Hillsboro rallies late to reclaim Rotary Bowl from McClain
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
The Rotary Bowl trophy returned to the possession of the Hillsboro Indians on Friday night, but it wasn’t easy, and the game came down to the final seconds of regulation.
Nothing came easy for the Indians or Highland County rival McClain in the 32nd annual Rotary Bowl at Richards Memorial Field in the Week 10 season finale for both teams. In fact, the Indians trailed by 12 points with 5:25 left in regulation.
That lead gradually, but quickly, was erased by the Indians, and the play of sophomore Deon Burns and his offensive line pounded their way to the end zone with 4:11 left in the fourth to get a little closer on the scoreboard.
On the Indians’ final drive, that is where the game completely changed, with the momentum and the lead going from the McClain Tigers back to the Indians for what turned into a 43-40 victory for Hillsboro.
If there was ever any drama in the final seconds of a rivalry game, many would be hard-pressed to find a more exciting ending any way at any time.
This edition of the Rotary Bowl saw the Indians take the lead for good on a 12-yard touchdown pass on a boot play from senior quarterback Hunter Chain to sophomore Reece Bloomfield for six points on fourth down. The Indians added two more points with Josh Keets racing into the end zone on the 2-point conversion play for the final three-point advantage at 43-40.
“He’s (Reece) played tight end as a sophomore for us and has done a great job all year, but we knew he had the ability, and used that play and then to catch the one to win the ball game … that’s big,” HHS head coach Jack O’Rourke said. “We kept talking all week about finishing, and that’s what we did tonight. The last five minutes, we finished the ball game.
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“There’s no doubt, we’ve brought some excitement back to our football program. Hopefully we can just keep building on that in the future. It was fun.”
McClain had one final play with 0.04 on the clock where they threw a long pass, but it went incomplete.
“We had too many mistakes to win,” MHS head coach Jeremey Andrews said. “We had a lot of guys step up and do great things, but the same sloppiness that’s hurt us all year reared its head again (Friday).”
The final moments weren’t just the exciting part of the game, as the entire Rotary Bowl was built up to what occurred in the final seconds of regulation.
Hillsboro began by recovering the kickoff misplayed by the Tigers, with Austin Kimball diving onto the loose football. The Indians took took full advantage of the turnover, scoring on their first drive on the game. The 25-yard drive ended with a second-and-7 play with Chain running for a 8-yard score with 10:04 left in the first quarter. The PAT by Britton Haines gave the Indians a 7-0 lead.
McClain put up a fight on their first offensive drive, but they went for a fake punt and didn’t convert the fourth down play, giving the Indians the ball on their own 43-yard line.
Again, the Indians took advantage of McClain’s misfortune with Burns reaching the end zone on a 5-yard rush with 2:26 left in the first frame. The PAT was converted by Haines for a 14-0 lead.
McClain didn’t blink. Instead, they raced to pay dirt for six points of their own when Gabe Adams raced 17 yards for a score with the scoreboard reading 11:54 left in the second quarter. The Tigers were unable to connect with the PAT, leaving them down eight points at 14-6.
The Tigers eventually regained possession of the football with 4:05 left in the first half. Twenty seconds later, they were standing in the end zone with six points when Adams rushed for a 47-yard touchdown, moving outside of a packed middle of the line and racing for the points with 3:45 left in the second quarter. MHS went for a 2-point conversion, but it failed, leaving the Indians ahead, 14-12.
Defense was also key for the Tigers, with Eric Anderson intercepting a Hillsboro pass with 1:33 still left in the second and returning it around 40 yards.
Like their opponents, the Tigers didn’t let the turnover go to waste. With 1:08 left in the second quarter, McClain took the lead on a 9-yard run by Tristan Pitzer on first-and-goal. The extra point conversion was no good, leaving the Tigers ahead by four points at 18-14.
Just when one might have thought the scoring onslaught in the final four minutes of the second quarter was over … it wasn’t.
The Indians scored maybe the closest touchdown of the season when Sajoun Jones catching a pass in the very corner of the end zone on a 10-yard pass from Chain that arched slowly through the air into the hands of Jones with 2.1 seconds left in the quarter. Keets scored a 2-point conversion to put the Indians ahead at halftime, 22-18.
