Hillsboro Indians win FAC championship, clinch playoff berth in Rotary Bowl win over McClain
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
The rain was coming down from the skies, the victory bell was ringing and the Hillsboro Indians won the 2018 Rotary Bowl on Friday night by dominating their rival McClain Tigers by a 68-7 score at Richards Memorial Field to clinch a share of the Frontier Athletic Conference championship and officially seal a playoff berth.
This is Hillsboro’s first FAC championship, as the conference started last season, and their 10th overall football conference title in program history, their first since the 1998 season when the Indians won the SBAAC title. The playoff berth for the Tribe is their first trip since 2005.
The win for the Indians moves them to 9-1 overall — with a 4-1 mark in the FAC — and gives them their best overall record in the regular season since 2009 when that team finished 8-2 overall.
Also for the Indians on Friday night, the Indians improved to 20-10 in the past three years since head coach Jack O’Rourke took over the program back in 2016, as the Indians have progressed from 4-6 to 7-3 to now 9-1.
“We’re very fortunate to do what we’re able to do this year. We stayed pretty healthy. That’s what we had to do, and we did,” O’Rourke said. “We’re definitely excited about it (going to the playoffs). I’m probably more excited about winning the conference championship. It’s been even longer since that happened, since 1998. It’s important. It’s harder to do than make the playoffs sometimes.
“They’ve (the seniors) played very hard the last three years for me and worked their way up. We took our lumps the first year a little bit, got better last year and this year it paid off.”
In the Indians’ first 15 plays of offense in the first half, they scored 42 points, with no drive going longer than four plays for the 42-0 halftime lead.
The Indians totaled 431 yards of offense on 27 total plays. Mark Gallimore led the Indians with 100 yards rushing on four carries and two touchdowns.
He was followed by Josh Keets with four carries for 94 yards and one touchdown, while Deon Burns finished with five carries for 61 yards and four touchdowns.
Quarterback Mason Swayne rushed for 88 yards on four carries, and Logan Hester had two carries for 50 yards and one touchdown.
Hillsboro’s first touchdown was thanks to solid field position from the defense as Michael Rose recovered a fumble on the McClain 26-yard line with 8:18 left in the first quarter. On the first play of the ensuing drive, the Indians saw Keets rush for a 16-yard gain, setting up first-and-goal from the 9-yard line. The next play saw Burns run into the end zone for the 9-yard touchdown with 8:06 on the clock. Keets rushed into the end zone for the 2-point conversion run, giving the Indians a lead of 8-0.
McClain lost possession of the ball again on their second drive as the rain continued to come down. With the Tigers being down multiple starters — including leading rushers Dalton Mischal and Patrick Fout — this time Hillsboro’s Luke Middleton picked up the football and went 15 yards, all the way to the 16-yard line.
The Indians took just two plays to score their second touchdown of the game as Keets raced 14 yards on first down, and Burns powered his way for a 2-yard score with 4:41 still left in the first quarter. Reece Bloomfield kicked the PAT through the uprights for a 15-0 lead.
After forcing a punt, the Indians took four plays to reach the end zone. The drive began on the 42-yard line of the Indians, and following an incomplete pass, had a second down rush from Gallimore for 27 yards, and following losing yards on a holding penalty, the Indians scored their third touchdown of the game off a 21-yard run by Gallimore with 2:10 left in the quarter. The PAT by Bloomfield was good for a 22-0 advantage.
Three plays later, the Indians regained possession of the ball with Richard Adkins recovering a fumble by the Tigers with 7.8 seconds left in the first quarter. That was nearly the perfect amount of time left in the game as Burns rushed for a 16-yard score with 0.6 seconds left on the clock. The PAT by Bloomfield was good once again for a 29-0 lead for the Indians.
When the Indians got the ball for the first time in the second quarter, they went two plays for a total of 75 yards to the end zone. The first play of the drive saw Swayne rush for a gain of 57 yards all the way from the HHS 25-yard line to the McClain 18-yard line. Next was the touchdown play as Burns rushed for 19 yards to the end zone. Bloomfield’s PAT was good for a 36-0 lead with 8:43 left in the second quarter.
The Tigers continued to struggle keeping ahold of the football with another fumble, once again recovered by Adkins on the MHS 33-yard line with 8:30 on the second-quarter clock. Four plays is all it took for the Indians to score their sixth touchdown of the first half. Following a 6-yard run by Swayne and a penalty flag on the Indians, HHS had the ball on the MHS 36-yard line.
On the second-and-14 play, Gallimore raced 31 yards for a first down. The next play, Gallimore finished what he started with a 5-yard rush to the end zone on a first-and-goal play with 6:54 left in the first half. The 2-point play was no good, leaving the Indians ahead, 42-0, which stood until halftime.
Hillsboro opened the second half with a three-play drive that saw them reach the end zone for the seventh time in the game. On just their 21st offensive play of the game, the Indians were back in the end zone with Keets going 53 yards for the touchdown. The PAT was blocked, leaving the Indians ahead 48 points.
HHS made it a 54-point lead with a one-play drive in the third as Logan Hester went 43 yards for a touchdown run with 4:28 left in the third quarter.
The Tigers broke up the shutout with their lone touchdown in the fourth quarter with 7:24 on the clock as Matt Bliss raced 17 yards for the score. The PAT by Braeden Bergstrom was good.
HHS came back with a kickoff return for around 85 yards by Keets with 6:48 on the clock for what turned into a 61-0 lead following the PAT.
The Indians scored their final touchdown with 41 seconds left in regulation as James Coday raced 14 yards for the score.
Hillsboro will play in the Division III Football Playoffs next Friday night, as they will officially find out who their opponent is on Sunday afternoon. Tentatively and unofficially, the Indians will be a No. 5 seed and face the No. 4 seed Eastmoor Academy (Columbus) Warriors (9-1) on Friday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. at EAHS, according to preliminary projections at joeeitel.com and fantastic50.net.
