Hillsboro opens 2017 season with big win over Broncos
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
The Hillsboro Indians continued from where they left off from last season, gaining a win in their 2017 season opener by defeating the visiting Western Brown Broncos, 55-34 at Richards Memorial Field.
This is the fourth consecutive win for the Hillsboro football program, dating back to last season when they closed out the '16 campaign with three straight wins.
Also for the Indians, this is their first win over the Broncos since defeating them in 2010.
On Friday, the Hillsboro defense stood out with four first-half sacks and a lead of 35-7 at halftime. For the game, the Indians offense totaled nearly 500 yards, while Western Brown collected 375 yards on offense.
“The kids were all charged up and really did a great job executing,” Hillsboro head coach Jack O’Rourke said. “We just kept after it. We talked at halftime and said, look, it doesn’t matter how many times they score. As long as we score every time they score, we’re going to win the game, and that’s what our goal was on offense: never let them catch up.”
The Indians (1-0) wasted no time scoring their first touchdown of the season, with senior Mason Lewis racing 90-plus yards to the end zone, energizing the Indians faithful in attendance 13 seconds into the game.
That electricity continued to surge for the Indians, this time recovering an onside kick, when Reece Bloomfield fell onto the football on the 50-yard line on the ensuing kick.
Though the Indians didn’t score on that drive as they turned over the football, the defense stepped up in a big way, including senior Austin Kimball with a tackle for a 2-yard loss, senior defensive lineman R.J. Swackhamer with a sack for a 15-yard loss and a pass that was broken up by Lewis in the defensive backfield. To put the icing on the cake so to speak for the Indians, they held the Broncos to a punt that landed on the WB 26-yard line.
On this drive, the Indians scored their first offensive touchdown of the season, beginning with runs from junior quarterback Mason Swayne for a combined seven yards. Following a penalty on the Tribe, junior Josh Keets raced to the end zone for 24 yards on a third-and-8 play with 8:05 left in the opening quarter. The PAT by Haines — his second of the game — left HHS in front at 14-0.
Western Brown answered with a touchdown of their own, completing what was a 53-yard drive with a 40-yard score off a pass from junior Josh Taylor to senior Josh Fry with 6:59 left in the first quarter, as he was wide open in the middle of the field for the score. The converted PAT by senior Lane Sexton left the score at 14-7.
HHS began to put together another drive, but for the second time in the first quarter, they had a turnover. The defense once again stepped up with a three-and-out, including a tackle for loss by Swackhamer, then he had a sack for a 4-yard loss on the next play, putting WB in a third-and-24 situation on their own 1-yard line.
After WB was forced to punt, the Indians eventually scored again, this time on a 52-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard run for a touchdown by junior Deon Burns with 10:58 left in the second quarter. The PAT by Haines was good once again for a 21-7 Indians advantage.
Later in the second, the Indians went on a drive under the lights of Friday night for 89 yards, consisting of 13 plays and ending on a 22-yard run from Swayne on a quarterback keeper and around the defense with 2:58 left in the first half for a lead of 28-7 following the PAT conversion by Haines.
The HHS defense wasn’t finished in the first half, forcing a turnover on downs that included a combined sack from Keets and junior Max Conover for a 12-yard loss. Later, on a fourth-and-16 play, Keets had a sack (a loss of 13 yards) for the Indians with 1:30 left in the second quarter, giving HHS the football on the WB 28-yard line.
Hillsboro took advantage of the field position before the end of the first half, taking just three plays and racing to pay dirt on a third-and-7 play where Swayne passed the football to Haines for a 25-yard touchdown and a lead of 35-7 following the PAT with 38.1 seconds on the first-half clock.
For good measure, the Indians defense added another sack to end the first half where Devon Gallimore sent the quarterback to the ground for an 8-yard loss to run out the clock.
The Broncos opened the second half with a touchdown of their own, as Taylor found Will Sizer for a 10-yard score on third down at the 9:17 mark of the third. Following the PAT, the Broncos cut the HHS lead to 35-14.
