Hillsboro scores 76 points; defeats Miami Trace for 3rd straight season
Both the host Indians (2-2, 6-3) and the Miami Trace Panthers left everything on the field — and no point was left behind — as the two Frontier Athletic Conference teams used high-powered offensive plays to combine for 124 points with the Indians winning the Week 9 FAC showdown at Richards Memorial Field by a 76-48 score.
No, basketball season didn’t come early for the two schools, but the two football programs had a final score that mirrored one from the basketball court rather than a football field. The two offenses gave all the fans in the stands a lot to cheer for in the next-to-final week of the regular season. The Indians guaranteed their first winning season since 2009, and the win was the third straight year that Hillsboro defeated the Panthers.
At halftime, the Indians led 41-36 with HHS having an unofficial 317 yards of offense and the Panthers totaling 388 on the offensive side of the ball. Overall, the Indians finished with 586 total yards of offense, and Miami Trace had 594 yards for the game.
In all for the Indians, six players scored at least one touchdown in the 28-point win by the Indians, with junior running back Josh Keets leading the Tribe with five touchdowns and an unofficial total of 212 yards on 11 carries.
“I’ve never had a team score this many points in a game before,” Hillsboro head coach Jack O’Rourke said. “We ran it very well. The kids executed well, the line blocked it very well and the kids hit the hold just like you’d think they would. The offensive line did a great job.”
The Hillsboro offensive line consists of seniors Kole Maynard and R.J. Swackhamer and juniors Max Conover, Lane Cluff and Michael Rose.
For Miami Trace, Brady Wallace totaled five touchdowns as well, with three rushing touchdowns and two receiving scores.
Even with the Indians being the victors, the Panthers (1-4, 1-8) were the ones to strike first, taking just three plays and 65 yards for a 6-0 lead as a pass from Tyler Taylor to Brady Wallace for 50 yards resulted in the first points of the game. The PAT was no good with 10:49 still on the first-quarter clock.
Just over two minutes later, the Indians equaled the six points of Miami Trace and raised them an extra point conversion, taking a 7-6 lead with 8:32 on the clock as Mark Gallimore scored on a 10-yard run for the first of 11 Hillsboro touchdowns in the game. Britton Haines connected with the PAT for a 7-6 Indians lead. To be noted, the touchdown was set up with a 32-yard reception by Mark Gallimore off a pass from Mason Swayne on a fourth-and-two play for the MT 42-yard line.
The Indians defense did step up early on in a first-quarter drive when Michael Rose recovered a fumble by the Panthers on the MT 35-yard line.
Three plays later, the Indians added to their lead with a pass from Swayne to Haines, as Haines left into the air with a MT defender in front of him. The ball then was deflected and ended up in the hands of Haines, who turned and raced to the end zone for the touchdown. The 35-yard touchdown reception left the Indians in front at 13-6 with around 4:45 remaining in the first quarter.
From the 4:45 mark to the 3:43 mark of the first quarter, a total of three touchdowns were scored in a seven-play span. Following the aforementioned touchdown, Miami Trace answered with a 56-yard touchdown run from Wallace with 4:06 on the first-quarter clock. The two-point conversion attempt was no good, leaving the Indians in front at 13-12.
Two plays after the MT touchdown, the Indians raced to the end zone on a 52-yard run by Keets with 3:43 left in the opening quarter. The Haines PAT was good for a 20-12 lead.
Miami Trace continued the marathon of scoring by tying the score at 20-20 when Wallace rushed 20 yards to the end zone with 11:54 left in the second quarter. The two-point conversion was successful when Taylor found a teammate with a pass for the two points.
The next two drives, the offenses took a break with a punt and turnover on downs, but the scoring got back up to speed with HHS putting together a six-play drive that included two runs by Devon Gallimore for gains of 23 and 28 yards on misdirection plays. The drive ended with a four-yard run by Swayne on second down with 2:21 left on the second-quarter clock. Haines kicked the ball through the uprights for a 27-20 Hillsboro lead.