Check back for more photos from Friday night’s game.
This is Hillsboro’s first FAC championship, as the conference started last season, and their 10th overall football conference title in program history, their first since the 1998 season when the Indians won the SBAAC title. The playoff berth for the Tribe is their first trip since 2005.
The win for the Indians moves them to 9-1 overall — with a 4-1 mark in the FAC — and gives them their best overall record in the regular season since 2009 when that team finished 8-2 overall.
Also for the Indians on Friday night, the Indians improved to 20-10 in the past three years since head coach Jack O’Rourke took over the program back in 2016, as the Indians have progressed from 4-6 to 7-3 to now 9-1.
“We’re very fortunate to do what we’re able to do this year. We stayed pretty healthy. That’s what we had to do, and we did,” O’Rourke said. “We’re definitely excited about it (going to the playoffs). I’m probably more excited about winning the conference championship. It’s been even longer since that happened, since 1998. It’s important. It’s harder to do than make the playoffs sometimes.
“They’ve (the seniors) played very hard the last three years for me and worked their way up. We took our lumps the first year a little bit, got better last year and this year it paid off.”
In the Indians’ first 15 plays of offense in the first half, they scored 42 points, with no drive going longer than four plays for the 42-0 halftime lead.
The Indians totaled 431 yards of offense on 27 total plays. Mark Gallimore led the Indians with 100 yards rushing on four carries and two touchdowns.
He was followed by Josh Keets with four carries for 94 yards and one touchdown, while Deon Burns finished with five carries for 61 yards and four touchdowns.
Quarterback Mason Swayne rushed for 88 yards on four carries, and Logan Hester had two carries for 50 yards and one touchdown.
Hillsboro’s first touchdown was thanks to solid field position from the defense as Michael Rose recovered a fumble on the McClain 26-yard line with 8:18 left in the first quarter. On the first play of the ensuing drive, the Indians saw Keets rush for a 16-yard gain, setting up first-and-goal from the 9-yard line. The next play saw Burns run into the end zone for the 9-yard touchdown with 8:06 on the clock. Keets rushed into the end zone for the 2-point conversion run, giving the Indians a lead of 8-0.
McClain lost possession of the ball again on their second drive as the rain continued to come down. With the Tigers being down multiple starters — including leading rushers Dalton Mischal and Patrick Fout — this time Hillsboro’s Luke Middleton picked up the football and went 15 yards, all the way to the 16-yard line.
The Indians took just two plays to score their second touchdown of the game as Keets raced 14 yards on first down, and Burns powered his way for a 2-yard score with 4:41 still left in the first quarter. Reece Bloomfield kicked the PAT through the uprights for a 15-0 lead.
After forcing a punt, the Indians took four plays to reach the end zone. The drive began on the 42-yard line of the Indians, and following an incomplete pass, had a second down rush from Gallimore for 27 yards, and following losing yards on a holding penalty, the Indians scored their third touchdown of the game off a 21-yard run by Gallimore with 2:10 left in the quarter. The PAT by Bloomfield was good for a 22-0 advantage.
Three plays later, the Indians regained possession of the ball with Richard Adkins recovering a fumble by the Tigers with 7.8 seconds left in the first quarter. That was nearly the perfect amount of time left in the game as Burns rushed for a 16-yard score with 0.6 seconds left on the clock. The PAT by Bloomfield was good once again for a 29-0 lead for the Indians.
When the Indians got the ball for the first time in the second quarter, they went two plays for a total of 75 yards to the end zone. The first play of the drive saw Swayne rush for a gain of 57 yards all the way from the HHS 25-yard line to the McClain 18-yard line. Next was the touchdown play as Burns rushed for 19 yards to the end zone. Bloomfield’s PAT was good for a 36-0 lead with 8:43 left in the second quarter.
The Tigers continued to struggle keeping ahold of the football with another fumble, once again recovered by Adkins on the MHS 33-yard line with 8:30 on the second-quarter clock. Four plays is all it took for the Indians to score their sixth touchdown of the first half. Following a 6-yard run by Swayne and a penalty flag on the Indians, HHS had the ball on the MHS 36-yard line.
On the second-and-14 play, Gallimore raced 31 yards for a first down. The next play, Gallimore finished what he started with a 5-yard rush to the end zone on a first-and-goal play with 6:54 left in the first half. The 2-point play was no good, leaving the Indians ahead, 42-0, which stood until halftime.
Hillsboro opened the second half with a three-play drive that saw them reach the end zone for the seventh time in the game. On just their 21st offensive play of the game, the Indians were back in the end zone with Keets going 53 yards for the touchdown. The PAT was blocked, leaving the Indians ahead 48 points.
HHS made it a 54-point lead with a one-play drive in the third as Logan Hester went 43 yards for a touchdown run with 4:28 left in the third quarter.
The Tigers broke up the shutout with their lone touchdown in the fourth quarter with 7:24 on the clock as Matt Bliss raced 17 yards for the score. The PAT by Braeden Bergstrom was good.
HHS came back with a kickoff return for around 85 yards by Keets with 6:48 on the clock for what turned into a 61-0 lead following the PAT.
The Indians scored their final touchdown with 41 seconds left in regulation as James Coday raced 14 yards for the score.
Hillsboro will play in the Division III Football Playoffs next Friday night, as they will officially find out who their opponent is on Sunday afternoon. Tentatively and unofficially, the Indians will be a No. 5 seed and face the No. 4 seed Eastmoor Academy (Columbus) Warriors (9-1) on Friday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. at EAHS, according to preliminary projections at joeeitel.com and fantastic50.net.
Check back for more photos from Friday night’s game.