The Indians answered by running behind the offensive line of senior Kole Maynard, Conover, junior Lane Cluff, junior Michael Rose and Swackhamer for a drive of nine plays and 65 yards. The drive ended with Devon Gallimore racing 28 yards on a fourth-and-7 play for the touchdown with 3:36 left in the third. The PAT by Haines left HHS in the driver’s seat at 42-14.
“You can’t pick one running back [that stood out], but you can sure pick those guys up front,” O’Rourke said. “They did a great job up there tonight and really opened up some great holes. The kids just executed the offense really well tonight.”
The Broncos came back with a touchdown of their own on a third-and-6 play with 3:00 still left in the third when Taylor found Wyatt Fischer for a 72-yard touchdown pass and catch.
Still having a lead of 21 points, the Indians didn’t break and they barely bent. That was shown by adding another touchdown to their totals, this time behind the strong play of the offensive line once again, when sophomore Mark Gallimore barreled his way to the end zone for six points. The PAT was no good, leaving the Indians in front by a 48-21 advantage with 1:07 on the third-quarter clock.
In the fourth, the Broncos scored their fourth touchdown of the game with a pass to Keegan Collins for 20 yards on first down, with Collins earning the six points after breaking away from an open field tackle attempt with 11:35 left in the fourth.
The Indians scored their final touchdown of the game on a fourth-and-6 play from the 8-yard line when Swayne raced around the edge, leaping to the end zone while under pressure for six points on the quarterback keeper. Following a penalty on a 2-point conversion attempt, the Indians settled by kicking a longer PAT from Haines for a 55-28 lead.
“Mason Swayne did a very nice job tonight,” O’Rourke said. “We didn’t ask him to throw the ball much, but the one time he did, he executed it well enough for us to score.”
The Broncos scored their final touchdown with 2:04 left in regulation.
Next, the Indians host the Goshen Warriors in Week 2. Last year, Goshen defeated the Indians, 49-26.
“They’re really solid,” O’Rourke said. “We gave them a good ball game last year for three quarters, so we’re just going to have to come out and execute for four quarters this year. The kids are fairly confident, but we’ve still got some work in front of us. We’re still making some fundamental mistakes and that kind of stuff on both sides of the football. Believe me, I’ll pick the film apart tonight.”
This is the fourth consecutive win for the Hillsboro football program, dating back to last season when they closed out the '16 campaign with three straight wins.
Also for the Indians, this is their first win over the Broncos since defeating them in 2010.
On Friday, the Hillsboro defense stood out with four first-half sacks and a lead of 35-7 at halftime. For the game, the Indians offense totaled nearly 500 yards, while Western Brown collected 375 yards on offense.
“The kids were all charged up and really did a great job executing,” Hillsboro head coach Jack O’Rourke said. “We just kept after it. We talked at halftime and said, look, it doesn’t matter how many times they score. As long as we score every time they score, we’re going to win the game, and that’s what our goal was on offense: never let them catch up.”
The Indians (1-0) wasted no time scoring their first touchdown of the season, with senior Mason Lewis racing 90-plus yards to the end zone, energizing the Indians faithful in attendance 13 seconds into the game.
That electricity continued to surge for the Indians, this time recovering an onside kick, when Reece Bloomfield fell onto the football on the 50-yard line on the ensuing kick.
Though the Indians didn’t score on that drive as they turned over the football, the defense stepped up in a big way, including senior Austin Kimball with a tackle for a 2-yard loss, senior defensive lineman R.J. Swackhamer with a sack for a 15-yard loss and a pass that was broken up by Lewis in the defensive backfield. To put the icing on the cake so to speak for the Indians, they held the Broncos to a punt that landed on the WB 26-yard line.
On this drive, the Indians scored their first offensive touchdown of the season, beginning with runs from junior quarterback Mason Swayne for a combined seven yards. Following a penalty on the Tribe, junior Josh Keets raced to the end zone for 24 yards on a third-and-8 play with 8:05 left in the opening quarter. The PAT by Haines — his second of the game — left HHS in front at 14-0.
Western Brown answered with a touchdown of their own, completing what was a 53-yard drive with a 40-yard score off a pass from junior Josh Taylor to senior Josh Fry with 6:59 left in the first quarter, as he was wide open in the middle of the field for the score. The converted PAT by senior Lane Sexton left the score at 14-7.
