Indians lose to Goshen on soggy night
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
A second straight win to start the 2017 season wasn’t in the books for the Hillsboro Indians, as that hope was washed away by a persistent rainfall all game long and even more so by a Goshen Warriors team that took advantage of Hillsboro miscues to win by a 39-15 score Friday night.
The Week 2 game at Richards Memorial Field never had the same big game atmosphere as they had the previous week, with the weather not helping matters, and the rushing game being without Deon Burns, who was injured in the first game of the season. To make matters worse, the Indians lost the abilities of junior running back Josh Keets in the second half, resulting in the Indians not having two of their running backs for most of the non-conference game.
If that wasn’t enough, the Warriors (2-0) scored two touchdowns on turnovers made by the Indians, including one score at the end of the second quarter that took a 14-7 score near halftime to a Goshen lead of 20-7 with 26.1 left in the first half.
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All of that added up to a tough night for Hillsboro, and head coach Jack O’Rourke spoke about those instances following the game.
“That was a killer (the interception for a touchdown), and we needed to come out in the second half and shut them down in the second half and we didn’t do that,” O’Rourke said. “That put us behind the eight ball further, and in the rain it is hard to come back.
“It is expected in these kind of conditions (turnovers), but we just have to take better care of the football.”
O’Rourke also talked about his two injured running backs.
“I’m not sure on the status of Burns,” O’Rourke said. “He has an ankle sprain, and Keets got hit in the knee, and we don’t know much about it at this time.”
The first half between the Indians (1-1) and the Warriors was close on the stat sheet with the Indians having 127 yards of offense and the Warriors gaining 129 in the first two quarters combined. In the second half, the Indians unofficially had 115 yards of offense, for a unofficial total of 242 yards of offense.
Hillsboro’s big drive of the first half began with 5:53 left in the first quarter and consisted of 14 plays and 72 yards, though it almost didn’t happen. The first play of the drive began on Hillsboro’s 28-yard line with a 1-yard run by Mason Swayne, who recovered his own fumble. From there, Swayne had another 1-yard run, plus a penalty on the Warriors gave HHS a first down. Swayne added a rush of five yards, followed by a 4-yard run by Keets.
On a third-and-1 play, Devon Gallimore gained the first down on a 5-yard run, taking the Indians to their own 41-yard line. Next, Gallimore had a rush of one yard and Keets raced for a 13-yard gain, barreling through a Goshen defensive player.
Mark Gallimore followed with an 11-yard run, then HHS had a no gain and an 8-yard rush by Swayne on a quarterback keeper on the ensuing play to end the first quarter with a 7-0 deficit.
The Indians continued their drive with Mark Gallimore gaining a first down on a 4-yard rush on a third-and-2 play to start the second quarter, setting up a first-and-goal scenario on the 3-yard line. On the ensuing play, Mark Gallimore had a 2-yard run. The next play was a 1-yard rush by Swayne for six points with 10:53 left in the second quarter. The PAT by Britton Haines left the score tied at 7-7.
Now there is the fact that the Warriors scored first in the game on their first possession when they built a six-play, 45-yard drive that ended with a 7-yard pass from Kyle Proffitt to Josh Ulrey on a third-and-goal play for the touchdown with 5:58 left in the second quarter.
Following the aforementioned touchdown by the Indians, the Warriors added their second score, this time following a timeout. The Warriors went five yards on a rush by Payton Leugers on another third-and-goal play with 2:12 left in the first half.
The Indians tried to tie the score late in the second quarter when they began a drive on their own 13-yard line. The drive consisted of big plays from Keets, including a 37-yard run on second down, and later Keets caught a screen pass from Swayne (who was under heavy pressure) and took it 23 yards to the Goshen 25-yard line.
On fourth-and-4, though, the momentum of the game shifted in a big way when Ulrey of Goshen intercepted an off-balanced pass and raced at least 80 yards to the end zone with 26.1 left in the second quarter. The PAT was no good, but GHS led 20-7 at halftime.
The Warriors scored on the opening drive of the third quarter when they completed a six-play, 55-yard drive as Proffitt raced for a 9-yard score with 9:05 left in the quarter. The PAT was no good, leaving GHS in front, 26-7.
Goshen increased their lead to 33-7 when they had Jimmy Strunk rush for a 30-yard score with 1:22 left in the third. This time the PAT was good, completing a 65-yard drive.
The Indians responded with a fumble that was recovered by Goshen’s Dawson Ramey in the early stages of the fourth quarter, but HHS equaled that feat as Jared Conn had a fumble recovery for the HHS with 9:47 left in the game.
That fumble recovery on Hillsboro’s 31-yard line eventually resulted in a second touchdown for the Indians, as Swayne began the drive with a 21-yard rush, maneuvering his way past a number of defenders. Two plays later, Mason Lewis had a 9-yard run, and next a 1-yard rush sent him to the end zone for a touchdown with 8:06 left on the fourth-quarter clock. Haines had a two-point conversion run.
The final score of the game came on a 36-yard fumble recovery and run to the end zone by Leugers with 3:04 left in regulation. The PAT was no good, leaving the score at 39-15.
Next for the Indians is a non-conference road game on Friday, Sept. 8 at East Clinton (0-2). EC lost on Thursday night to the Batavia Bulldogs by a 27-7 score.
