Indians shut out by Miami Trace
EBER — Unable to control the line of scrimmage, the Hillsboro Indians couldn't stop the Miami Trace Panthers' rushing game or gain offensive momentum of their own.
Those two aspects of the game led to the Indians being shut out for the fifth consecutive week in South Central Ohio League play, falling to the Panthers at Panther Stadium by a 41-0 score Friday night.
"They (MT) played really well," HHS head coach Matt Hodge said. "They played hard, ran hard, they finished drives and finished blocks. We just didn't get it done (Friday)."
The loss moves the Indians to a 2-6 overall record and 0-5 mark in the SCOL. MT jumps to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the league.
After HHS was forced to punt on the first drive of the game, MT answered with a five-play touchdown drive that ended with a run by Jerimiah Jones for 18 yards and six points with 9:15 left in the opening quarter.
The PAT by Blake Pittser put MT ahead, 7-0.
MT scored the next time they gained possession of the ball, this time putting together a 10-play drive that went 62 yards with Jones scoring from five yards out on first-and-goal. The PAT by Pittser put MT ahead, 14-0 with 4:55 left in the first.
Still in the first quarter, the Panthers moved ahead 20-0 with a 54-yard run near the MT sideline by Russell Miller with 53.9 on the scoreboard.
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Miller scored another TD with 6:19 left in the second quarter, this time on a five-play drive that went 56 yards. The TD run came by Miller on first-and-goal from the 3-yard line. The PAT by Pittser left MT in front by a 27-0 score.
Miami Trace's lead went to 34 points following a 13-yard run by Jones with 10:54 left in the third.
The final TD score of the game came with 2:27 left in the third from a 3-yard run by Quinton Havens.
As for the Indians, they had a nice drive near the end of the second quarter, with Toby Warrington rushing for an 8-yard run. That was followed by a 20-yard pass to Latrell Haithcock.
Coach Hodge spoke about the Indians.
"I felt only one ball had air problems, but in order for us to be successful, we're going to have to complete some passes," Hodge said. "I don't feel like we did a good job up front tonight, and we didn't get the job done all the way around."
But with very little time left on the clock, the Indians threw an interception, with MT's Jake Webb intercepting the pass near the end zone.
Also in the second quarter, Ryan Hagan of HHS batted down an MT pass for a turnover on downs.
In the fourth quarter, Bryan Holley and R.J. Swackhamer had tackles for loss.