UPDATED: Defense pitches shutout in Hillsboro's 39-0 victory

On a perfect night for high school football, the Hillsboro Indians' defense pitched a perfect shutout, leading the Tribe to a 39-0 win over Clermont Northeastern before a sizable crowd at picturesque Richards Memorial Field.

With a game-time temperature around 65 degrees, the contest featured numerous highlights – mostly for the host Indians.

Quarterback Toby Warrington played a monstrous first quarter for Coach Matt Hodge's squad. On the first possession, Warrington connected with Braden Wildey for a 20-yard gain. With 10:43 on the clock, Warrington outran the CNE defense for a 49-yard TD.

He was just getting warmed up, too.

On the Rockets' first possession, Warrington tackled Steven Allen for a three-yard loss. On second and 13, Warrington intercepted a Shawn Lykins pass to end the drive.

With 1:57 left in the quarter, Warrington found Ryan Hagan for a 31-yard touchdown pass.

Not a bad 12 minutes of football: One touchdown run, one touchdown pass, one tackle for a loss and one interception.

"Toby deserves everything he gets," Coach Hodge said. "He has a great work ethic in all phases of the game."

For the defense, Jordan Mosley, Jed Asmus and Heith Brown all had solo tackles in the opening period. The entire Hillsboro defense set the tone early that it would be a long night for the Rockets' offense.

In the second period, the two teams battled without a score for almost 11 straight minutes. But with 1:02 left before the half, Jordan Mosley powered it into the end zone from two yards out. And for the third straight time, Ashley Purtee added the extra point for a 21-0 Hillsboro lead.

Garrett Baldridge had a 14-yard run from scrimmage in the second quarter and Mosley added a big 17-yard pickup.

Lykins had a nine-yard gain for Scott Gildea's Rockets.

Prior to the second quarter, Amy Schoultheis of First State Bank presented a $900 check to the Hillsboro High School athletic department. Accepting the donation were Principal Jason Snively, Superintendent Jim Smith and AD Dave Dietrick.

The Rockets began the second half with decent field position at their own 35. But after three plays, the Indians’ defense held. On fourth and long, Clermont Northeastern set up in punt formation only to have the snap sail past the punter, Tyler Zimmerman. Zimmerman recovered the ball near the CNE goal line and managed to run it to the two-yard line.

On first and goal, an illegal procedure penalty pushed the Indians back to the seven. After Baldridge was stopped for no gain, Mosley gained a yard on second-and-goal. Cody Whaley then ran for three more yards to set up fourth and goal.

On the fourth-down play, Warrington rolled to his right on an option play and found sophomore Christian Opst (44) alone in the end zone for another HHS TD. Purtee added the point-after and it was a rout, at 28-0.

After an exchange of possessions, Hillsboro had a fourth-and-four from its own 26-yard line.

With fans yelling for the offense to “go for it,” Coach Hodge called on senior R.J. Collard for a 43-yard field goal attempt with Warrington holding. The snap was perfect and the line blocking was good.

The kick was plenty long enough and split the uprights perfectly for a 31-0 lead.

“R.J. put in a lot of time over the summer to work on his kicking game,” Hodge said after the win. “He kicked a 40-yarder against Paint Valley (in the annual Fish Fry scrimmage) and we thought we’d give him a chance.”

The kick had plenty of leg, landing beyond the track at the east end zone.

The kick came at the 5:15 mark; and at the end of the play, Richards Field was littered with laundry as five flags were thrown for multiple unsportsmanlike conduct infractions. Penalties were called on both teams and one player from each squad was ejected.

The 31-0 advantage also speeded up the second half as the new 30-point differential rule went into effect. (Speaker of the House John Barney explained the new rule over the public address system prior to kickoff.)

In the final period, CNE sophomore Luke Newton had carries of 11 and 13 yards and Logan Fishback – who played a strong game on both sides of scrimmage – galloped for an apparent 25-yard touchdown run. However, an illegal block in the back by the Rockets brought the play back and ended the scoring threat.

Hillsboro scored its final touchdown on a two-yard plunge by Baldridge with 2:41 to play. On a broken play on the point-after, Warrington passed to Brian Smith (14) for the unplanned two-point conversion. Heith Brown set up the TD with a 38-yard run.

“This was a great effort by our defense,” Hodge said. “They tossed a shutout. Our kids had a great effort tonight.”

Hodge attributed the Indians’ second consecutive win (for the first time in five seasons) to a great overall attitude and the work the players put in during the preseason.

Hillsboro (2-1) hosts the Wilmington Hurricane in a 7:30 p.m. start on Friday, Sept. 19. Chillicothe travels to Hillsboro on Sept. 26.

Game notes/asides

• Senior R.J. Collard has made two field goals of 40 or more yards in 2014 for the first time in recent HHS memory.

• Junior Jed Asmus (5) greatly added to the Tribe's kicking game with perfect long snaps for four extra points and Collard's 43-yard field goal.

• Junior Curran Butler (54) anchored the offensive line and played a solid game at center. In fact, both the O-Line and D-Line played well for HHS.

• Freshman Mason Lewis (13) made a tough tackle against CNE’s Luke Newton (44) late in the fourth period.

• Juniors Andrew Palmer (36) and Heith Brown (33) combined to pick up a late first down to maintain possession and sustain the Indians’ final scoring drive.

• Freshman Mason Stanley (38) made a big solo tackle late in the fourth period.

• CNE’s Shawn Lykins, Dalton Miracle and Logan Fishback all played well in the Rockets’ loss.

• The Indians won the first of three consecutive home games. They travel to Clinton-Massie on Oct. 3. Homecoming will be Oct. 10 versus East Clinton.

• Richards Memorial Field was in outstanding condition for the Indians’ 2014 home-opener. A tip of the helmet to all who worked on the home field.

Score by quarters

CNE – 00 00 00 00 – 00
HHS – 14 07 10 08 – 39