Indians win for 2nd straight year over Panthers
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
EBER — Luke Gallimore rushed for five touchdowns and Deon Burns scored three times, as they and the Hillsboro offensive line used power and speed to win for the second consecutive year over the Miami Trace Panthers.
This year, the Indians won at Panther Stadium by a 54-27 score, vaulting them to their third win of the season and their second in consecutive weeks.
Hillsboro (2-5, 3-6) brought the momentum gained from last week’s win against East Clinton and continued to use their ground attack, with Gallimore using the same speed and strength that got him to the state track meet last spring on the football field with not only the five touchdown runs, but a total of 276 yards of rushing for the game.
Gallimore had touchdown runs of 55, 74, 36, 14 and 27 yards. Those five runs alone combined for 206 yards and 32 of the 54 points scored by the Indians Friday night.
Then there were the power runs of Burns for three scores, with his runs of two, two and 12 yards adding 18 points to the Indians’ side of the scoreboard.
Don’t forget, there was a path made in the trenches for all the touchdown runs with the blocking of R.J. Swackhamer, Vincent, Deegan Boris, Jared Conn, Austin Miller and Reece Bloomfield all being a valued part of the Indians’ offense as well. There was also blocking from Brian Smith, Sajoun Jones and Britton Haines on the touchdown runs.
As an offense, the Indians unofficially totaled 574 yards of offense.
“I tell you what, Luke did a nice job, but the guys up front really did a nice job breaking him some nice holds,” HHS head coach Jack O’Rourke said. “The kid’s got momentum. When you get it going as we did tonight, it’s hard to stop him, and they couldn’t ever stop him tonight.
“Once you get the lead, you’ve got to try to milk the clock. We knew some of our best defense is our offense, when we start controlling the ball and just using small chunks of time. That’s what we were trying to do, and we did.
“Tonight is definitely our best football of the season.”
Now, just how did the game have what was a combined 81 points from both South Central Ohio League teams?
Even with all of the scoring the Indians gained, they weren’t the first to score points as the Panthers took a 3-0 lead with 4:46 left in the first quarter off a 32-yard field goal by Blake Pittser.
That lead was short-lived, with the Indians scoring three plays later on a 55-yard run by Gallimore on a third-and-6 play with 3:14 left in the opening quarter.
MT answered swiftly with a 24-yard score off a pass by Skylar McDonald to DeAndre Pettiford with 1:35 still left on the first-quarter clock.
Not to be outdone, the Indians scored more points in the first quarter with a 74-yard rush by Gallimore, beating the Panthers defense in a full sprint to the end zone for six points with 52.7 on the clock.
Miami Trace didn’t let off the gas either, scoring a touchdown on a second-and-17 play for a 62-yard touchdown off a pass from McDonald to Pettiford with 19.3 seconds left in the first frame.
Once the first quarter came to a close, the Panthers held a 17-14 lead.
HHS regained the lead with 11:40 on the second-quarter clock by having Gallimore race to pay dirt on a 36-yard rush on first-and-10 play. The PAT from Haines put the Indians in front, 21-17.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Indians used trickery by recovering an onside kick with Darrell McDaniel falling on the football with 11:37 left in the second quarter. Eight plays later, the Indians were back to scoring points, this time with Burns scoring the first of his three touchdowns on a first-and-goal play from the MT 4-yard line. The four-yard rush gave the Indians a 10-point lead at 27-17 with 7:39 remaining in the half.
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That scoring drive included a 20-yard reception from Hunter Chain to Jones on first down from the MT 24-yard line that set up the first-and-goal run by Burns.
MT came back with a field goal with 3:30 left in the second, cutting the HHS lead to six points at 27-20.
Following the field goal by Miami Trace, the Indians had more points on their mind, and scoring another touchdown is what they did. With 3:43 left in the second quarter, Chain rushed for a 28-yard gain on first down, and later on a third down play, Chain found Haines by the Indians’ sidelines for a 19-yard completion on a third-and-8 play.