In a turn of fortunes for the Tigers, they were the ones who gained momentum from a special teams play when Tanner Tite recovered an onside kick by the Tigers. One play and 48 yards later, McClain was in the end zone with Adams racing 48 yards for the six points with 11:49 left in the third. Adams also scored the 2-point conversion to put MHS back in front, 26-22.
“Quitting isn’t in McClain’s blood,” O’Rourke said. “They’ve had a good offense all year, and they gave us everything they had. They got an onside, kind of like we did. It was back and forth, and we traded possessions.
“They kind of controlled the third and fourth quarter, and we were just able to hold on long enough to come back in the last three or four minutes of the ball game.”
That lead didn’t last long with Hillsboro reaching pay dirt again. This time, it came off a 32-yard run by Gallimore with 8:33 left in the third for a 28-26 lead by the Indians. MHS blocked the PAT attempt with Owen O’Connor breaking through the line of HHS.
The Tigers were forced to punt on the ensuing drive, and once HHS regained possession of the ball, it took the Tigers just three plays to regain that possession when Justin Osborne intercepted a pass with 4:46 left in the quarter.
Again, MHS took full advantage of the turnover, scoring a 25-yard touchdown with Pitzer rushing all the way to the end zone with 3:27 still left in the third quarter. Adams ran in the 2-point conversion for a 34-28 McClain lead.
The Tigers forced another turnover with Anderson intercepting a pass with seconds left in the third. Though MHS didn’t turn that turnover into points, near the midway point in the fourth quarter the Tigers were back in the end zone with 5:25 left in regulation. That score came with Pitzer running for a 3-yard score on a third-and-goal play. MHS didn’t score on the PAT, but they extended their lead to 12 points at 40-28.
Then came the aforementioned comeback of the Indians, beginning with a 46-yard reception by Haines on a pass from Chain. Later, after a personal foul on the Tigers, the ball ended up on the 5-yard line for a first-and-goal play. That play saw Burns power his way for four yards. On second-and-goal, he rushed into the end zone on a one-yard run with 4:11 left in the game. The PAT was good by Haines to bring the Indians to within five points of MHS at 40-35.
McClain had a big kickoff return to their own 42-yard line. Two plays later, the Indians forced a fumble, which was recovered by Chain with 3:13 left in regulation.
The Indians chipped away at the McClain defense, beginning with a 32-yard run by Gallimore. On the next play, he ran for three yards, and that was followed with an 11-yard reception by Brian Smith. Following a false start penalty, Burns rushed for 11 yards, then had a 10-yard gain. On first down, Burns ran for five yards.
After another false start penalty on the Indians, Gallimore raced for a quick three yards. HHS called a timeout with 19.1 left in the game, and on third-and-7, they had an incomplete pass as a pass was caught out of bounds near the end zone.
Following another timeout on fourth-and-7, that’s when the game-winning reception by Bloomfield occurred with 7.8 on the clock.
The Indians end the season at 4-6 overall, 3-4 in the SCOL. The four wins by the Indians are the most wins the program has seen since 2009. The Tigers end the year at 1-9 (0-7 in the SCOL), losing their final nine games of the season.
For MHS, both Adams and Pitzer rushed for over 1,000 yards this season.
“Gabe played a great game,” Andrews said. “It’s a shame for him that it kind of ended the way it did, but we wouldn’t be where we were without him. Tristan played a great game. All those guys played a great game.
“Our big fellas, they were knocking them off the ball all night. Hillsboro is a pretty good team. We watched them against Miami Trace, and we knew we had a good team across from us, that’s for sure.”
GAME NOTES: McClain’s Darius White caught a wide-open pass for a gain of 39 yards on a second down play during the Tigers’ first scoring drive of the game … Anderson had a 12-yard reception in the second quarter for the Tigers … Late in the second quarter, Burns had a 21-yard rush; in that same drive, Chain had a 13-yard rush on third down … In the third quarter, Haines caught a 12-yard reception for the Indians … McClain’s Anderson caught a 13-yard pass in the third quarter on a second down play … In the fourth quarter, Adams had a run of 40 yards on a first down play, setting up a first-and-goal.
