Week 11 Football Preview: Hillsboro Indians travel to Celina for 2023 first-round state playoff game

For the first time ever — not including the 2020 COVID-19 playoffs — both the McClain Tigers and Hillsboro Indians will be playing in the Ohio high school football playoffs at the same time.

After a battle during last Friday’s Rotary Bowl between the two Highland County rivals, a 20-13 win by the McClain squad put them into the Division IV, Region 16 playoffs, while the Indians will be playing in Division III, Region 12.

McClain (No. 14) will be taking on Taft (No. 3) in their playoff game, while Hillsboro (No. 11) will be facing the No. 6 Celina Bulldogs.

Here is a look at Hillsboro's game.

PLAYOFFS: DIVISION III, REGION 12

HILLSBORO INDIANS (5-5) at CELINA BULLDOGS (8-2)

The Hillsboro Indians are back in the Division III State Playoffs for a second consecutive year under head coach Nathan Horne, who has been leading the Indians for as many years.

HHS — who is 5-5 overall this season — is scheduled to face the host No. 6 seeded Celina Bulldogs of the Western Buckeye Conference, as they were co-champions with Wapakoneta this season with both finishing 8-1 in the conference standings.

Celina also has 12 votes in the final Associated Press football poll this season for Division III. According to the Lima News, in Week 10 the Bulldogs scored their lone points in the second quarter off a 28-yard field goal by Zach Greber, as they eventually trailed 23-3 at halftime and lost the game 30-3.

The Lima News also wrote their top rushers in the game were Parker Bertke with 35 yards on seven carries and Braylon Gabes with 33 yards on seven rushes. As a team, it was reported CHS totaled 92 yards rushing in the Week 10 loss.

Celina also used two quarterbacks, as Gabes and Bobby Morris passed for a combined total of 68 yards, according to the Lima News.

Also, on the WBLsports.com league page, it states in nine games Gabes scored 21 total touchdowns for 126 points in ‘23, as he had 1,318 yards total on offense (146.4 yards per game). On defense, Gabes has three interceptions.

The Indians of the Frontier Athletic Conference tied for second place in the FAC with a 3-2 record in conference play, but are also coming off a loss to the McClain Tigers by a 20-13 score.

This season, the Indians have lived by their rushing attack as senior Austin Barrett has rushed for over 1,700 yards on the ground, plus Hillsboro has used sophomore Jeven Hochstuhl in some big moments as well with his speed and ability to run and catch the football.

In recent weeks, the play of sophomore quarterback Mason Dumpert has seen more passing attempts, as he continues to improve this season, including scoring a rushing touchdown and throwing for a touchdown in Week 10.

Through their first nine games for the season, Celina’s offense totaled 1,908 yards rushing on 308 carries as a team, averaging 212 yards per game rushing and 6.2 yards per carry. As a team, they scored 22 rushing touchdowns through Week 9.

Passing, Celina was 59-for-101 for 754 yards in the first nine games with eight touchdowns and five interceptions, averaging 83.8 yards per game passing.

On defense, Celina through Week 9 had allowed 133.8 yards per game rushing (1,204 for the first nine games), an average of 4.7 yards per carry allowed, while giving up a total of 10 rushing scores in that time span.

Also on defense for Celina, they’re allowing 146.7 yards passing per game, giving up nine touchdowns, but they also have nine interceptions in the first nine games of the season. In all, the Bulldogs allow 280.4 yards per game.

Hillsboro’s defense this season is allowing nearly 30 points per game (29.5), and the offense is averaging almost 29 points per game (28.6). The Bulldogs’ offense averages 25.2 points per game this season, and their defense is allowing 16.2 points per game in their 10 games played.

The 8-2 Bulldogs lost in Week 1 to Versailles (26-0) and to Wapakoneta in Week 10 (30-3). At home — where the playoff game will be played — the Bulldogs have scored 149 points in five games and have allowed 48 points as they are undefeated at home (5-0) in 2023.

Results for Celina at home include wins against St. Mary’s Memorial (37-15), Kenton (44-14), Elida (24-12), Ottawa-Glandorf (27-7) and Defiance (17-0).

On the road this season, the Indians have scored 129 points and have allowed 156 points in games against Portsmouth West (loss, 49-34), Williamsburg (loss, 57-27), East Clinton (win, 32-12), Chillicothe (OT win, 23-17) and McClain (loss, 21-13).

Kickoff for the Indians at the Bulldogs in Celina is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 27 at Celina Stadium, 10 Fountain Ave., Celina, Ohio 45822.