Turnovers doom Hillsboro in loss at Clermont Northeastern
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
OWENSVILLE — Frustration set in for the Hillsboro Indians at the midway point of the season Friday night. Turnovers doomed numerous drives for the Indians in both halves, resulting in a loss of momentum on most drives, with the Tribe losing to the host Clermont Northeastern Rockets, 40-14 in the final non-conference game of the season.
The Indians (3-2) never got in a consistent groove on offense as their first four drives of the game resulted in a fumble, interception and two punts on a total of 13 plays. As for the host CNE Rockets, on their first four drives of the game they scored two touchdowns, but also had a punt and lost fumble mixed in with those scores.
For those first eight drives combined, the Rockets took advantage of the field possession and opportunity handed to them, resulting in a 13-0 lead at the end of the first half, with their second touchdown coming with just seven seconds left before halftime arrived.
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Hillsboro had possession of the ball first, and following a rush for no gain, the second play was a fumble on a run, with Skyler Schmidt of CNE recovering the football on the HHS 25-yard line with 11:08 on the first-quarter clock.
Five plays later, the Rockets ignited the scoreboard in front of their homecoming crowd with quarterback Landen Amann finding David Pride for a 23-yard touchdown as he was wide-open, with Pride racing past the Indians defense to catch the football for six points with 9:44 on the clock.
Next for the Indians came three plays, and on play three of their drive an interception was thrown with CNE’s Zack Hopkins intercepting the pass on a third-and-7 play with 7:58 left in the first quarter. Two plays into the drive of CNE, they fumbled the football with Silas Simmons recovering the loose ball on the Indians’ 27-yard line with 7:37 left in the first quarter.
The game stalled a bit with three consecutive punts to end drives, but the Rockets eventually took a 13-0 lead by completing a six-play, 47-yard drive off a 25-yard touchdown pass from Amann to Brad McIntyre with just seven seconds remaining in the first quarter. The PAT by Jarod Glancy left the host Rockets ahead by a 13-0 score.
Spears made up for one of the interceptions he had on offense as he also plays defensive back for HHS, and on a fourth-and-10 play, he intercepted a pass by the Rockets with 8:25 left in the second quarter.
This time, the Indians took advantage of the turnover with the first play from the CNE 42-yard line being a 7-yard rush by Logan Hester. The next play, it was Spears finding Keith Doughman for a 36-yard touchdown pass and reception with 7:32 left in the second quarter. The PAT by Brock Haines was good for a 13-7 deficit.
Hillsboro’s defense started to come alive on the ensuing drive as Zach Burns had a sack for a 5-yard loss with the Indians eventually forcing a punt. HHS had another interception on a first down play, as the drive consisted of seven straight running plays, taking the Indians from their own 1-yard line to their 48-yard line with plays that included a 12-yard run for a first down by Mark Gallimore, and later another big run by Gallimore, as he took the ball 24 yards for another first down. Gallimore unofficially led the Indians with 70 yards rushing on 18 carries.
The very next play, the Indians threw the football and CNE’s Damien Bowen intercepted the pass with 1:39 left in the second quarter. That was just enough time for the Rockets to add another touchdown, completing a nine-play drive that ended with them having a 27-yard touchdown reception by Hopkins with 12.0 seconds left in the first half. The PAT was missed, leaving CNE with the halftime lead of 19-7.
CNE opened the second half with another touchdown, this time the reaching the end zone with a 23-yard run by Schmidt, who went untouched and around the defense for six points with 8:23 on the clock. The Rockets failed to convert the two-point attempt, though they still led, 25-7. On that drive, the Rockets converted a fourth down play as the Indians were caught out of position on defense.
The Indians, again, didn’t get much going on offense and on fourth down were in the punt formation, though this time there was some trickery that worked for the visiting team, with HHS converting a fake punt as Hester passed to Doughman for a 38-yard gain for a first down.
The very next play, Spears found Hayden Hawk for a 28-yard touchdown reception in the corner of the end zone. The PAT by Haines was good, leaving the Indians down by 11 points at 25-14. Spears unofficially finished 7-of-13 for 74 yards passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
That was the final touchdown of the game for the Indians, but CNE had other plans, scoring two more touchdowns with the next one taking only four plays — including a gain of 66 yards off a reception by Schmidt on a third-and-32 play. Schmidt went on to complete the drive with a 1-yard touchdown with 7:07 on the third-quarter clock. Schmidt then finished the drive with a 2-point conversion run for a 33-14 lead.
Following a blocked punt, the Rockets had possession of the ball on the HHS 20-yard line, and two plays later they were standing in the end zone with Schmidt catching a pass in the middle of the Indians defense and racing up the middle for six points. The PAT was good, giving the hosts a 40-14 lead with 5:07 on the fourth-quarter clock.
Frontier Athletic Conference play starts next Friday night with the Indians returning home to Richards Memorial Field for the first time since Week 2. HHS will be hosting the Miami Trace Panthers at 7 p.m., as it will also be homecoming for the Indians.