“That will be another challenge in itself, and it is a good rival for us. Hopefully we’ll come ready to play,” O’Rourke said.
The Week 2 game at Richards Memorial Field never had the same big game atmosphere as they had the previous week, with the weather not helping matters, and the rushing game being without Deon Burns, who was injured in the first game of the season. To make matters worse, the Indians lost the abilities of junior running back Josh Keets in the second half, resulting in the Indians not having two of their running backs for most of the non-conference game.
If that wasn’t enough, the Warriors (2-0) scored two touchdowns on turnovers made by the Indians, including one score at the end of the second quarter that took a 14-7 score near halftime to a Goshen lead of 20-7 with 26.1 left in the first half.
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All of that added up to a tough night for Hillsboro, and head coach Jack O’Rourke spoke about those instances following the game.
“That was a killer (the interception for a touchdown), and we needed to come out in the second half and shut them down in the second half and we didn’t do that,” O’Rourke said. “That put us behind the eight ball further, and in the rain it is hard to come back.
“It is expected in these kind of conditions (turnovers), but we just have to take better care of the football.”
O’Rourke also talked about his two injured running backs.
“I’m not sure on the status of Burns,” O’Rourke said. “He has an ankle sprain, and Keets got hit in the knee, and we don’t know much about it at this time.”
The first half between the Indians (1-1) and the Warriors was close on the stat sheet with the Indians having 127 yards of offense and the Warriors gaining 129 in the first two quarters combined. In the second half, the Indians unofficially had 115 yards of offense, for a unofficial total of 242 yards of offense.
Hillsboro’s big drive of the first half began with 5:53 left in the first quarter and consisted of 14 plays and 72 yards, though it almost didn’t happen. The first play of the drive began on Hillsboro’s 28-yard line with a 1-yard run by Mason Swayne, who recovered his own fumble. From there, Swayne had another 1-yard run, plus a penalty on the Warriors gave HHS a first down. Swayne added a rush of five yards, followed by a 4-yard run by Keets.
On a third-and-1 play, Devon Gallimore gained the first down on a 5-yard run, taking the Indians to their own 41-yard line. Next, Gallimore had a rush of one yard and Keets raced for a 13-yard gain, barreling through a Goshen defensive player.
Mark Gallimore followed with an 11-yard run, then HHS had a no gain and an 8-yard rush by Swayne on a quarterback keeper on the ensuing play to end the first quarter with a 7-0 deficit.
The Indians continued their drive with Mark Gallimore gaining a first down on a 4-yard rush on a third-and-2 play to start the second quarter, setting up a first-and-goal scenario on the 3-yard line. On the ensuing play, Mark Gallimore had a 2-yard run. The next play was a 1-yard rush by Swayne for six points with 10:53 left in the second quarter. The PAT by Britton Haines left the score tied at 7-7.
Now there is the fact that the Warriors scored first in the game on their first possession when they built a six-play, 45-yard drive that ended with a 7-yard pass from Kyle Proffitt to Josh Ulrey on a third-and-goal play for the touchdown with 5:58 left in the second quarter.
Following the aforementioned touchdown by the Indians, the Warriors added their second score, this time following a timeout. The Warriors went five yards on a rush by Payton Leugers on another third-and-goal play with 2:12 left in the first half.
The Indians tried to tie the score late in the second quarter when they began a drive on their own 13-yard line. The drive consisted of big plays from Keets, including a 37-yard run on second down, and later Keets caught a screen pass from Swayne (who was under heavy pressure) and took it 23 yards to the Goshen 25-yard line.
On fourth-and-4, though, the momentum of the game shifted in a big way when Ulrey of Goshen intercepted an off-balanced pass and raced at least 80 yards to the end zone with 26.1 left in the second quarter. The PAT was no good, but GHS led 20-7 at halftime.
The Warriors scored on the opening drive of the third quarter when they completed a six-play, 55-yard drive as Proffitt raced for a 9-yard score with 9:05 left in the quarter. The PAT was no good, leaving GHS in front, 26-7.
Goshen increased their lead to 33-7 when they had Jimmy Strunk rush for a 30-yard score with 1:22 left in the third. This time the PAT was good, completing a 65-yard drive.
The Indians responded with a fumble that was recovered by Goshen’s Dawson Ramey in the early stages of the fourth quarter, but HHS equaled that feat as Jared Conn had a fumble recovery for the HHS with 9:47 left in the game.
That fumble recovery on Hillsboro’s 31-yard line eventually resulted in a second touchdown for the Indians, as Swayne began the drive with a 21-yard rush, maneuvering his way past a number of defenders. Two plays later, Mason Lewis had a 9-yard run, and next a 1-yard rush sent him to the end zone for a touchdown with 8:06 left on the fourth-quarter clock. Haines had a two-point conversion run.
The final score of the game came on a 36-yard fumble recovery and run to the end zone by Leugers with 3:04 left in regulation. The PAT was no good, leaving the score at 39-15.
Next for the Indians is a non-conference road game on Friday, Sept. 8 at East Clinton (0-2). EC lost on Thursday night to the Batavia Bulldogs by a 27-7 score.
“That will be another challenge in itself, and it is a good rival for us. Hopefully we’ll come ready to play,” O’Rourke said.