Indians earn 5th win of season on homecoming; defeat Washington
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
For the fifth time in seven games this season, the Hillsboro Indians left the football field as the victors, and this time it wasn’t just a strong rushing attack, but the host Indians on homecoming also came up with two late fourth-quarter stops on defense for a 41-34 win over the visiting Washington Blue Lions.
The win by the Indians at Richards Memorial Field moves them to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the Frontier Athletic Conference. The win also guarantees the Indians their first season at or above the .500 mark since 2009.
Hillsboro accomplished all of those feats with a second-half performance where there were some ups and downs, but in the end it was smooth sailing for the Indians as they overcame losing the ball on an onside kick that was recovered by the Blue Lions with 3:57 left in regulation, with Justin Spears gaining an interception with 2:56 on the fourth-quarter clock.
[[In-content Ad]]
The Blue Lions regained possession of the ball by forcing a fumble on the first offensive play by the Indians, which the visitors recovered with 2:51 left in regulation and the Indians ahead by just seven points at 41-34.
Those numbers on the scoreboard never changed thanks to the Indians fending off the Blue Lions, who began the drive following the fumble on the HHS 9-yard line with 2:51 on the clock. Following the Blue Lions gaining three yards on a run by Jacob Rice on first down, the next play saw an incomplete pass, and following a timeout before third down, Reece Bloomfield gained a tackle for a one-yard loss.
On fourth-and-goal from the 7-yard line, the Blue Lions went to the air, looking for a player in the back of the end zone, but Mason Swayne was there for the Indians and batted down the pass to force a turnover on downs with 1:45 remaining in the game.
The Indians gained the two first downs needed to run out the clock, first on a 27-yard rush by Keets and later on third-and-1 Devon Gallimore ended the game with a two-yard dash, securing the seven-point win.
“The kids stuck together, they stepped up and they wanted to win the game,” HHS head coach Jack O’Rourke said of his team’s play on Friday night.
Even with the defensive effort late in the game, the offensive rushing attack of grind it out football and making the clock tick away were key for the Indians in Week 7 against the Blue Lions.
The Indians were led in rushing by Josh Keets and Deon Burns, as both ran behind an offensive line performance (Kole Maynard, Max Conover, Lane Cluff, Michael Rose and R.J. Swackhamer) that opened rushing paths and allowed Keets and Burns to deliver hits to the second and third lines of defense of the Blue Lions en route to the end zone a combined four times.
Burns finished the game with an unofficial 132 yards on 23 carries for three touchdowns, while Keets unofficially totaled 212 yards on 18 carries with one touchdown, a run that went 40 yards. Combined, the two running backs collected 344 yards on the ground.
The game played out as both teams tried to mix the run with the pass, but the Indians were more successful with their rushing attack, and the Blue Lions had multiple big plays through the air.
Neither team was able to score on their first drive of the game, but Hillsboro was first to reach the end zone. They did so by using the aforementioned rushing attack, putting together a six-play, 74-yard drive that consisted of runs from Keets, Swayne, Burns and Devon Gallimore, but it was Keets who scored the six points on a 40-yard race to the end zone with 5:12 on the clock. Britton Haines kicked the PAT for a 7-0 advantage for the Indians.
It wasn’t long before the Blue Lions (0-2, 3-4) tied the game with a 32-yard pass by Richard Burns to Eli Lynch for 32 yards and six points. Nick Bishop kicked the PAT, tying the score at 7-7.
Following an Indians punt, the Blue Lions compiled a seven-play, 72-yard drive that included a 42-yard gain on a pass by Richard Burns to Lynch and later ended on a fourth-and-7 play from eight yards out where Burns found Lynch again for a touchdown with 10:10 left in the second quarter.
This time, the Washington lead was the one that didn’t last for long, as on the ensuing drive Hillsboro amped up their offense on a drive that included a 29-yard rush from Keets, and two plays later, a 17-yard rumble to the end zone from Deon Burns, who carried defensive players to the end zone with him with 7:56 left in the first half. Haines made the PAT for a 14-14 tied score.
On the next drive, the Indians forced a turnover with Mark Gallimore intercepting a pass, but as he was being tackled, the Blue Lions regained possession of the ball on a controversial call by the officials.
The Blue Lions took advantage of the situation and scored a 21-yard touchdown on a pass from Richard Burns to Zane Nelson — who was open in the end zone — with 4:59 left on the second-quarter clock. Washington didn’t convert the two-point conversion, leaving the score 20-14 in favor of the Blue Lions.
Hillsboro had a touchdown of over 80 yards from Mason Lewis called back due to a holding call, but the Indians still managed to reach the end zone three plays later. The score came on a rare pass from the Indians where Swayne passed to Haines for a wide-open 68-yard touchdown where Haines had to beat one defender to pay dirt on a third-and-1 play from the 32-yard line. Haines then kicked the extra point for a 21-20 lead for the Indians.