Three plays later, Gallimore scored his fourth touchdown of the first half, catching a pitch and scoring on a sweep play for a 14-yard touchdown. The PAT by Haines was good, leaving the Indians ahead, 34-20 with 44.2 seconds left in the first half.
In the first half alone, Gallimore unofficially totaled 186 yards of rushing.
The third quarter saw the Panthers score first on a 13-yard pass from McDonald to Pettiford with 9:40 left in the third.
HHS answered that score with a touchdown of their own, compiling a 13-play, 69-yard drive that included a 21-yard reception by Jones. The points were scored on second-and-goal from the 2-yard line with Burns powering his way to the end zone with 3:39 left in the third quarter and a 41-27 lead by the Indians.
The Indians’ defense stepped up again by forcing a turnover on downs at their own 30-yard line and eventually went the 70 yards needed for another touchdown. This touchdown came on a 27-yard run by Gallimore, his fifth touchdown of the game, with 7:33 left in the fourth quarter. The points put the Indians ahead by a 47-27 score.
The defense of HHS was clutch once again as they saw Gary Vincent recover a fumble with 7:26 on the fourth-quarter clock. HHS added points off the turnover with a 12-yard run by Burns with 3:55 remaining in regulation on a third down play. That score put the Indians ahead, 54-27.
For good measure, the Indians’ defense forced another turnover with Vincent recovering a fumble for a second time in the quarter.
The Indians wrap up the 2016 season next Friday when they host Highland County rival McClain in the annual Rotary Bowl at Richards Memorial Field. Miami Trace will travel to Washington C.H. next Saturday in their season finale against their Fayette County rival, the Washington Blue Lions, at Gardner Park.
“The kids are definitely excited about playing Greenfield,” O’Rourke said. “We definitely want to keep the momentum going. If we can win this one and finish with three straight wins at the end of the season, I think that’ll make it a successful season.”
GAME NOTES: In the first quarter, Jones broke up a pass on third down … Haines had a 15-yard reception in the first quarter … There were three players ejected from the game (two Miami Trace, one Hillsboro).
This year, the Indians won at Panther Stadium by a 54-27 score, vaulting them to their third win of the season and their second in consecutive weeks.
Hillsboro (2-5, 3-6) brought the momentum gained from last week’s win against East Clinton and continued to use their ground attack, with Gallimore using the same speed and strength that got him to the state track meet last spring on the football field with not only the five touchdown runs, but a total of 276 yards of rushing for the game.
Gallimore had touchdown runs of 55, 74, 36, 14 and 27 yards. Those five runs alone combined for 206 yards and 32 of the 54 points scored by the Indians Friday night.
Then there were the power runs of Burns for three scores, with his runs of two, two and 12 yards adding 18 points to the Indians’ side of the scoreboard.
Don’t forget, there was a path made in the trenches for all the touchdown runs with the blocking of R.J. Swackhamer, Vincent, Deegan Boris, Jared Conn, Austin Miller and Reece Bloomfield all being a valued part of the Indians’ offense as well. There was also blocking from Brian Smith, Sajoun Jones and Britton Haines on the touchdown runs.
As an offense, the Indians unofficially totaled 574 yards of offense.
“I tell you what, Luke did a nice job, but the guys up front really did a nice job breaking him some nice holds,” HHS head coach Jack O’Rourke said. “The kid’s got momentum. When you get it going as we did tonight, it’s hard to stop him, and they couldn’t ever stop him tonight.
“Once you get the lead, you’ve got to try to milk the clock. We knew some of our best defense is our offense, when we start controlling the ball and just using small chunks of time. That’s what we were trying to do, and we did.
“Tonight is definitely our best football of the season.”
Now, just how did the game have what was a combined 81 points from both South Central Ohio League teams?
Even with all of the scoring the Indians gained, they weren’t the first to score points as the Panthers took a 3-0 lead with 4:46 left in the first quarter off a 32-yard field goal by Blake Pittser.
