Strong start by Williamsburg leads to Hillsboro loss

The Hillsboro Indians made things interesting with an offensive and defensive touchdown within the span of three minutes in the fourth quarter in their second straight home game at Richards Memorial Field, but it was ultimately too little, too late as they fell 49-14 to the visiting Williamsburg Wildcats to wrap up their non-conference schedule. 

Trailing 42-0, the Indians (0-5) managed to make a defensive stop at the end of the third quarter with the Wildcats (4-1) failing to convert on fourth-and-3. As the running clock began for the fourth quarter, Hillsboro senior quarterback Tre Captain ran 62 yards for the Indians’ first touchdown of the game. 

Captain finished the night with 16 carries for 121 yards and was 1-of-2 passing, unofficially. 

After the extra point was successfully converted by Hillsboro’s Grant Shepard, it took only two plays for the Indians to reach the end zone yet again. Following a 6-yard gain on first down for the Wildcats, Hillsboro senior lineman Roman Hardy wrested the ball from the hands of the Williamsburg ball carrier and took it 56 yards to pay dirt. 

The PAT by Shepard was good, making the score 42-14 with 7:54 left in the game.

Unfortunately, that was all the scoring in the game for Hillsboro, while Williamsburg had a 13-point first quarter, a 21-point second quarter, an eight-point third quarter and a seven-point fourth quarter with this being the second consecutive season WHS has defeated the Indians. 

Williamsburg was led by senior Zayne Walker, who ended the game with 17 carries for 194 yards and three rushing touchdowns, unofficially. Junior Manning Dilley finished with two touchdowns for the Wildcats. Scoring one touchdown each were Landen Brandenburg and Colton Cooper.

After a three-and-out by the Indians to start the game, it took only one play for the Wildcats to get on the board, with the QB Brandenburg running 70 yards into the end zone for a touchdown. The PAT by Cooper was good for an early 7-0 lead.

Hillsboro had a three-and-out and a 3-yard punt on their next possession, and Williamsburg capitalized on the short field position with a quick three-play drive that ended with an 8-yard run into end zone by Walker. Hillsboro blocked the PAT, giving Williamsburg a 13-0 advantage with 6:08 left in the second. 

On their third possession of the game, Hillsboro had their longest drive of the night, which ended in a goal line stand by Williamsburg. After a punt return by Kel’el Captain, Tre Captain had a 17-yard rush. Jonathan Malone ran for two yards, followed by another double-digit run by Tre Captain, this time for 16 yards. Braylon Mayes chipped in three yards on the next play.

Captain faked a handoff on third down and ran seven yards for another first down, followed by Malachi Aber adding two yards. 

On second down, Captain made a 27-yard pass completion to Ryker Snyder, then Captain ran the ball to the 1-yard line on first-and-goal.

After a timeout, the Wildcats forced a 1-yard loss on second down, stopped the Indians on their next play and forced another loss on fourth down for a turnover on downs. 

Neither team scored on their next possession, but after taking over at midfield, Williamsburg used two big runs by Walker (a 17-yard rush, followed by a 27-yard gain) on a four-play drive that ended with Walker’s second touchdown of the night, a 5-yard run. After the PAT by Cooper, Williamsburg held a 20-0 lead. 

WHS senior Jackson Kreimer recovered the ball on the Indians’ first play of their next possession, and on Williamsburg’s first play, they were back in the end zone as Brandenburg connected with a 26-yard pass to Dilley for a 27-0 advantage after the extra-point attempt.   
 
The Wildcats weren’t done scoring, as their final touchdown of the first half came on a chaotic sequence as WHS started at the HHS 40. After advancing to the 7-yard line, Williamsburg lost 19 yards on second down, then had a grounding call on third down. 

On fourth-and-38, Hillsboro’s Rush Workman intercepted a pass with 17 seconds left in the game, but a personal foul call negated the would-be interception for HHS. The Wildcats scored two plays later with Cooper catching a pass in the end zone as time expired, then adding the extra point for a 34-0 lead. 

Williamsburg was the first and last team to score in the second half, with a three-play drive ending with a touchdown run by Dilley and a 2-point conversion by Zane Wright for a 42-0 lead early in the third quarter. Walker added his third touchdown of the night — this time a 13-yard run — late in the fourth.

Hillsboro drops to 0-5 entering Frontier Athletic Conference play, as they will be on the road at Washington Friday, Sept. 25 in Week 6. The Blue Lions (1-4) lost to West Jefferson (4-1), 28-14 on Friday night. The Wildcats improve to 4-1 and will face Clermont Northeastern (2-3) next week.