two-point conversion of tying the Blue Lions. Unable to convert the two-point conversion and running out of time on the Washington possession left the Indians with a 35-33 loss in Week 4 of the ’16 season.
The loss moves HHS to 0-1 in the SCOL and 1-3 overall, while Washington moves to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the SCOL.
The Indians totaled 470 yards of offense, compared to Washington’s 386, with HHS quarterback Hunter Chain passing for 213 yards (10-of-14) with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Washington had a total of 253 yards passing, with three touchdowns and one interception.
“We tell them to play every game like it’s your last play, and don’t leave anything out on the field, and they did it (Friday),” HHS head coach Jack O’Rourke said. “We made a few adjustments, but more than anything, we got our kids settled down. We’re a young group of kids, with a lot of inexperience out there. We’ve got a lot of sophomores playing out there.
“We were over pursuing in the first quarter, and we started settling down in the second quarter and then continued with that. What we talked about basically at halftime was just to work on what we practiced all week, and that was trying to box those receivers in on those quick screens and limit the gains. Once we did that and kind of set down the kickoff returns, they still got good field position, but our defense played a heck of a ball game. Our offense rallied for us, and a lot of kids stepped up on the offense.”
Defensively, Gary Vincent led HHS with seven tackles, while Smith and Devon Gallimore each had 6.5.
Hillsboro trailed by as many as 22 points (a 35-13 score) with 8:15 left in the third quarter following Washington’s fifth touchdown of the game, as the Blue Lions went 52 yards on the drive with the Blue Lions’ Jacob Rice racing 15 yards on a second down play. Rice totaled 18 carries for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
Following that touchdown, the Indians began their drive to make the game as close as possible. A solid kickoff return by Josh Keets gave the Indians the ball on their own 42-yard line with 8:08 left on the third-quarter clock. Nine plays and 58 yards later on a drive that included 20- and 16-yard gains by Brian Smith, Devon Gallimore scored a touchdown on a third-and-2 play for four yards through the middle of the Blue Lions defense with 3:55 left in the quarter. Devon Gallimore led HHS with 19 carries for 89 yards. He also had four receptions for 58 yards.
The Indians failed to convert a two-point conversion, leaving the score at 35-19.
During the fourth quarter, Hillsboro’s defense began to shine as they stopped the Blue Lions on a fourth-and-5 play from the Indians’ 26-yard line when Laith Maxwell made a tackle for loss with help from pressure by Vincent. Maxwell finished with two sacks.
It only took the Indians one play to reach pay dirt. On a first-and-10 from the 28-yard line, Hunter Chain found Sajoun Jones near the Hillsboro side line, who then took the ball and cut across the field, with the Blue Lions defense pursuing him but to no avail. Jones went 72 yards with a monster play with 10:06 left in regulation to get the Indians closer to the Washington lead. HHS then converted the two-point conversion for a 35-27 score.
Jones led the Indians with 96 yards receiving on two receptions.
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The Hillsboro defense wasn’t finished yet, either. With the ball on their own 47-yard line, the Blue Lions gained a first down, but four plays after that, it was Hillsboro’s Smith who came up with a strong play on fourth down to get the Indians possession of the ball with 8:58 on the clock. That defensive stop also included a big third down stop by Deegan Boris and Max Conover, who forced the aforementioned fourth down play with a timely stop.
After turning over the ball on a fumble, seven plays into the Washington drive the Indians got it back, with Chain intercepting the pass from around the HHS 20-yard line and racing back to the 47-yard line with 4:20 left in the game.
Like they did in the first half, the Indians built a slow and steady drive where they took chunks of yardage with each play. The first play of the drive was a six-yard run by Keets, followed by Keets catching a pass from Chain for 15 yards. On their own 26-yard line, Luke Gallimore dashed for six yards, and that was followed by Smith racing for a third yard gain for a third-and-1 play. Luke Gallimore finished with 83 yards rushing on 13 carries with two touchdowns.
That third down play was converted into a first down with Keets bashing his way for two yards to the Washington 15-yard line. The Indians lost six yards on a run, but on second down, a pass to Smith as he got ahead of the Blue Lion defense saw him catch the pass and race 21 yards to the end zone with 58.1 seconds left in the game.
On their two-point conversion try, the Indians went one direction, turned around and threw a screen pass in the opposite direction, but Washington was waiting for that pass, stopping the Indians from tying the game, leaving the score at 35-33.
The Indians tried to regain possession of the ball but were unable to get the seconds on the clock and timeout to go their way, as they lost the SCOL opener.
As for the first half of the game, the Indians trailed 14-0 with just over five minutes left in the first quarter as Washington had touchdowns from wide receiver and backup quarterback Dillon Steward on an 8-yard run and Kory Proby on a 56-yard run with 5:05 on the first-quarter clock.
Hillsboro scored their first points of the game with 16.9 seconds left in the first quarter when Luke Gallimore used his speed to catch a pitch from Chain and race around the edge to the end zone for six points. The PAT by Britton Haines made it a 14-7 deficit.
The Blue Lions answered three plays later with an 11-yard run through the middle of the Indians’ defense by Jacob Rice, untouched, for a touchdown with 11:28 left in the second quarter. Washington’s Alex Trombold converted his third PAT of the game for a 21-7 lead.
Hillsboro’s second touchdown of the first half came with 51.5 left in the half when Luke Gallimore went two yards for six points on a first-and-goal play. The PAT was blocked by Washington’s Caleb Rice, leaving the score at 21-13.
In a span of 39.1 game seconds, the Blue Lions somehow built a 49-yard drive and scored six more points. One of the plays that helped was a 25-yard dash, and later a pass to Proby from Steward on a trick play of sorts that was a gain off 38 yards, taking the Blue Lions to the HHS two-yard line. Proby led the Blue Lions with seven receptions for 143 yards.
On the very next play, Steward caught a pass from Jarrett Patton for a touchdown with 0.04 on the clock. Trombold kicked the PAT for the halftime score of 28-13.
Hillsboro (0-1, 1-3) will host the Wilmington Hurricane at Richards Memorial Field next Friday. Washington (1-0, 4-0) hosts the East Clinton Astros at Gardner Park next Friday, as it is also the Blue Lions’ homecoming game. Both games are scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.
GAME NOTES: Devon Gallimore had a 19-yard reception on the opening drive of the first quarter … Around the 4:50 mark of the first quarter, Luke Gallimore had a 31-yard run … Later in that same drive, Devon Gallimore caught a 16-yard reception on a fourth-and-5 play, extending the drive that eventually led to a touchdown … Around the 6:15 mark of the second quarter, Brian Smith had an 11-yard run, followed by Devon Gallimore having a 14-yard run … On a first-and-20 play midway through the third quarter, Sajoun Jones broke up a pass, then on third down, Smith had a big hit that forced a fourth down play … Max Conover had a tackle for loss early in the fourth quarter … Michael Rose forced a third down by stopping a potential big run by the Blue Lions … The next play, the Indians forced a turnover … Prior to kickoff, the teams held a moment of silence in memory of longtime Hillsboro educator Sam Barnhouse.