That lead was short-lived, with the Indians scoring three plays later on a 55-yard run by Gallimore on a third-and-6 play with 3:14 left in the opening quarter.
MT answered swiftly with a 24-yard score off a pass by Skylar McDonald to DeAndre Pettiford with 1:35 still left on the first-quarter clock.
Not to be outdone, the Indians scored more points in the first quarter with a 74-yard rush by Gallimore, beating the Panthers defense in a full sprint to the end zone for six points with 52.7 on the clock.
Miami Trace didn’t let off the gas either, scoring a touchdown on a second-and-17 play for a 62-yard touchdown off a pass from McDonald to Pettiford with 19.3 seconds left in the first frame.
Once the first quarter came to a close, the Panthers held a 17-14 lead.
HHS regained the lead with 11:40 on the second-quarter clock by having Gallimore race to pay dirt on a 36-yard rush on first-and-10 play. The PAT from Haines put the Indians in front, 21-17.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Indians used trickery by recovering an onside kick with Darrell McDaniel falling on the football with 11:37 left in the second quarter. Eight plays later, the Indians were back to scoring points, this time with Burns scoring the first of his three touchdowns on a first-and-goal play from the MT 4-yard line. The four-yard rush gave the Indians a 10-point lead at 27-17 with 7:39 remaining in the half.
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That scoring drive included a 20-yard reception from Hunter Chain to Jones on first down from the MT 24-yard line that set up the first-and-goal run by Burns.
MT came back with a field goal with 3:30 left in the second, cutting the HHS lead to six points at 27-20.
Following the field goal by Miami Trace, the Indians had more points on their mind, and scoring another touchdown is what they did. With 3:43 left in the second quarter, Chain rushed for a 28-yard gain on first down, and later on a third down play, Chain found Haines by the Indians’ sidelines for a 19-yard completion on a third-and-8 play.
Three plays later, Gallimore scored his fourth touchdown of the first half, catching a pitch and scoring on a sweep play for a 14-yard touchdown. The PAT by Haines was good, leaving the Indians ahead, 34-20 with 44.2 seconds left in the first half.
In the first half alone, Gallimore unofficially totaled 186 yards of rushing.
The third quarter saw the Panthers score first on a 13-yard pass from McDonald to Pettiford with 9:40 left in the third.
HHS answered that score with a touchdown of their own, compiling a 13-play, 69-yard drive that included a 21-yard reception by Jones. The points were scored on second-and-goal from the 2-yard line with Burns powering his way to the end zone with 3:39 left in the third quarter and a 41-27 lead by the Indians.
The Indians’ defense stepped up again by forcing a turnover on downs at their own 30-yard line and eventually went the 70 yards needed for another touchdown. This touchdown came on a 27-yard run by Gallimore, his fifth touchdown of the game, with 7:33 left in the fourth quarter. The points put the Indians ahead by a 47-27 score.
The defense of HHS was clutch once again as they saw Gary Vincent recover a fumble with 7:26 on the fourth-quarter clock. HHS added points off the turnover with a 12-yard run by Burns with 3:55 remaining in regulation on a third down play. That score put the Indians ahead, 54-27.
For good measure, the Indians’ defense forced another turnover with Vincent recovering a fumble for a second time in the quarter.
The Indians wrap up the 2016 season next Friday when they host Highland County rival McClain in the annual Rotary Bowl at Richards Memorial Field. Miami Trace will travel to Washington C.H. next Saturday in their season finale against their Fayette County rival, the Washington Blue Lions, at Gardner Park.
“The kids are definitely excited about playing Greenfield,” O’Rourke said. “We definitely want to keep the momentum going. If we can win this one and finish with three straight wins at the end of the season, I think that’ll make it a successful season.”
GAME NOTES: In the first quarter, Jones broke up a pass on third down … Haines had a 15-yard reception in the first quarter … There were three players ejected from the game (two Miami Trace, one Hillsboro).