Nothing came easy for the Indians or Highland County rival McClain in the 32nd annual Rotary Bowl at Richards Memorial Field in the Week 10 season finale for both teams. In fact, the Indians trailed by 12 points with 5:25 left in regulation.
That lead gradually, but quickly, was erased by the Indians, and the play of sophomore Deon Burns and his offensive line pounded their way to the end zone with 4:11 left in the fourth to get a little closer on the scoreboard.
On the Indians’ final drive, that is where the game completely changed, with the momentum and the lead going from the McClain Tigers back to the Indians for what turned into a 43-40 victory for Hillsboro.
If there was ever any drama in the final seconds of a rivalry game, many would be hard-pressed to find a more exciting ending any way at any time.
This edition of the Rotary Bowl saw the Indians take the lead for good on a 12-yard touchdown pass on a boot play from senior quarterback Hunter Chain to sophomore Reece Bloomfield for six points on fourth down. The Indians added two more points with Josh Keets racing into the end zone on the 2-point conversion play for the final three-point advantage at 43-40.
“He’s (Reece) played tight end as a sophomore for us and has done a great job all year, but we knew he had the ability, and used that play and then to catch the one to win the ball game … that’s big,” HHS head coach Jack O’Rourke said. “We kept talking all week about finishing, and that’s what we did tonight. The last five minutes, we finished the ball game.
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“There’s no doubt, we’ve brought some excitement back to our football program. Hopefully we can just keep building on that in the future. It was fun.”
McClain had one final play with 0.04 on the clock where they threw a long pass, but it went incomplete.
“We had too many mistakes to win,” MHS head coach Jeremey Andrews said. “We had a lot of guys step up and do great things, but the same sloppiness that’s hurt us all year reared its head again (Friday).”
The final moments weren’t just the exciting part of the game, as the entire Rotary Bowl was built up to what occurred in the final seconds of regulation.
Hillsboro began by recovering the kickoff misplayed by the Tigers, with Austin Kimball diving onto the loose football. The Indians took took full advantage of the turnover, scoring on their first drive on the game. The 25-yard drive ended with a second-and-7 play with Chain running for a 8-yard score with 10:04 left in the first quarter. The PAT by Britton Haines gave the Indians a 7-0 lead.
McClain put up a fight on their first offensive drive, but they went for a fake punt and didn’t convert the fourth down play, giving the Indians the ball on their own 43-yard line.
Again, the Indians took advantage of McClain’s misfortune with Burns reaching the end zone on a 5-yard rush with 2:26 left in the first frame. The PAT was converted by Haines for a 14-0 lead.
McClain didn’t blink. Instead, they raced to pay dirt for six points of their own when Gabe Adams raced 17 yards for a score with the scoreboard reading 11:54 left in the second quarter. The Tigers were unable to connect with the PAT, leaving them down eight points at 14-6.
The Tigers eventually regained possession of the football with 4:05 left in the first half. Twenty seconds later, they were standing in the end zone with six points when Adams rushed for a 47-yard touchdown, moving outside of a packed middle of the line and racing for the points with 3:45 left in the second quarter. MHS went for a 2-point conversion, but it failed, leaving the Indians ahead, 14-12.
Defense was also key for the Tigers, with Eric Anderson intercepting a Hillsboro pass with 1:33 still left in the second and returning it around 40 yards.
Like their opponents, the Tigers didn’t let the turnover go to waste. With 1:08 left in the second quarter, McClain took the lead on a 9-yard run by Tristan Pitzer on first-and-goal. The extra point conversion was no good, leaving the Tigers ahead by four points at 18-14.
Just when one might have thought the scoring onslaught in the final four minutes of the second quarter was over … it wasn’t.
The Indians scored maybe the closest touchdown of the season when Sajoun Jones catching a pass in the very corner of the end zone on a 10-yard pass from Chain that arched slowly through the air into the hands of Jones with 2.1 seconds left in the quarter. Keets scored a 2-point conversion to put the Indians ahead at halftime, 22-18.
