Panthers too much for Hillsboro on homecoming

HILLSBORO — It wasn’t the Indians’ best game, according to Hillsboro head coach Nathan Horne, as the Miami Trace Panthers rolled past the host Indians on Hillsboro’s homecoming, defeating the home team by a 49-6 score Friday in Week 7. 

In the early stages of the first quarter, both teams scored on their first offensive drives of the Frontier Athletic Conference contest, but after the Indians scored what would be their only touchdown of the game, the Panthers outscored HHS, 42-0 for the remainder of the game at Richards Memorial Field. 

“We didn’t play our best game today, and hats off to Miami Trace, they have a good football team,” Horne said. “They outplayed us, they were more physical, and it just wasn’t a day for us.”

The Panthers opened the first drive of the game from their own 27-yard line with 11:45 on the clock and scored their first touchdown of the game with 4:29 remaining in the first quarter, wrapping up the 73-yard drive with a Baron Phipps pass to Julian Baker for an 8-yard touchdown. The PAT by Cam Thoroman was good for a 7-0 lead.

The drive included four rushes of 10-plus yards, including Cooper Enochs with gains of 12 and 18, Phipps with a QB keeper of 21 yards and Baker with a 10-yard carry.

Hillsboro answered with a 70-yard drive of their own for six points. Beginning with 4:24 left in the first quarter, the Indians began the drive with positive rushes by Collin Swackhamer, Zack Brown and Jack Cornele, setting up a first-and-10 play from the MT 47-yard line.

The next play was a 21-yard rush by Mason Dumpert to Miami Trace's 16-yard line. Unofficially, Dumpert totaled 75 yards rushing. 

Two plays later, the Indians were in the end zone as Swackhamer raced 14 yards for the touchdown, through the defense of the Panthers, with 4.3 left in the first quarter. The PAT was blocked by Westin Dawes of MT for a 7-6 score with the Panthers in the lead.

“We had a few nice runs and got into the red zone four times, but we couldn't get it done there,” Horne said. “We had miscues here and there, and that’s the way it fell.”

Miami Trace returned the ball from the 8-yard line to the HHS 36-yard line on the kickoff, as Hayden Cornell raced downhill on the kick return.

Two plays into the ensuing drive, Miami Trace scored their second touchdown of the game when Phipps broke a tackle attempt and raced 21 yards for a touchdown with 11:25 left in the second. The PAT by Thoroman was good for a 14-9 Panther lead.

Later in the second, MTHS increased their lead to 15 points, taking only one play to score another touchdown as Baker rushed for 35 yards and six points for the TD with 8:18 left in the second quarter. Again, the PAT was good for a 21-6 score. 

HHS battled on their next possession with a 30-yard run by Dumpert. Later, on fourth-and-16, Dumpert completed a pass for 15 yards to Brown, but it was short of a first down, giving MT the ball.

MTHS also had a turnover on downs for their next drive as the Hillsboro defense held strong on a fourth-and-8 play with 52.3 left in the second quarter.

The Panthers regained possession of the ball two plays later with heavy pressure and an interception by Gage Henry, taking the ball to the HHS 19-yard line. Three plays later, the Panthers scored their fourth touchdown of the first half with a 10-yard run by Baker with 8.4 left in the second quarter. The PAT was good for a halftime lead of 28-6 over the Indians. 

Miami Trace opened the third quarter with their fifth TD of the game. Starting the drive on Hillsboro’s 44-yard line, it took only four plays, including a 10-yard run by Phipps and an 18-yard run by Baker before Baker had another big run, a 16-yard rush to the end zone with 8:34 left in the third. MT then had a 2-point conversion run by Baker for a 36-6 lead.

Miami Trace recovered a fumble on a quarterback sack that ended the third quarter, as the fourth-and-9 play turned into the Panthers having the ball on their own 23-yard line following the sack and fumble recovery. 

Three plays into the ensuing drive, and Miami Trace added to their lead with a 77-yard pass from Phipps to Enochs, who caught the ball in transition and raced to the end zone with the wide-open catch, untouched, for a lead. The PAT was good, putting the Panthers ahead by a 43-6 score with 9:43 left in the fourth quarter.. 

MTHS scored one last touchdown as Austin Brown rushed for a 75-yard score, as that touchdown put the Panthers ahead at 49-6 with 1:07 left in the game. 

“I thought we had a good week of practice, I really did,” Horne said. “We knew Miami Trace was tough, but it didn’t go the way I figured it could have gone. Miami Trace is a good team, a good physical team.

“This is part of life … when you get knocked down, you have to get back up, and we’ll see how we respond. It’s all about how you pick yourself up in life and move on.”

On defense for the Indians, John Dean had four tackles and 1.5 sacks. Braylon Mays totaled six tackles, and Swackhamer had seven tackles. Others with tackles were: Dumpert (one), Cornele (two), Brown (two), Landon Jordan (two), Landon Holland (two), Shawn Hottinger (one), Foster Britton (one), Malachi Aber (two), Ryker Snyder (two), Connor Yochum (one), JaHari Pitts (two) and Kaiden Robbins (one).

Miami Trace’s win keeps them undefeated at 7-0 overall and 2-0 in the FAC. Hillsboro moves to 4-3 overall and 0-2 in the FAC. 

Next for the Indians is an away game on Friday, Oct. 10 in Ross County as the Indians face the Chillicothe Cavaliers (1-1, 4-3) at Herrnstein Field with a 7 p.m. kickoff. CHS defeated the Washington Blue Lions 34-29 on Friday night. 

GAMES NOTES: Swackhamer had a 14-yard rush in the first half … Cornele also had a 14-yard run in the game … Dumpert had four rushes of 12 or more yards (21, 30, 12, 16) … Deans and Pitts combined for a sack for a six-yard loss in the first quarter … Foster Britton of HHS was initially blocked to the ground on a kickoff return, but got back up and raced downfield to make the touchdown-saving tackle in the first half on a kickoff return … Deans had a tackle for loss of four yards in the second quarter.

BOX SCORE
MTHS    07 21 08 13 — 49 
HHS      06 00 00 00 — 06