Captain’s 4 TDs, 214 rushing yards lead Hillsboro to win over Western Brown 

HILLSBORO — Hillsboro junior Tre Captain rushed for 214 yards on 12 carries with four rushing touchdowns en route to the Indians fending off the Western Brown Broncos 34-22, as the Indians defeated the Broncos for the first time since 2019, which was also the last time the Indians won a home season opener at Richards Memorial Field. 

Captain — who totaled 158 yards and three TDs in the first half — was an important part of the Indians’ victory, as his touchdown runs consisted of carries of 48, 26, 61 and 46 yards. Senior quarterback Mason Dumpert also got involved in the big scoring rushes, as his touchdown run went for 92 yards in the first half, the Indians’ second score of the game. 

“Tre had a great game,” HHS head coach Nathan Horne said. “We have triple option plays and Mason had some good reads out there and our two counter plays, Tre was really explosive for us.”

The Indians scored on their second drive of the season, taking just three plays as Captain rushed on a counter play down the sideline for a 48-yard touchdown with 4:17 left on the first. 

After an interception by sophomore Landon Holland at the Indians’ 2-yard line with 3:18 left in the first quarter, Hillsboro was back celebrating in the end zone when the QB1 — Dumpert — raced away from every Bronco on the field for a 92-yard score with 1:36 on the clock on a third-and-6 play. The second made PAT by senior Cooper Swope put the Indians ahead 14-0. Dumpert finished the game with 13 carries for 111 yards and the one touchdown. 

As a team, the Indians totaled 397 yards on offense, all rushing, as the offensive line and others were a big part of the blocking Friday night. 

“Our offense was clicking in the first half, even though we sputtered in the second half,” Horne said. “It was a great all-around win. We had some great kids really rallying around and blocking for everybody. 

“Jeven [Hochstuhl] had a great game, and though it’s not going to show up on the stats, with his blocking. He blocked his tail off on the left side, and our o-line was clocking early.”

Horne spoke more in depth about the offensive line play on Friday. 

“Our offensive line is the heart and soul of our team,” Horne said. “Roman Hardy in his first varsity start just played his butt off. Kaiden Robbins, Andrew Shelton … again, his first varsity start at center, we didn’t have one quarterback and center exchange that was bad. 

“JP (JaHari Pitts) and Jordan Lowe played well. We had a few guys come in. Connor Yochum, Garrett Greiner, those guys came in and filled in when we needed them. I love seeing them out there doing their thing.”

Hillsboro’s defense forced a turnover on downs, as the Broncos went for a fourth-and three play on their own 27-yard line. The attempt failed on an incomplete pass, and the short field position for Hillsboro was used to their advantage. 

Two plays after forcing the turnover on downs, Hillsboro scored their third touchdown of the game when Captain rushed for a 26-yard score to pay dirt with 11:16 left in the second quarter. The PAT was good, leaving the Indians in front at 21-0. 

Hillsboro’s offense had some issues with keeping possession of the ball with four fumbles, as they lost three of them, and the first lost fumble eventually turned into points for the Broncos with 2:09 left before halftime. 

After having a fumble recovery on their own 32-yard line, the Broncos built a 13-play drive that ended with a 25-yard touchdown catch up the middle of the defense as sophomore quarterback Deon Bradford found senior Justin Morgan for a 25-yard score. WBHS missed the PAT, allowing HHS to hold on to a 15-point lead at 21-6. 

Hillsboro continued their hot offense with just around two minutes left in the first half, this time taking just three plays and 80 yards to score their fourth touchdown of the game. 

It was Captain, once again, showcasing his rushing skills against WBHS, because on a third down play the junior raced to the endzone once again untouched with a misdirection play for a 61-yard touchdown with 1:31 left on the second-quarter clock. The PAT was good for a 28-6 lead, as that was the score at the half.

Hillsboro had some struggles on both sides in the second half of the season opener, as they had a couple more fumbles, one of which, with 8:48 left in third quarter, resulted in the Broncos starting a drive on the HHS 44-yard line. 

Western Brown took advantage of the turnover by scoring their second touchdown of the game with 7:36 left in the third as Morgan scored on fourth-and-goal for a 1-yard TD run. The two-point conversion pass from Bradford to junior Peyton Day left the Indians ahead by 14 points at 28-14. 

The Indians lost possession of the ball once again via fumble, and this time the Broncos recovered the ball with 5:44 left in the third on the Indians’ 23-yard line. 

Five plays later — including a fourth down penalty on the Indians — the Broncos scored their third touchdown when Morgan caught a pass from Bradford, similar to their first TD of the game, with 4:32 left in the third. WBHS converted another two-point conversion when Bradford found senior Isaiah Loudermilk for a two-point catch and a 28-22 score, with the Indians now ahead by just six points. 

Later, as the game winded down, the Broncos were back to driving on the Indians’ defense with some first down plays, and a pass interference call on the HHS defense put the ball on the HHS 20-yard line to start the fourth quarter. 

With the momentum shifting toward the Broncos, Hillsboro junior linebacker Collin Swackhamer erased that momentum, taking it back for Hillsboro with a big interception on third down, returning it to the HHS 27-yard line with 10:51 left in the fourth quarter. 

Though the Indians didn't score any points on offense, the interception forced the Broncos to try to regain that momentum on offense and it didn’t return, with WBHS punting the ball with 8:31 left in the fourth quarter. 

“The interception by Collin … you can’t stress how big of a turn of events that is,” Horne said. “He catches the ball on the five-yard line and runs it back to the 30, taking away their momentum, but he gave us some comfort room away from the endzone. I thought that was a very key moment in the game.”

This time, the Indians took advantage of the good fortune they received, taking seven plays to score their final touchdown of the game, with Captain scoring his fourth score of the game on a fourth-and-3 play which saw him race 46 yards for six points and the touchdown with 5:11 on the clock. The two-point try failed, leaving the Indians ahead by a 34-22 score, which was the final score of the game. 

HHS put any hope of a comeback away for Western Brown with 2:18 left in the fourth when Jeven Hochstuhl intercepted a pass. 

On defense, the Indians had JaHari Pitts finish with five tackles (two solo) and a half sack. Leading HHS in tackles in Week 1 was Swackhamer with six tackles (three solo), one pass deflection and one interception. 

“I thought we did a good job on defense,” Horne said. “We had three stops in the red zone, and our defense buckled down when we needed them the most. I thought our defense played a great half, holding them (WBHS) to what we did.”

Next for Hillsboro (1-0) is a Week 2 non-conference game against the Goshen Warriors (1-0) at Richards Memorial Field with a 7 p.m. kickoff. On Friday night, Goshen defeated Monroe, 34-14. 

“Goshen is a very underrated team,” Horne said. “They have a good junior class, and they will hit you.”

GAMES NOTES: Hillsboro’s Jack Cornele finished with 12 carries for 28 yards rushing … Hochstuhl totaled 11 carries for 54 yards … HHS senior Zach Brown had 16 yards on kickoff returns … Captain had 11 yards on punt returns … Tackles by the Indians included: Cornele (one), Brown (three), Landon Jordan (one), Holland (three), Hochstuhl (three), Shawn Hottinger (three), Captain (three), Malachi Aber (three),  Cooper Swope (two), Connor Yochum (one), Kaiden Robbins (half sack). 

BOX SCORE
WBHS        00 06 16 00 — 22
HHS           14 14 00 06 — 34