The defense of the Indians answered the call by forcing a three-and-out, then the offense did their part by scoring another touchdown before the half. This scoring drive — the fourth of the game for the Tribe — consisted of a 22-yard rush by Swayne, followed by four consecutive runs from Keets (a total of 28 yards), a three-yard rush by Burns, then rushes of three yards by Keets and one yard by Swayne to set up first-and-goal on the 1-yard line.
Burns completed the drive with a one-yard score, his second of three touchdowns with 25.4 left in the first half, leaving the score at 27-20.
The start of the second half belonged to the Blue Lions, as the visitors took just five plays and 56 yards to tie the score, as Rice went 11 yards on third down to score six points. The PAT was good, tying the score at 27 with 10:01 left in the third.
It was more like an “anything you can do, I can do better” type of start to the third, with the Indians being the ones who answered the Blue Lions score with one of their own. HHS put together a 70-yard drive that included a 19-yard rush from Keets and 11-yard carry by Devon Gallimore, then another big carry by Keets for 15 yards where he broke and spun away from three tackles.
On the next play, Burns had a nine-yard carry, and three plays later Burns raced 10 yards to the end zone with 6:32 left in the third. Haines connected with another PAT to make it a 34-27 lead for the Indians.
Hillsboro took a two-touchdown lead with 6:28 left in the fourth quarter when Devon Gallimore ended what was a 93-yard, 12-play drive with a 36-yard run for a touchdown for a 41-27 lead following the converted PAT.
Washington made the game interesting with a touchdown drive that took two minutes and 15 seconds and ended with Rice scoring on a four-yard touchdown. The game become even more interesting with the Blue Lions recovering an onside kick.
On the ensuing drive, the Indians defense stepped up with a tackle for a two-yard loss on first down by Deegan Boris and Burns, and later came the aforementioned interception by Spears with 2:56 left in regulation.
Then came the second defense stop that kept the Indians in the lead for good, giving them their first win over the Blue Lions since 2005, when Hillsboro defeated WCH by a score of 39-13 at Richards Memorial Field.
Prior to the game, Hillsboro senior Bethany Taylor was crowned homecoming queen, and senior football player Kole Maynard was named homecoming king.
Next for the Indians is a second straight home game, this time against FAC foe Jackson at Richards Memorial Field at 7 p.m. Jackson (2-0, 6-1) defeated the Miami Trace Panthers Friday night in Week 7 by a 48-28 score.
The win by the Indians at Richards Memorial Field moves them to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the Frontier Athletic Conference. The win also guarantees the Indians their first season at or above the .500 mark since 2009.
Hillsboro accomplished all of those feats with a second-half performance where there were some ups and downs, but in the end it was smooth sailing for the Indians as they overcame losing the ball on an onside kick that was recovered by the Blue Lions with 3:57 left in regulation, with Justin Spears gaining an interception with 2:56 on the fourth-quarter clock.
[[In-content Ad]]
The Blue Lions regained possession of the ball by forcing a fumble on the first offensive play by the Indians, which the visitors recovered with 2:51 left in regulation and the Indians ahead by just seven points at 41-34.
Those numbers on the scoreboard never changed thanks to the Indians fending off the Blue Lions, who began the drive following the fumble on the HHS 9-yard line with 2:51 on the clock. Following the Blue Lions gaining three yards on a run by Jacob Rice on first down, the next play saw an incomplete pass, and following a timeout before third down, Reece Bloomfield gained a tackle for a one-yard loss.
On fourth-and-goal from the 7-yard line, the Blue Lions went to the air, looking for a player in the back of the end zone, but Mason Swayne was there for the Indians and batted down the pass to force a turnover on downs with 1:45 remaining in the game.
The Indians gained the two first downs needed to run out the clock, first on a 27-yard rush by Keets and later on third-and-1 Devon Gallimore ended the game with a two-yard dash, securing the seven-point win.
“The kids stuck together, they stepped up and they wanted to win the game,” HHS head coach Jack O’Rourke said of his team’s play on Friday night.
Even with the defensive effort late in the game, the offensive rushing attack of grind it out football and making the clock tick away were key for the Indians in Week 7 against the Blue Lions.
The Indians were led in rushing by Josh Keets and Deon Burns, as both ran behind an offensive line performance (Kole Maynard, Max Conover, Lane Cluff, Michael Rose and R.J. Swackhamer) that opened rushing paths and allowed Keets and Burns to deliver hits to the second and third lines of defense of the Blue Lions en route to the end zone a combined four times.
Burns finished the game with an unofficial 132 yards on 23 carries for three touchdowns, while Keets unofficially totaled 212 yards on 18 carries with one touchdown, a run that went 40 yards. Combined, the two running backs collected 344 yards on the ground.
