Hillsboro Indians chomp Blue Lions for homecoming win

HILLSBORO — “There’s no place like home,” and on Friday night, the Hillsboro Indians proved Dorothy’s comments from decades past correct. The Indians didn’t need to tap their slippers together three times, but they used a powerful offensive line, a play-making Gator and a stingy defense with four interceptions to defeat the Washington Blue Lions, 36-6 on homecoming night at Richards Memorial Field. 

This was special for the Indians, as this was their first home game since Week 2 where they routed Goshen 56-19, in another running clock game. This time around, the Indians did almost the same, including 303 yards rushing from Austin Barrett — or otherwise known to his friends as Gator — and a defensive display that had four interceptions with Jeven Hochstuhl collecting two, Logan Elliott with one and Nic Burns taking the ball on a 40-plus-yard journey as his interception was a pick-six. 

“It was a great, great win for us, offensively and defensively,” Hillsboro head coach Nathan Horne said. “Defense played their tails off. Offensively, we ran off tackle all night, mixing up different belly look and option and dive. Gator ran his tail off, our line blocked well. It was just a good night all the way around, really. You can’t ask for a better night.

“It’s exciting. We work so hard, and I know every program works hard, and hats off to Washington Court House. We run, we lift three days a week, and it’s exciting to see some rewards of that. I’m excited for the kids.”

In all, the Indians dominated the Blue Lions  – and other than the first drive of the game — Hillsboro defended their home field soundly and were in the driver’s seat for most of the entire four quarters played. 

Basically, to answer a question from another cinematic masterpiece, “Remember the Titans,” when it is asked, “Is football fun?” On Friday night in Hillsboro for Week 7, the Indians can answer that question with a resounding, “Yes, football is fun.” 

The win pushes the Indians’ record to over the .500 mark at 4-3 overall, and they are 2-0 in the Frontier Athletic Conference with the win over Washington, and last week, their win at Chillicothe. 

Washington (0-2, 3-4) scored first with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Gavin Coffman to Aiden “Rocky” Jones with 9:35 left in the first quarter. That play completed a 52-yard drive for the Blue Lions, taking a 6-0 lead, but that was all the scoring for the visitors for the rest of the game. 

“Sometimes we’ll come out flat a little bit, and it takes a series to wake us up and say ‘OK, boys, let’s start,’” Horne said. “We kicked it in after that and played the rest of the game.”

After some punts by both teams, the Indians finally reached the scoreboard as they completed an 11-play drive that began on their own 45-yard line.

This drive saw the first of four touchdowns scored by Barrett, an the drive saw him get behind the blocking of offensive linemen Jamar Young, Ayden Clemons, Jahari Pitts, Gary Reno and Ian Lawson, with a ground-and-pound offense scheme, finishing with Barrett running to the end zone on a 7-yard run on first-and-goal with 12.8 seconds left in the opening quarter. The PAT was blocked, leaving the score tied at 6-6.

Following a turnover by the Indians, early in the second quarter — after forcing a WCH punt on a three-and-out — the Blue Lions regained possession of the ball and took the ball from their own 22 to the 50-yard line, but eventually on a third-and-24 play from the 43-yard line of Washington, Elliott had an interception with 5:54 left in the second. 

That interception eventually turned into points for Hillsboro as a drive with positive yardage plays from Barrett and Jack Cornele saw the senior Barrett rush for a 9-yard score with 4:04 left in the second. Wesley Bailey’s PAT was good, putting HHS ahead 13-6. 

The ensuing drive saw Hochstuhl have the first of his two interceptions, coming with 3:14 left in the second quarter as the sophomore jumped in front of the receiver and took the ball for the Indians. For the game, Hochstuhl totaled 48 yards rushing (14 carries), 52 yards receiving (two receptions) and the two interceptions. 

In a battle for field position, the Indians got in field goal range for Bailey, as Hochstuhl caught a 21-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Mason Dumpert on second down, taking the ball from the 30-yard line to the 9-yard line with 0.4 seconds left in the first half. Bailey sent the ball through the uprights on the field goal attempt for three points, leaving the score at halftime 16-6 in favor of HHS. 

Unofficially, Barrett had roughly 151 yards rushing in the first half for Hillsboro. 

The Indians wasted no time in adding to their lead in the third quarter because at the 8:18 mark of the third, the Indians were in the end zone celebrating following an 11-yard rush by Barrett for a touchdown. 

Getting there saw Barrett have a 9-yard run to start the third, followed by a 1-yard rush by Dumpert. Next, Dumpert found Hochstuhl for a 25-yard gain on a third down pass, putting HHS on the 29-yard line of Washington. 

Next were four consecutive runs of five, six, seven and 11 yards, with the final run of 11 yards scoring six points on first-and-10 from the 11-yard line with 8:18 left on the clock. The PAT was short, leaving the Indians with a 16-point lead at 22-6. 

After the Indians’ defense forced another punt, the offense of HHS was on their own 17-yard line, but that didn’t matter as HHS saw Barrett get behind the blocking of the offensive line, wide receivers and tight ends, and things got going once again. 

Barrett had runs of 16, 2, 8, 4, -2, and then a 51-yard burst through the defense of the Blue Lions on third-and-7 that saw the senior scored another touchdown with 11.3 left in the third as the scoreboard read 29-6 in favor of the hometown Indians. 

“Mason Dumpert as a sophomore quarterback started calling an audible right there for us in that third quarter, and he put us in some spots, where Gator ran up the middle,” Horne said. “He called an audible to that midline play, and that’s just awesome. 

“I’m starting to give him those freedoms as a sophomore. Early on, we were just kind of learning how to run the offense, so I’m super excited to hand over the wheels a little bit and let him audible and do some things. That was cool.”

The final touchdown in the game all but sealed the win for the Indians, and gave Hillsboro a running clock in their favor, when Burns returned an interception for 40 yards all the way to the end zone with 11:45 remaining in regulation. The PAT was good, and the Indians held the final 36-6 lead. 

For good measure, the Indians’ defense had one last big moment left, and that was a second interception by Hochstuhl with 4:44 left in the game. 

Next week, the Indians are home again for Week 8 as they are scheduled to host the Jackson Ironmen (2-0, 6-1) at Richards Memorial Field at 7 p.m. JHS defeated Miami Trace Friday night in Week 7 by a 42-13 score. 

GAME NOTES: Hillsboro's Logan Elliott had a tackle for loss of six yards in the first quarter ... Collin Swackhamer had a tackle for loss of four yards in the third quarter ... Austin Barrett had a sack for a loss of six yards in the fourth quarter ... Elliott also had a sack for a loss of four yards in the fourth quarter, on third down.

BOX SCORE
WCH    06 00 00 00 — 06
HHS    06 10 13 07 — 36