Indians crash Astros in Week 3
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEES CREEK — The Hillsboro Indians got back on the winning side of the scoreboard Friday night, this time going on the road and dominating former league rival East Clinton by having a knack for big scoring plays, winning by a 48-7 score at Astro Field.
The win by the Indians is their second of the season after three games, but for the Astros, they were handed their third consecutive loss to begin the 2017 season, leaving HHS at 2-1 overall and EC at 0-3.
Big scoring plays on offense, plus two interceptions for touchdowns, were the catalyst for the Indians to overcome a trick halfback pass on the first play of the game by the Astros that was East Clinton's lone score of the game.
Of the Indians’ big plays in the first half, all but one of their six touchdowns went for no less than 40 yards, with interceptions for touchdowns by Devon Gallimore for 50 yards and another interception for a touchdown from Britton Haines for 40-plus yards. Hillsboro — in the first half — also had scoring plays of 74 yards on a pass from Mason Swayne to Haines, a 60-yard run by Josh Keets for six points and a 70-yard run by Swayne.
On just plays that scored a touchdown in the first half, the Indians totaled 299 yards for what was a 42-7 halftime lead in their first road game of the season. At the half, the Indians unofficially totaled 294 yards of offense. After three quarters, the HHS offense unofficially had 359 yards.
Mark Gallimore finished with seven carries for 44 yards, and Keets had four carries for 85 yards. Swayne rushed for 103 yards on five carries and one touchdown and passed for 80 yards and two touchdowns on two completions.
“We just got back to what we do. Anytime you do that (score on offense and defense), that’s good,” HHS head coach Jack O’Rourke said.
The Indians trailed by a 7-0 score to start the game when senior running back Wyatt Floyd found a wide-open Patrick Dotson for a 61-yard touchdown pass and six points for the Astros. The PAT by EC kicker Austin Arellano put Hillsboro down early 7-0 with 11:43 on the first-quarter clock.
That was all the scoring allowed by the Indians, as not only did the defense hunker down, but the offense got their chance to take the field. On a drive that lasted 5:05, the Indians tied the score with a 5-yard run on first-and-goal up the middle by Mark Gallimore with 6:33 left in the opening quarter. That drive went eight plays for 67 yards. The PAT by Haines tied the score at 7-7.
On their second drive of the game, Hillsboro took just one play to take the lead for good over EC, with Swayne finding Haines in stride for a 74-yard touchdown score with 54 seconds left in the first quarter. Haines didn’t have much time to celebrate as he kicked the extra point for a 14-7 score.
Hillsboro added to their lead in the early stages of the third quarter on a first down play near midfield. Devon Gallimore had a pick-six for a touchdown, taking the interception on a screen pass for 50 yards to pay dirt with 11:27 left in the second quarter. Haines converted another PAT for the 21-7 advantage.
Following the Indians defense forcing a punt, the offense of the Tribe took just one play once again to add to their lead. This time it came off a 60-yard rush by Josh Keets, with the junior racing down the sideline untouched for the score. Haines went 4-for-4 on PAT attempts for the 28-7 advantage with 8:48 left in the first half.
The Indians weren’t finished with their big play scoring in the first half, because with 4:24 left in the second, Swayne raced away for a 70-yard score to the end zone. Haines made his fifth PAT for a 35-7 lead.
HHS scored one last touchdown in the first half, this time where Haines intercepted a pass and took it on a 40-yard journey to the end zone with 9.9 seconds left in the first half. Haines’ PAT made the score 42-7.
In the second half — with the 35-point running clock going — the Indians took up all but 46.5 seconds of the third frame with an offensive drive that went 16 plays for 74 yards. The drive ended with Swayne passing to Reece Bloomfield for a score on fourth-and-goal on the 6-yard line. The PAT was no good, leaving the score at 48-7.
“I didn’t expect to do that,” O’Rourke said of controlling the ball in the third quarter. “We were trying to give some kids that haven’t carried the ball too much some reps, and it worked out pretty well for us.”
Even with all of the standout scoring plays, the Indians’ defense kept the Astros scoreless for all but the very early stages of the first quarter, allowing HHS to have 48 unanswered points, including the two aforementioned interceptions for touchdowns.
One of the defensive stands which kept the Indians from allowing more points was a tackle for loss by Max Conover, along with two consecutive plays in the first quarter. Austin Kimball made a tackle for no gain on a third-and-four play on the HHS 26-yard line, and on the ensuing play, a double-team tackle by Jared Conn and Draven Stodgel for no gain forced a turnover on downs with 1:41 left in the opening quarter.
In the early stages of the second quarter, Hillsboro’s Deegan Boris and Stodgel made a nice group tackle for no gain as well. Later in the second, Conn had consecutive tackles for a loss as well. Logan Hester had an interception in the fourth quarter.
Next for the Indians (2-1) is a home game in Week 4 when they host the Williamsburg Wildcats at Richards Memorial Field. WHS (1-2) lost to the Goshen Warriors in Week 3 on Friday night by a 50-7 score.
This season, the Wildcats have also lost to Batavia (35-6) and defeated Paint Valley (21-20).
“Williamsburg is a well-coached team,” O’Rourke said. “They’re a small school just like East Clinton, but they have a lot of grit and a little fight in them. If we don’t come out to play, we’ll be in trouble, so we have to come out and play like we did tonight and play really hard and play solid football.”
