Indians fall to first-place CM Falcons
HILLSBORO — The Hillsboro gave a strong effort early on, but the visiting and defending South Central Ohio League champion Clinton-Massie Falcons were just too strong to hold back.
The Indians scored on a 63-yard run by senior Heith Brown with 10:21 left in the second quarter, but in the end that was all the scoring the Tribe had, falling to the first-place Falcons, 56-7 Friday night at Richards Memorial Field in Hillsboro.
Hillsboro’s loss sends them to 1-6 overall, 0-4 in the SCOL, while the Falcons jump to 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the league standings.
Unofficially, the Indians totaled 102 yards of offense (including penalties) in the loss.
Hillsboro's lone scoring drive began with 11:10 left in the second quarter, as they trailed by a 21-0 score. The drive began with a 3-yard rush by Lane Hester from the Indians' 34-yard line. Then came the aforementioned 63-yard rush by Brown for six points. Deon Burns kicked the extra point to bring the Indians to within two touchdowns of the Falcons.
Before the Indians' touchdown, it took the Falcons one play to score their first touchdown of the SCOL game, with Hunter Fentress passing to Luke Richardson in stride for a 63-yard throw-and-catch to the end zone, with Richardson using his speed to get past the defense of the Indians.
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From there, the teams exchanged punts, with HHS punting twice after two drives. The Falcons, starting at their own 44-yard line, built a five-play touchdown drive that ended with Davey Tunon bashing his way two yards to the end zone on first-and-goal with 1:23 left in the first quarter. Both PATs were made by kicker Chris Demler for the 14-0 lead.
CM added 28 points in the second quarter with touchdowns by Tunon (blocked punt, fumble recovery, 5-yard run to end zone), Tunon (42-yard run), Richardson (60-yard punt return) and Tunon (22-yard run) for a halftime lead of 42-7.
Tunon put the Falcons up 42-7 with 1:04 left in the fourth quarter.
Neither team scored points in the third quarter as per OHSAA the clock went to a running clock with a 30-plus point lead in the second half. The final two CM scores came in the fourth quarter with Brad Hunt carrying the ball five yards to pay dirt (9:25) and Christian Poynter rushing eight yards for six points with 43.8 seconds let in regulation.
All PATs were converted by Demler, who went 8-for-8.
The Indians will play on the road next Friday in their Week 8 game, as they will face the East Clinton Astros. EC will enter the league game with a 2-5 overall record and 0-4 mark in the SCOL.
HILLSBORO GAME NOTES: Ryan Hagan had a 12-yard reception in the first quarter for HHS … Christian Opst had a tackle for loss … HHS had CM to a fourth-and-28 play to force their lone punt of the game in the first quarter … Burns had a 12-yard run in the third quarter.