Indians’ defense sends Hillsboro to homecoming win over Chillicothe

The Hillsboro Indians brought a sledgehammer onto the field when they ran out of the tunnel on Friday night, but the strongest hammer for the Indians in Week 7 wore No. 16 and took over parts of the game that led the Tribe to a homecoming win over the Chillicothe Cavaliers Friday night. 

Hillsboro sophomore Collin Swackhamer played his best game to date on Friday, Oct. 4, making play after play, including a pick-six for the first touchdown of the game, plus numerous pressures and tackles en route to the Indians’ 21-14 victory over the visiting Cavaliers. 

There was also a big game by senior Logan Elliott, as the linebacker had seven tackles and three sacks in a solid defensive performance.

“Collin had the pick-six, but also multiple tackles,” HHS head coach Nathan Horne said. “I was really pleased to see our defense really win a game for us. They’ve had some hard games, some knocks, and hats off to those guys, they all did a really good job.

“Tonight wasn’t a pretty win, but I’ll take it. I’ll take it over a pretty loss any day.”

Though the defense stood strong at the end of the game, making up for late fumbles by the offense late in the fourth quarter, the Hillsboro defense scored the first touchdown of the Frontier Athletic Conference game with Swackhamer intercepting a pass from the 40-yard line and taking the ball to the house, as he leaped in the air to catch the Chillicothe pass and raced 60 yards to the end zone with 7:44 left in the first quarter. 

Wesley Bailey connected with the PAT for the 7-0 Hillsboro lead in front of a packed Richards Memorial Stadium. 

On the ensuing drive, the Indians forced a turnover on downs on their own 16-yard line as the Cavaliers reached the red zone but were unable to convert a fourth-and-2 play. That drive against Chillicothe included a tackle for a two-yard loss by Swackhamer on a first down play from the HHS 43-yard line, and later a sack by Elliott for a loss of seven yards on a first down play from the Indians’ 25-yard line. 

Regaining possession of the ball on their own 18-yard line, the Indians had a gain of nine yards, to where they eventually reached the 27-yard line for a third-and-1 play. That third down play was one of the longest rushes for the season for the Indians as Tre Captain raced to pay dirt for a 73-yard touchdown run with 1:49 left in the first quarter. Captain finished with five carries for 108 yards and one TD. 

Bailey converted the PAT for the 14-0 Hillsboro lead. 

Hillsboro’s defense continued to keep the Cavaliers out of the end zone with stops that included halting what was a 10-play CHS drive, ending it with a fourth-and-6 stop on the HHS 39-yard line with 10:01 left in the second quarter. 

On the next drive, the Indians had a pass intercepted by Chillicothe freshman Cartae Ligon on a fourth-and-7 play on the CHS 10-yard line and returned to the 20-yard line with 7:27 left in the second quarter. 

Ligon had a rush of 24 yards, but later on a second down play it wa a big stop in the backfield by Swackhamer for a 4-yard loss that made it a third-and-15 play. From there, the HHS defense forced an incompletion and a punt with 20 seconds left in the second quarter, leading to the Indians holding a 14-point halftime lead. 

The second half saw the Indians struggle on offense, as they were forced to punt four consecutive times to start the second half. 

Chillicothe capitalized on one of those punts, starting with the ball on the Indians’ 36-yard line and taking one play to score their first touchdown of the game when Ligon raced to a 36-yard score, spinning off a tackle attempt and outrushing everyone to the end zone with 6:12 left in the third quarter. CHS had the PAT converted for a 14-7 score. 

The Indians’ final touchdown of the game came with 7:36 left in the fourth quarter when following a punt that sailed over the head of CHS, HHS gained possession of the game on the Cavaliers’ 4-yard line with 8:30 left in the game. 

After a five-yard loss on a penalty, followed by a gain of three yards, nine yards on two plays, the Indians had a second-and-goal play from the 2-yard line where quarterback Mason Dumpert followed his blockers into the end zone for six points. Bailey made his third PAT for a 21-7 Hillsboro lead. 

When the Cavaliers regained possession of the ball on the ensuing drive, they were back in the end zone for a second time with Ligon racing to a 70-yard score with 6:57 left in the fourth quarter. Again, Chillicothe made the PAT for a 21-14 score with Hillsboro still in front. 

Hillsboro lost fumbles on their next two offensive possessions. In between that, the Indians’ defense held strong with Swackhamer making a big stop on fourth-and-1 on the HHS 11-yard line, keeping the Cavaliers away from the end zone with 4:22 still left in the fourth frame. 

After recovering the aforementioned second fumble in the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers we’re held to a turnover on downs when Zack Brown made a big tackle on a fourth-and-4 play that gave the Indians back possession of the ball on the CHS 25-yard line with 3:20 left on the clock. 

Hillsboro eventually attempted a 27-yard field goal with 47.3 seconds on the clock, but the defense of CHS broke through for the block. 

Then came some confusion as the CHS quarterback was hit by Elliott on first down from the CHS 20-yard line, and in the process the ball came loose out of the hand of the QB. The ball bounced on the ground, and Jeven Hochstuhl picked up the loose ball and took the ball to the 5-yard line. 

None of that counted as the officials eventually ruled the play an incompletion, but also called a face mask penalty on CHS, though the play was ruled an incomplete pass. 

Eventually, after both coaches had individual discussions with the officials, they kept possession of the ball for a second-and-20 play where they had an 8-yard gain. Then came an incompletion pass on third down, followed by another incompletion that all but ended the game. 

HHS went to victory formation on offense and kneeled the ball for the win. 

“We had a lot of adversity at the end with the blocked field goal and fumbles, but our defense just continued to step up and bail us out,” Horne said. “Hats off to Chillicothe, they have some young talent and they played hard. Nobody’s going to give you wins.”

For the game, the Indians’ offense totaled 207 yards, with 201 yards rushing. 

The win improves Hillsboro to 1-1 in the FAC and 3-4 overall. Chillicothe falls to 0-2 in the FAC and 0-7 overall. 

Hillsboro is scheduled to play their Week 8 game Friday, Oct. 11 on the road at Gardner Park against the Washington Blue Lions at 7 p.m. Washington (1-1, 1-6) lost to the Jackson Ironmen (2-0, 5-2) by a 42-0 score. Also in the FAC, the Miami Trace Panthers defeated the McClain Tigers, 44-10. 

GAME NOTES: Ryan Burns had nine carries for 25 yards, plus totaled six tackles and one sack … Dumpert finished with 10 carries for 23 yards and one TD … Hochstuhl totaled nine carries for 45 yards, had one reception for five yards and one tackle on defense … Brown had one reception and one defense totaled nine tackles  … Landon Jordan finished with eight tackles and one sack … Shawn Hottinger finished with four tackles … Captain had one tackle … Michael Burns had one tackle … Jaiden Captain had four tackles … Malakai Kelley finished with two tackles … JaHari Pitts totaled four tackles … Jordan Lewis finished with one tackle … John Deans had two tackles and a sack … Ian Fenner totaled a tackle and a sack. 

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