The win by the Indians is their second of the season after three games, but for the Astros, they were handed their third consecutive loss to begin the 2017 season, leaving HHS at 2-1 overall and EC at 0-3.
Big scoring plays on offense, plus two interceptions for touchdowns, were the catalyst for the Indians to overcome a trick halfback pass on the first play of the game by the Astros that was East Clinton's lone score of the game.
Of the Indians’ big plays in the first half, all but one of their six touchdowns went for no less than 40 yards, with interceptions for touchdowns by Devon Gallimore for 50 yards and another interception for a touchdown from Britton Haines for 40-plus yards. Hillsboro — in the first half — also had scoring plays of 74 yards on a pass from Mason Swayne to Haines, a 60-yard run by Josh Keets for six points and a 70-yard run by Swayne.
On just plays that scored a touchdown in the first half, the Indians totaled 299 yards for what was a 42-7 halftime lead in their first road game of the season. At the half, the Indians unofficially totaled 294 yards of offense. After three quarters, the HHS offense unofficially had 359 yards.
Mark Gallimore finished with seven carries for 44 yards, and Keets had four carries for 85 yards. Swayne rushed for 103 yards on five carries and one touchdown and passed for 80 yards and two touchdowns on two completions.
“We just got back to what we do. Anytime you do that (score on offense and defense), that’s good,” HHS head coach Jack O’Rourke said.
The Indians trailed by a 7-0 score to start the game when senior running back Wyatt Floyd found a wide-open Patrick Dotson for a 61-yard touchdown pass and six points for the Astros. The PAT by EC kicker Austin Arellano put Hillsboro down early 7-0 with 11:43 on the first-quarter clock.
That was all the scoring allowed by the Indians, as not only did the defense hunker down, but the offense got their chance to take the field. On a drive that lasted 5:05, the Indians tied the score with a 5-yard run on first-and-goal up the middle by Mark Gallimore with 6:33 left in the opening quarter. That drive went eight plays for 67 yards. The PAT by Haines tied the score at 7-7.
On their second drive of the game, Hillsboro took just one play to take the lead for good over EC, with Swayne finding Haines in stride for a 74-yard touchdown score with 54 seconds left in the first quarter. Haines didn’t have much time to celebrate as he kicked the extra point for a 14-7 score.
Hillsboro added to their lead in the early stages of the third quarter on a first down play near midfield. Devon Gallimore had a pick-six for a touchdown, taking the interception on a screen pass for 50 yards to pay dirt with 11:27 left in the second quarter. Haines converted another PAT for the 21-7 advantage.
Following the Indians defense forcing a punt, the offense of the Tribe took just one play once again to add to their lead. This time it came off a 60-yard rush by Josh Keets, with the junior racing down the sideline untouched for the score. Haines went 4-for-4 on PAT attempts for the 28-7 advantage with 8:48 left in the first half.
The Indians weren’t finished with their big play scoring in the first half, because with 4:24 left in the second, Swayne raced away for a 70-yard score to the end zone. Haines made his fifth PAT for a 35-7 lead.
HHS scored one last touchdown in the first half, this time where Haines intercepted a pass and took it on a 40-yard journey to the end zone with 9.9 seconds left in the first half. Haines’ PAT made the score 42-7.
In the second half — with the 35-point running clock going — the Indians took up all but 46.5 seconds of the third frame with an offensive drive that went 16 plays for 74 yards. The drive ended with Swayne passing to Reece Bloomfield for a score on fourth-and-goal on the 6-yard line. The PAT was no good, leaving the score at 48-7.
“I didn’t expect to do that,” O’Rourke said of controlling the ball in the third quarter. “We were trying to give some kids that haven’t carried the ball too much some reps, and it worked out pretty well for us.”
Even with all of the standout scoring plays, the Indians’ defense kept the Astros scoreless for all but the very early stages of the first quarter, allowing HHS to have 48 unanswered points, including the two aforementioned interceptions for touchdowns.
One of the defensive stands which kept the Indians from allowing more points was a tackle for loss by Max Conover, along with two consecutive plays in the first quarter. Austin Kimball made a tackle for no gain on a third-and-four play on the HHS 26-yard line, and on the ensuing play, a double-team tackle by Jared Conn and Draven Stodgel for no gain forced a turnover on downs with 1:41 left in the opening quarter.
In the early stages of the second quarter, Hillsboro’s Deegan Boris and Stodgel made a nice group tackle for no gain as well. Later in the second, Conn had consecutive tackles for a loss as well. Logan Hester had an interception in the fourth quarter.
Next for the Indians (2-1) is a home game in Week 4 when they host the Williamsburg Wildcats at Richards Memorial Field. WHS (1-2) lost to the Goshen Warriors in Week 3 on Friday night by a 50-7 score.
This season, the Wildcats have also lost to Batavia (35-6) and defeated Paint Valley (21-20).
“Williamsburg is a well-coached team,” O’Rourke said. “They’re a small school just like East Clinton, but they have a lot of grit and a little fight in them. If we don’t come out to play, we’ll be in trouble, so we have to come out and play like we did tonight and play really hard and play solid football.”