The game played out as both teams tried to mix the run with the pass, but the Indians were more successful with their rushing attack, and the Blue Lions had multiple big plays through the air.
Neither team was able to score on their first drive of the game, but Hillsboro was first to reach the end zone. They did so by using the aforementioned rushing attack, putting together a six-play, 74-yard drive that consisted of runs from Keets, Swayne, Burns and Devon Gallimore, but it was Keets who scored the six points on a 40-yard race to the end zone with 5:12 on the clock. Britton Haines kicked the PAT for a 7-0 advantage for the Indians.
It wasn’t long before the Blue Lions (0-2, 3-4) tied the game with a 32-yard pass by Richard Burns to Eli Lynch for 32 yards and six points. Nick Bishop kicked the PAT, tying the score at 7-7.
Following an Indians punt, the Blue Lions compiled a seven-play, 72-yard drive that included a 42-yard gain on a pass by Richard Burns to Lynch and later ended on a fourth-and-7 play from eight yards out where Burns found Lynch again for a touchdown with 10:10 left in the second quarter.
This time, the Washington lead was the one that didn’t last for long, as on the ensuing drive Hillsboro amped up their offense on a drive that included a 29-yard rush from Keets, and two plays later, a 17-yard rumble to the end zone from Deon Burns, who carried defensive players to the end zone with him with 7:56 left in the first half. Haines made the PAT for a 14-14 tied score.
On the next drive, the Indians forced a turnover with Mark Gallimore intercepting a pass, but as he was being tackled, the Blue Lions regained possession of the ball on a controversial call by the officials.
The Blue Lions took advantage of the situation and scored a 21-yard touchdown on a pass from Richard Burns to Zane Nelson — who was open in the end zone — with 4:59 left on the second-quarter clock. Washington didn’t convert the two-point conversion, leaving the score 20-14 in favor of the Blue Lions.
Hillsboro had a touchdown of over 80 yards from Mason Lewis called back due to a holding call, but the Indians still managed to reach the end zone three plays later. The score came on a rare pass from the Indians where Swayne passed to Haines for a wide-open 68-yard touchdown where Haines had to beat one defender to pay dirt on a third-and-1 play from the 32-yard line. Haines then kicked the extra point for a 21-20 lead for the Indians.
The defense of the Indians answered the call by forcing a three-and-out, then the offense did their part by scoring another touchdown before the half. This scoring drive — the fourth of the game for the Tribe — consisted of a 22-yard rush by Swayne, followed by four consecutive runs from Keets (a total of 28 yards), a three-yard rush by Burns, then rushes of three yards by Keets and one yard by Swayne to set up first-and-goal on the 1-yard line.
Burns completed the drive with a one-yard score, his second of three touchdowns with 25.4 left in the first half, leaving the score at 27-20.
The start of the second half belonged to the Blue Lions, as the visitors took just five plays and 56 yards to tie the score, as Rice went 11 yards on third down to score six points. The PAT was good, tying the score at 27 with 10:01 left in the third.
It was more like an “anything you can do, I can do better” type of start to the third, with the Indians being the ones who answered the Blue Lions score with one of their own. HHS put together a 70-yard drive that included a 19-yard rush from Keets and 11-yard carry by Devon Gallimore, then another big carry by Keets for 15 yards where he broke and spun away from three tackles.
On the next play, Burns had a nine-yard carry, and three plays later Burns raced 10 yards to the end zone with 6:32 left in the third. Haines connected with another PAT to make it a 34-27 lead for the Indians.
Hillsboro took a two-touchdown lead with 6:28 left in the fourth quarter when Devon Gallimore ended what was a 93-yard, 12-play drive with a 36-yard run for a touchdown for a 41-27 lead following the converted PAT.
Washington made the game interesting with a touchdown drive that took two minutes and 15 seconds and ended with Rice scoring on a four-yard touchdown. The game become even more interesting with the Blue Lions recovering an onside kick.
On the ensuing drive, the Indians defense stepped up with a tackle for a two-yard loss on first down by Deegan Boris and Burns, and later came the aforementioned interception by Spears with 2:56 left in regulation.
Then came the second defense stop that kept the Indians in the lead for good, giving them their first win over the Blue Lions since 2005, when Hillsboro defeated WCH by a score of 39-13 at Richards Memorial Field.
Prior to the game, Hillsboro senior Bethany Taylor was crowned homecoming queen, and senior football player Kole Maynard was named homecoming king.
Next for the Indians is a second straight home game, this time against FAC foe Jackson at Richards Memorial Field at 7 p.m. Jackson (2-0, 6-1) defeated the Miami Trace Panthers Friday night in Week 7 by a 48-28 score.