Indians improve to 4-1; defeat CNE on the road
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
OWENSVILLE — Three touchdowns by Hillsboro running back Deon Burns and a grind-it-out style of rushing game by the Hillsboro offense, plus a stifling defense, pushed the Indians to their fourth win of the season Friday night, this time over the Clermont Northeastern Rockets.
Hillsboro’s offense totaled over 400 yards, which led to a 37-6 victory, but their defense didn’t allow a point until the fourth quarter when the win was already well in hand. Even with how the Indians used their rushing attack and had good play for the most part, it wasn’t a pretty win for the Tribe, as many penalties were committed.
As for the scoring for the Indians, look no further than their goal line play in the red zone as Burns scored three touchdowns and a two-point conversion run in the Indians’ 31-point victory.
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“Deon is a hard runner,” HHS head coach Jack O’Rourke said. “They (CNE) gave it to us, and we took it.
“They (CNE) tried to take part of our game away, so we went other ways. We took what they gave us. There were a lot of penalties tonight. We’ll get the film and see if we can make some adjustments.”
The win by HHS also ties their win total from last season, moving them to 4-1 overall as they wrapped up their non-conference portion of their schedule. Dating back to last season, the Indians have won seven of their past eight games on the gridiron.
As for their Week 5 win on Friday night at CNE, the Indians forced the Rockets (3-2) to punt the football on their first drive, but the Indians were forced into the same scenario with a punt of their own.
After the HHS punt, the Rockets had the ball for just one play as Devon Gallimore forced a fumble and recovered the loose ball for the Indians on their own 24-yard line.
On the turnover by CNE, the Indians took advantage of regaining the football by putting together an eight-play, 76-yard drive that began with a 26-yard rush by Josh Keets. That was followed with consecutive 3-yard rushes by Mason Lewis and another 26-yard rush by Keets, where he brought defenders along for the ride.
Two plays later, on a second down play, Keets rushed for 17 yards to set up first-and-goal on the CNE 9-yard line. On that play, Burns powered his way to a 7-yard gain and on second-and-goal reached pay dirt with a 2-yard rush for six points with 1:49 left in the first quarter. The PAT by Britton Haines left the Indians in front by a 7-0 score, as they didn’t trail for the entirety of the game.
After exchanging the football on a punt and then a Indians turnover, the Tribe made their mark on defense yet again, this time by forcing a turnover on downs on their own 33-yard line with tackles from Lane Cluff, Austin Kimball and Deegan Boris, and on fourth-and-6, Mark Gallimore broke up a pass to give the Indians possession of the ball with 6:58 left in the first half.
Following the turnovers on downs, it took the Indians seven plays to go 67 yards to make it a 14-0 lead with 4:24 left in the second quarter. The drive had plays of a six-yard run by Keets and later a six-yard carry by Devon Gallimore, an eight-yard rush from Burns, followed by another eight-yard carry by Keets.
Next was a 40-yard pass from Mason Swayne to Devon Gallimore to put them back on the CNE 5-yard line. On the ensuing play, Burns carried the football for five yards and a touchdown. The PAT by Haines gave the Indians a 14-point lead on the road near halftime.
The Indians used a little trickery before the end of the first half by recovering an onside kick at the CNE 49-yard line with Keets landing on the football. The Indians didn’t mess around with the gift possession and used a 10-play drive to add to their lead before the end of the first half. Plays that stood out on the drive included an 11-yard run by Burns.
Later, a 12-yard rush from Keets led to the Indians getting near the goal line. The touchdown came on a third-and-goal play when Haines caught the pitch for a reverse run that saw him go four yards into the end zone with 25 seconds left in the first half. The Indians scored two points on their two-point conversion attempt with Lewis catching the pass from Keets in the back of the end zone with one hand for the 22-0 advantage.
The first half ended with Haines intercepting a pass by the Rockets.
Hillsboro opened the second half with another strong drive that left them overcoming a couple penalties, but ultimately reaching the end zone on a five-yard rush by Burns on first-and-goal with 8:20 left in the third frame. Burns added two more points on a rush on the two-point attempt for a 30-0 advantage for the Indians.
Two plays later, the Indians forced a turnover on a fumble that was recovered by Kimball with 8:03 left in the third frame. Though the drive by the Indians ended with an interception, maybe the most impressive run of the night came from Burns on the drive. The Indians were in a third-and-14 scenario on their own 41-yard line when the junior kept the drive alive by not just powering his way for a 14-yard gain, but battling off multiple defenders and carrying them to the first down marker for a first down.
The drive was later full of personal fouls, delays of game and then the interception return to the HHS 19-yard line with 3:31 left in the third quarter. It took the Rockets eight plays to go the initial 19 yards, but they eventually scored their lone touchdown in the early stages of the fourth quarter off a four-yard pass with 11:10 left on the scoreboard. In that scoring drive, the Indians defense had a tackle by Cluff that forced a third down play, later followed by a six-yard tackle for loss from Draven Stodgel with the assist from Michael Rose.
Hillsboro’s final touchdown came with 7:54 left in regulation when Lewis reached the end zone on an eight-yard rush on second-and-goal. The PAT from Haines was good for the final 37-6 score.
In the late stages of the fourth quarter, the Indians had a fumble forced by Luke Middleton and then a pass batted away by Justin Spears. Also in the same quarter, Max Conover and Logan Hester were involved in timely tackles for the Indians to help keep CNE at six points.
Next for the Indians is their first Frontier Athletic Conference game of the season as they will travel to Chillicothe to face the Cavaliers. CHS won in Week 5 over Logan by a 43-21 score. The Cavs are 3-2 on the season.