In a turn of fortunes for the Tigers, they were the ones who gained momentum from a special teams play when Tanner Tite recovered an onside kick by the Tigers. One play and 48 yards later, McClain was in the end zone with Adams racing 48 yards for the six points with 11:49 left in the third. Adams also scored the 2-point conversion to put MHS back in front, 26-22.
“Quitting isn’t in McClain’s blood,” O’Rourke said. “They’ve had a good offense all year, and they gave us everything they had. They got an onside, kind of like we did. It was back and forth, and we traded possessions.
“They kind of controlled the third and fourth quarter, and we were just able to hold on long enough to come back in the last three or four minutes of the ball game.”
That lead didn’t last long with Hillsboro reaching pay dirt again. This time, it came off a 32-yard run by Gallimore with 8:33 left in the third for a 28-26 lead by the Indians. MHS blocked the PAT attempt with Owen O’Connor breaking through the line of HHS.
The Tigers were forced to punt on the ensuing drive, and once HHS regained possession of the ball, it took the Tigers just three plays to regain that possession when Justin Osborne intercepted a pass with 4:46 left in the quarter.
Again, MHS took full advantage of the turnover, scoring a 25-yard touchdown with Pitzer rushing all the way to the end zone with 3:27 still left in the third quarter. Adams ran in the 2-point conversion for a 34-28 McClain lead.
The Tigers forced another turnover with Anderson intercepting a pass with seconds left in the third. Though MHS didn’t turn that turnover into points, near the midway point in the fourth quarter the Tigers were back in the end zone with 5:25 left in regulation. That score came with Pitzer running for a 3-yard score on a third-and-goal play. MHS didn’t score on the PAT, but they extended their lead to 12 points at 40-28.
Then came the aforementioned comeback of the Indians, beginning with a 46-yard reception by Haines on a pass from Chain. Later, after a personal foul on the Tigers, the ball ended up on the 5-yard line for a first-and-goal play. That play saw Burns power his way for four yards. On second-and-goal, he rushed into the end zone on a one-yard run with 4:11 left in the game. The PAT was good by Haines to bring the Indians to within five points of MHS at 40-35.
McClain had a big kickoff return to their own 42-yard line. Two plays later, the Indians forced a fumble, which was recovered by Chain with 3:13 left in regulation.
The Indians chipped away at the McClain defense, beginning with a 32-yard run by Gallimore. On the next play, he ran for three yards, and that was followed with an 11-yard reception by Brian Smith. Following a false start penalty, Burns rushed for 11 yards, then had a 10-yard gain. On first down, Burns ran for five yards.
After another false start penalty on the Indians, Gallimore raced for a quick three yards. HHS called a timeout with 19.1 left in the game, and on third-and-7, they had an incomplete pass as a pass was caught out of bounds near the end zone.
Following another timeout on fourth-and-7, that’s when the game-winning reception by Bloomfield occurred with 7.8 on the clock.
The Indians end the season at 4-6 overall, 3-4 in the SCOL. The four wins by the Indians are the most wins the program has seen since 2009. The Tigers end the year at 1-9 (0-7 in the SCOL), losing their final nine games of the season.
For MHS, both Adams and Pitzer rushed for over 1,000 yards this season.
“Gabe played a great game,” Andrews said. “It’s a shame for him that it kind of ended the way it did, but we wouldn’t be where we were without him. Tristan played a great game. All those guys played a great game.
“Our big fellas, they were knocking them off the ball all night. Hillsboro is a pretty good team. We watched them against Miami Trace, and we knew we had a good team across from us, that’s for sure.”
GAME NOTES: McClain’s Darius White caught a wide-open pass for a gain of 39 yards on a second down play during the Tigers’ first scoring drive of the game … Anderson had a 12-yard reception in the second quarter for the Tigers … Late in the second quarter, Burns had a 21-yard rush; in that same drive, Chain had a 13-yard rush on third down … In the third quarter, Haines caught a 12-yard reception for the Indians … McClain’s Anderson caught a 13-yard pass in the third quarter on a second down play … In the fourth quarter, Adams had a run of 40 yards on a first down play, setting up a first-and-goal.