HHS began to put together another drive, but for the second time in the first quarter, they had a turnover. The defense once again stepped up with a three-and-out, including a tackle for loss by Swackhamer, then he had a sack for a 4-yard loss on the next play, putting WB in a third-and-24 situation on their own 1-yard line.
After WB was forced to punt, the Indians eventually scored again, this time on a 52-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard run for a touchdown by junior Deon Burns with 10:58 left in the second quarter. The PAT by Haines was good once again for a 21-7 Indians advantage.
Later in the second, the Indians went on a drive under the lights of Friday night for 89 yards, consisting of 13 plays and ending on a 22-yard run from Swayne on a quarterback keeper and around the defense with 2:58 left in the first half for a lead of 28-7 following the PAT conversion by Haines.
The HHS defense wasn’t finished in the first half, forcing a turnover on downs that included a combined sack from Keets and junior Max Conover for a 12-yard loss. Later, on a fourth-and-16 play, Keets had a sack (a loss of 13 yards) for the Indians with 1:30 left in the second quarter, giving HHS the football on the WB 28-yard line.
Hillsboro took advantage of the field position before the end of the first half, taking just three plays and racing to pay dirt on a third-and-7 play where Swayne passed the football to Haines for a 25-yard touchdown and a lead of 35-7 following the PAT with 38.1 seconds on the first-half clock.
For good measure, the Indians defense added another sack to end the first half where Devon Gallimore sent the quarterback to the ground for an 8-yard loss to run out the clock.
The Broncos opened the second half with a touchdown of their own, as Taylor found Will Sizer for a 10-yard score on third down at the 9:17 mark of the third. Following the PAT, the Broncos cut the HHS lead to 35-14.
The Indians answered by running behind the offensive line of senior Kole Maynard, Conover, junior Lane Cluff, junior Michael Rose and Swackhamer for a drive of nine plays and 65 yards. The drive ended with Devon Gallimore racing 28 yards on a fourth-and-7 play for the touchdown with 3:36 left in the third. The PAT by Haines left HHS in the driver’s seat at 42-14.
“You can’t pick one running back [that stood out], but you can sure pick those guys up front,” O’Rourke said. “They did a great job up there tonight and really opened up some great holes. The kids just executed the offense really well tonight.”
The Broncos came back with a touchdown of their own on a third-and-6 play with 3:00 still left in the third when Taylor found Wyatt Fischer for a 72-yard touchdown pass and catch.
Still having a lead of 21 points, the Indians didn’t break and they barely bent. That was shown by adding another touchdown to their totals, this time behind the strong play of the offensive line once again, when sophomore Mark Gallimore barreled his way to the end zone for six points. The PAT was no good, leaving the Indians in front by a 48-21 advantage with 1:07 on the third-quarter clock.
In the fourth, the Broncos scored their fourth touchdown of the game with a pass to Keegan Collins for 20 yards on first down, with Collins earning the six points after breaking away from an open field tackle attempt with 11:35 left in the fourth.
The Indians scored their final touchdown of the game on a fourth-and-6 play from the 8-yard line when Swayne raced around the edge, leaping to the end zone while under pressure for six points on the quarterback keeper. Following a penalty on a 2-point conversion attempt, the Indians settled by kicking a longer PAT from Haines for a 55-28 lead.
“Mason Swayne did a very nice job tonight,” O’Rourke said. “We didn’t ask him to throw the ball much, but the one time he did, he executed it well enough for us to score.”
The Broncos scored their final touchdown with 2:04 left in regulation.
Next, the Indians host the Goshen Warriors in Week 2. Last year, Goshen defeated the Indians, 49-26.
“They’re really solid,” O’Rourke said. “We gave them a good ball game last year for three quarters, so we’re just going to have to come out and execute for four quarters this year. The kids are fairly confident, but we’ve still got some work in front of us. We’re still making some fundamental mistakes and that kind of stuff on both sides of the football. Believe me, I’ll pick the film apart tonight.”