GAME NOTES: Doughman, Burns and Hester all had sacks for the HHS defense … Burns also had a tackle for loss.
The Indians (3-2) never got in a consistent groove on offense as their first four drives of the game resulted in a fumble, interception and two punts on a total of 13 plays. As for the host CNE Rockets, on their first four drives of the game they scored two touchdowns, but also had a punt and lost fumble mixed in with those scores.
For those first eight drives combined, the Rockets took advantage of the field possession and opportunity handed to them, resulting in a 13-0 lead at the end of the first half, with their second touchdown coming with just seven seconds left before halftime arrived.
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Hillsboro had possession of the ball first, and following a rush for no gain, the second play was a fumble on a run, with Skyler Schmidt of CNE recovering the football on the HHS 25-yard line with 11:08 on the first-quarter clock.
Five plays later, the Rockets ignited the scoreboard in front of their homecoming crowd with quarterback Landen Amann finding David Pride for a 23-yard touchdown as he was wide-open, with Pride racing past the Indians defense to catch the football for six points with 9:44 on the clock.
Next for the Indians came three plays, and on play three of their drive an interception was thrown with CNE’s Zack Hopkins intercepting the pass on a third-and-7 play with 7:58 left in the first quarter. Two plays into the drive of CNE, they fumbled the football with Silas Simmons recovering the loose ball on the Indians’ 27-yard line with 7:37 left in the first quarter.
The game stalled a bit with three consecutive punts to end drives, but the Rockets eventually took a 13-0 lead by completing a six-play, 47-yard drive off a 25-yard touchdown pass from Amann to Brad McIntyre with just seven seconds remaining in the first quarter. The PAT by Jarod Glancy left the host Rockets ahead by a 13-0 score.
Spears made up for one of the interceptions he had on offense as he also plays defensive back for HHS, and on a fourth-and-10 play, he intercepted a pass by the Rockets with 8:25 left in the second quarter.
This time, the Indians took advantage of the turnover with the first play from the CNE 42-yard line being a 7-yard rush by Logan Hester. The next play, it was Spears finding Keith Doughman for a 36-yard touchdown pass and reception with 7:32 left in the second quarter. The PAT by Brock Haines was good for a 13-7 deficit.
Hillsboro’s defense started to come alive on the ensuing drive as Zach Burns had a sack for a 5-yard loss with the Indians eventually forcing a punt. HHS had another interception on a first down play, as the drive consisted of seven straight running plays, taking the Indians from their own 1-yard line to their 48-yard line with plays that included a 12-yard run for a first down by Mark Gallimore, and later another big run by Gallimore, as he took the ball 24 yards for another first down. Gallimore unofficially led the Indians with 70 yards rushing on 18 carries.
The very next play, the Indians threw the football and CNE’s Damien Bowen intercepted the pass with 1:39 left in the second quarter. That was just enough time for the Rockets to add another touchdown, completing a nine-play drive that ended with them having a 27-yard touchdown reception by Hopkins with 12.0 seconds left in the first half. The PAT was missed, leaving CNE with the halftime lead of 19-7.
CNE opened the second half with another touchdown, this time the reaching the end zone with a 23-yard run by Schmidt, who went untouched and around the defense for six points with 8:23 on the clock. The Rockets failed to convert the two-point attempt, though they still led, 25-7. On that drive, the Rockets converted a fourth down play as the Indians were caught out of position on defense.
The Indians, again, didn’t get much going on offense and on fourth down were in the punt formation, though this time there was some trickery that worked for the visiting team, with HHS converting a fake punt as Hester passed to Doughman for a 38-yard gain for a first down.
The very next play, Spears found Hayden Hawk for a 28-yard touchdown reception in the corner of the end zone. The PAT by Haines was good, leaving the Indians down by 11 points at 25-14. Spears unofficially finished 7-of-13 for 74 yards passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
That was the final touchdown of the game for the Indians, but CNE had other plans, scoring two more touchdowns with the next one taking only four plays — including a gain of 66 yards off a reception by Schmidt on a third-and-32 play. Schmidt went on to complete the drive with a 1-yard touchdown with 7:07 on the third-quarter clock. Schmidt then finished the drive with a 2-point conversion run for a 33-14 lead.
Following a blocked punt, the Rockets had possession of the ball on the HHS 20-yard line, and two plays later they were standing in the end zone with Schmidt catching a pass in the middle of the Indians defense and racing up the middle for six points. The PAT was good, giving the hosts a 40-14 lead with 5:07 on the fourth-quarter clock.
Frontier Athletic Conference play starts next Friday night with the Indians returning home to Richards Memorial Field for the first time since Week 2. HHS will be hosting the Miami Trace Panthers at 7 p.m., as it will also be homecoming for the Indians.
GAME NOTES: Doughman, Burns and Hester all had sacks for the HHS defense … Burns also had a tackle for loss.