Miami Trace answered the Indians score with one of their own, as their fourth touchdown of the first half came on a 29-yard pass from Taylor to Caden Sweitzer with 1:50 remaining in the second quarter. A two-point conversion run by Wallace left the Panthers ahead by one point at 28-27.
There were still touchdowns to be scored in the first half as no time on the clock was wasted. Hillsboro added to their scoring by taking just over a minute to go 44 yards in a touchdown drive that was set up on a first down play where Reece Bloomfield caught a 40-yard pass from Swayne, taking the ball all the way to the 4-yard line. Keets rushed four yards on the next play for a touchdown with 52 seconds left in the opening half. Keets then rushed the ball for the 2-point conversion, leaving the Indians in front, 35-28.
Miami Trace took just one play to score more points before the half with Wallace taking the ball 65 yards for a touchdown off a pass from Taylor, still leaving 42.1 seconds left in the first half. MT converted a two-point conversion for a 36-35 lead over the host Indians.
Even regaining possession of the football with 31.2 seconds on the scoreboard, the Indians still had time to add one more touchdown. This time it was Devon Gallimore who raced 49 yards on a two-play drive, as the Indians regained the lead before the first half came to a close with 15.4 seconds remaining.
A two-point conversion was called no good by the officials as they stated a rule where when a player’s knee hit the ground ended the play before the conversion was completed. After the officials took away the conversion by Bloomfield to Keets, the Indians still took a lead of 41-36 into the locker room at halftime.
“Miami Trace moved the ball very well,” O’Rourke said. “I give the coaches all the compliments in the world. They did a great job attacking us, they’re getting better and better every week and they’ll be a handful next year to deal with.”
Hillsboro wasted no time at all at the start of the third quarter, scoring on their second play of the drive when Deon Burns carried the football and out-raced the Miami Trace defense for 39 yards and six points at the 11:08 mark of the third quarter. Burns then carried the ball back to the end zone for two points, giving the Indians a 49-36 advantage.
Of course, Miami Trace answered with a third-quarter touchdown of their own, as Sweitzer went on a 37-yard run to pay dirt around the 9:17 mark of the third. The two-point attempt was no good, leaving the Indians ahead by seven points at 49-42.
For the third consecutive drive to start the third quarter, a touchdown was scored, as Hillsboro — once again — responded in a big way with a drive that had two plays of 28 yards, with the first being a 28-yard rush by Devon Gallimore, and on the very next play, Keets went 28 yards for a touchdown with 7:56 left in the quarter. Haines made the PAT for a 56-42 Hillsboro lead.
On the fourth drive of the third frame, another touchdown was celebrated, this one by the visitors, as Miami Trace scored on a first-and-goal play where Wallace went one yard to the end zone at the 4:38 mark of the quarter. The PAT was no good, as the Indians still led by eight points at 56-48.
That was the final touchdown of the game for Miami Trace, but the Indians still had three more left to score, with Keets scoring on a 69-yard touchdown (4:21, third quarter) with the PAT by Haines and later on a 31-yard rush (11:51, fourth quarter) resulting in a lead of 69-48.
Hillsboro's final score came with 8:34 left in the fourth when Swayne rushed for 52 yards and six points for his second touchdown of the game. The PAT was good, leaving the Indians ahead by the final 76-48 score.
Also for the Indians, Deegan Boris totaled nine tackles.
This was the third time this season the Indians scored 50 or more points in a game as they’ve also defeated Western Brown (55-34) in Week 1 and Williamsburg (57-7) in Week 4.
Next for the Indians is the annual Rotary Bowl to wrap up the 2017 season. The Indians will travel to Greenfield to face the McClain Tigers (0-4, 0-9) in Week 10 action at McClain Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
“We have a winning season, and that hadn’t happened here in a while,” O’Rourke said. “We’re just going after next week and trying to get seven next week.”