“We’ve got one of the better teams right off the bat,” O’Rourke said of the start of conference play. “We’ll have to step up our play. We can’t play like we played (Friday) and expect to win next week.”
Hillsboro’s offense totaled over 400 yards, which led to a 37-6 victory, but their defense didn’t allow a point until the fourth quarter when the win was already well in hand. Even with how the Indians used their rushing attack and had good play for the most part, it wasn’t a pretty win for the Tribe, as many penalties were committed.
As for the scoring for the Indians, look no further than their goal line play in the red zone as Burns scored three touchdowns and a two-point conversion run in the Indians’ 31-point victory.
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“Deon is a hard runner,” HHS head coach Jack O’Rourke said. “They (CNE) gave it to us, and we took it.
“They (CNE) tried to take part of our game away, so we went other ways. We took what they gave us. There were a lot of penalties tonight. We’ll get the film and see if we can make some adjustments.”
The win by HHS also ties their win total from last season, moving them to 4-1 overall as they wrapped up their non-conference portion of their schedule. Dating back to last season, the Indians have won seven of their past eight games on the gridiron.
As for their Week 5 win on Friday night at CNE, the Indians forced the Rockets (3-2) to punt the football on their first drive, but the Indians were forced into the same scenario with a punt of their own.
After the HHS punt, the Rockets had the ball for just one play as Devon Gallimore forced a fumble and recovered the loose ball for the Indians on their own 24-yard line.
On the turnover by CNE, the Indians took advantage of regaining the football by putting together an eight-play, 76-yard drive that began with a 26-yard rush by Josh Keets. That was followed with consecutive 3-yard rushes by Mason Lewis and another 26-yard rush by Keets, where he brought defenders along for the ride.
Two plays later, on a second down play, Keets rushed for 17 yards to set up first-and-goal on the CNE 9-yard line. On that play, Burns powered his way to a 7-yard gain and on second-and-goal reached pay dirt with a 2-yard rush for six points with 1:49 left in the first quarter. The PAT by Britton Haines left the Indians in front by a 7-0 score, as they didn’t trail for the entirety of the game.
After exchanging the football on a punt and then a Indians turnover, the Tribe made their mark on defense yet again, this time by forcing a turnover on downs on their own 33-yard line with tackles from Lane Cluff, Austin Kimball and Deegan Boris, and on fourth-and-6, Mark Gallimore broke up a pass to give the Indians possession of the ball with 6:58 left in the first half.
Following the turnovers on downs, it took the Indians seven plays to go 67 yards to make it a 14-0 lead with 4:24 left in the second quarter. The drive had plays of a six-yard run by Keets and later a six-yard carry by Devon Gallimore, an eight-yard rush from Burns, followed by another eight-yard carry by Keets.
Next was a 40-yard pass from Mason Swayne to Devon Gallimore to put them back on the CNE 5-yard line. On the ensuing play, Burns carried the football for five yards and a touchdown. The PAT by Haines gave the Indians a 14-point lead on the road near halftime.
The Indians used a little trickery before the end of the first half by recovering an onside kick at the CNE 49-yard line with Keets landing on the football. The Indians didn’t mess around with the gift possession and used a 10-play drive to add to their lead before the end of the first half. Plays that stood out on the drive included an 11-yard run by Burns.
Later, a 12-yard rush from Keets led to the Indians getting near the goal line. The touchdown came on a third-and-goal play when Haines caught the pitch for a reverse run that saw him go four yards into the end zone with 25 seconds left in the first half. The Indians scored two points on their two-point conversion attempt with Lewis catching the pass from Keets in the back of the end zone with one hand for the 22-0 advantage.
The first half ended with Haines intercepting a pass by the Rockets.
Hillsboro opened the second half with another strong drive that left them overcoming a couple penalties, but ultimately reaching the end zone on a five-yard rush by Burns on first-and-goal with 8:20 left in the third frame. Burns added two more points on a rush on the two-point attempt for a 30-0 advantage for the Indians.
Two plays later, the Indians forced a turnover on a fumble that was recovered by Kimball with 8:03 left in the third frame. Though the drive by the Indians ended with an interception, maybe the most impressive run of the night came from Burns on the drive. The Indians were in a third-and-14 scenario on their own 41-yard line when the junior kept the drive alive by not just powering his way for a 14-yard gain, but battling off multiple defenders and carrying them to the first down marker for a first down.
The drive was later full of personal fouls, delays of game and then the interception return to the HHS 19-yard line with 3:31 left in the third quarter. It took the Rockets eight plays to go the initial 19 yards, but they eventually scored their lone touchdown in the early stages of the fourth quarter off a four-yard pass with 11:10 left on the scoreboard. In that scoring drive, the Indians defense had a tackle by Cluff that forced a third down play, later followed by a six-yard tackle for loss from Draven Stodgel with the assist from Michael Rose.
Hillsboro’s final touchdown came with 7:54 left in regulation when Lewis reached the end zone on an eight-yard rush on second-and-goal. The PAT from Haines was good for the final 37-6 score.
In the late stages of the fourth quarter, the Indians had a fumble forced by Luke Middleton and then a pass batted away by Justin Spears. Also in the same quarter, Max Conover and Logan Hester were involved in timely tackles for the Indians to help keep CNE at six points.
Next for the Indians is their first Frontier Athletic Conference game of the season as they will travel to Chillicothe to face the Cavaliers. CHS won in Week 5 over Logan by a 43-21 score. The Cavs are 3-2 on the season.
“We’ve got one of the better teams right off the bat,” O’Rourke said of the start of conference play. “We’ll have to step up our play. We can’t play like we played (Friday) and expect to win next week.”