McClain regains possession of the Rotary Bowl

GREENFIELD — The Rotary Bowl trophy has a new home, as the McClain Tigers used a strong ground game, controlled the line of scrimmage and with that defeated visiting Highland County rival Hillsboro, 35-27 in the regular-season finale Friday night at McClain Field.

A big reason for the win was the running of senior tailback Alex Hollar, who for the night totaled 292 yards rushing on 36 carries and scored three touchdowns behind a strong performance from his offensive line for the South Central Ohio League victory.

The win by the Tigers is their third Rotary Bowl win in four years, winning in '12, '13 and now this Friday night.

"Defensively, we came up with stops, and for the most part offensively and defensively we did play well," MHS head coach Jeremey Andrews said. "I wish we could have been a little more diverse on offense, but when you have a guy rush for nearly 300 yards, that will work for you.

"Credit the big fellas, our offensive line played well. We have some young kids play this year. All of the guys who blocked for us (Friday) did a great job. I'm very proud of their play and effort."

There was a feeling something special was about to occur for Hollar after the first drive of the game was complete, as the senior on his second carry of the game took the ball on a 44-yard trip to paydirt and six points with 10:12 left in the first quarter. The play came on second-and-7 with Hollar outracing the Indians' defense for the six points.

After the first drive, Hollar already totaled 52 yards on two carries. For the game, Hollar averaged 8.1 yards per carry (36 carries), and for the season, the senior tailback totaled 1,355 yards rushing.

"We've improved from week one, but that's why we go to practice each and every day," Andrews said. "It would be a pretty big waste of time if we didn't get better after all the work put in during practices. Give our guys a lot of credit … they've learned how to practice over the course of the year, and it has shown as the season has went on."

The Tigers weren't able to convert the PAT, and once the Indians gained possession of the ball on their first offensive drive, they too reached the end zone. Hillsboro (3-7) saw their first rushing play of the game go 18 yards off a carry from senior Heith Brown, and on the final play of the drive (second-and-goal), Brown scored a 6-yard touchdown with 7:41 left in the first. Deon Burns converted the PAT for a 7-6 lead.

McClain (2-8) didn't trail for very long. In fact, it took them just three plays and 34 yards to reach the end zone, as this time it was quarterback Tristan Pitzer scoring on a fake handoff to Hollar, then turning the corner and racing 34 yards for a touchdown on a QB keeper with 6:11 still on the first-quarter clock. MHS didn't convert a 2-point conversion play, but regained the lead by a 12-7 score.

Pitzer ended the game with 119 yards rushing on 12 carries (9.9 ypc). Also rushing the ball for the Tigers was Gabe Adams with 38 yards on 14 carries in the win.

Hillsboro answered by turning over the football, with the handoff being fumbled by HHS and recovered by MHS senior Randall Mischal with 3:20 still left in the first quarter.

That miscue cost the Indians, as McClain took full advantage of recovering the ball on the Indians' 49-yard line. This time, it took just two plays for the Tigers to reach the end zone, as Hollar raced 46 yards for a touchdown with 3:01 left in the quarter. MHS converted the 2-point conversion with Hollar running to the end zone for a 20-7 MHS advantage.

Following that score, there was still time remaining in the first quarter, and the Indians made the score a little closer as quarterback Hunter Chain passed to Ryan Hagan for what was a 64-yard score with 2:46 on the first-quarter clock. The PAT was no good, leaving the Indians trailing, 20-13. Hagan finished with six receptions for 152 yards.

Chain ended the game 10-of-19 for 202 yards passing with two touchdowns. The quarterback also rushed for 56 yards on 10 carries for a 5.6 ypc average.

On the ensuing drive, the first quarter ended, but the big-play ground game of the Tigers didn't rest, as they scored their fourth touchdown of the first half, this one on a 39-yard run by Hollar with 11:26 left in the second quarter. Hollar also scored on a 2-point conversion run for a 28-13 Tigers lead on their home field.

The Indians didn't have any quit in them, even with the Tigers having the momentum early on in the second quarter. HHS responded with an 80-yard touchdown drive, which included a 33-yard pass to Hagan, along with a 15-yard run by Chain. On a second down play, Brown had a 14-yard gain on a run, and Chain found Britton Haines for a 27-yard completion on a slant pattern to set up first-and-goal in the 4-yard line.

Two plays later, Chain scored on a 1-yard run through the defense with 7:26 left in the first half. The PAT was no good, leading to what ended up being the halftime score of 28-19 in favor of the Tigers.

McClain then went on a run where they would get near the goal line but were stopped by the Indians defense, including the close of the first half as they were unable to score a touchdown to end the half on a fourth-and-2 play.

Even with that occurring, Hollar ended the first half with 204 yards of rushing, leaving the Tigers in front by nine points.

For all the scoring there was in the first half, neither team was able to add points in the third quarter, but in the fourth, the Tigers took advantage of a fumble recovery by Jarrett Milnes with seconds left in the third, following a powerful sack by Hollar that caused the fumble.

Gaining possession of the ball on the HHS 40-yard line, and following multiple personal fouls called on the Indians and a holding penalty on the Tigers, MHS ended up with the football on the 15-yard line of the Indians and eventually scored a touchdown on first-and-goal from the 1-yard line as Pitzer took the ball to the end zone with 8:58 left in the fourth. Camden Yates converted the PAT for a 35-19 lead.

The Indians scored their final touchdown with 2:40 left in regulation when Chain found Hagan for a 4-yard gain on third-and-goal.

"McClain owned the line of scrimmage, and when you get beat at the line of scrimmage you are going to lose your football game," Hillsboro head coach Matt Hodge said. "Hats off to Coach Andrews and his kids, they played hard and they deserved to win (Friday).

"My seniors played hard, an all-out effort … what they've done for the program … to have their freshman year start out at 0-10, and to pick up three wins this year, I know this is one they would like to have back, but they have great character and great heart, and I'm proud of them.

"We had our ups-and-downs this season, and we hope our underclassmen come in hungry, ready to to get back to work and get ready for next year."

The Tigers clinched the win after converting a fourth-and-3 play, as Hillsboro had no timeouts to stop the clock.

Since the Rotary Bowl has been awarded in 1985, the Indians lead the series, 19-12. Since 2000 (16 games), each team has won the Rotary Bowl eight times.