Second half halts Hillsboro’s momentum in loss to Blue Lions

HILLSBORO — The first half was a solid performance by the Hillsboro Indians with them holding a seven-point lead at halftime over the visiting Washington Blue Lions in their Week 9 Frontier Athletic Conference game at Richards Memorial Field. 

Then the second half happened where multiple injuries occurred, miscommunications happened, and Washington’s offense and defense took advantage of those opportunities to break away, giving the Indians a 43-21 loss, putting potential playoff chances in jeopardy. 

The Indians entered the game No. 12 in the Division III, Region 12 football computer rankings, with Bellefontaine and Bellbrook right behind the Indians in the rankings. On Friday in Week 9 Bellbrook won over Oakwood, and Bellefontaine won as well over Urbana, putting both of them at 5-4, as Hillsboro fell to 4-5 overall. 

As for the aforementioned second half, the it was the third quarter which doomed the Indians as two key players, Zack Brown and Jack Cornele, both left the game due to injuries, as that was added with the absence of fellow starter Collin Swackhamer who was out with an injury suffered last week against Chillicothe. Washington also outscored Hillsboro 23-0 in the third and 36-7 in the second half. 

This season, in the third quarter, the Indians have been held scoreless six times. 

That said, the Indians stood their ground and battled most of the game with the Blue Lions in their final home game of the season, and for the first half everything was much better than the final two quarters as the Indians reached pay dirt first in the conference contest. 

The Indians were first to score, starting the drive with 5:14 left in the first quarter, totaling 64 yards for the score. 

HHS had a second down play for a 5-yard pass by quarterback Mason Dumpert to Landon Jordan, followed a couple plays later with a 15-yard rush by Dumpert and a 6-yard run by Brown. That was followed with a 12-yard catch by Jordan.

Hillsboro followed with a 7-yard rush by Dumpert on a QB keeper, and later on fourth down it was Dumpert with another 7-yard run going from Washington's 11-yard line to their 4-yard line.

After a negative-yardage play on first and goal, the Indians had a 7-yard run by Brown setting up a third and goal play from the 3-yard line where the Indians capitalized with a 3-yard rush to the end zone by fullback Cornele with 10:02 left in the second quarter. Cooper Swope's PAT was good for a 7-0 HHS lead.

Washington's response was a touchdown of their own, a 51-yard pass from Sam Pfeifer to Aden Osborne in stride to the end zone with 8:50 left in the second on the second down play. The PAT by Joel Perack left the score tied at 7-7.

The Blue Lions’ defense then intercepted a pass as Matthew Colflesh made the catch with 6:46 left in the second. Hillsboro answered with an interception by Dumpert on defense with 6:21 remaining in the first half.

The Indians took that momentum and scored their second touchdown of the first half when on third down Dumpert’s pass was tipped by Brown and caught by Shawn Hottinger, who raced 76 yards to the end zone with 4:39 left before halftime. Swope made the PAT for a 14-7 Indians lead.

Washington attempted to add to their scoring, but Hillsboro's defense had other plans with a sack by John Deans for a loss of 15 yards, forcing fourth down where HHS then held the Blue Lions for a turnover on downs with the clock reading 2:59.

Both teams had possession of the ball on final time in the first half with the highlight being a sack by Hillsboro's Jordan for a 9-yard loss on second down.

HHS kneeled the ball following a missed field goal attempt by the Blue Lions for a 14-7 halftime lead.  

Holding a seven-point lead to start the third quarter, Hillsboro was unable to slow down Washington on the first drive of the third quarter when they opened with a 15-yard rush by Osborne, followed by a third down play which saw Pfeifer pass to Noah Haithcock for an 8-yard gain, as that was the play where Brown was injured with 11:27 on the clock.  

On fourth-and-2, Pfeifer had a short pass to Osborne that turned into a 30-yard touchdown with 11:08 left in the third. Perack made the extra-point kick for a 14-14 score. 

The Indians were forced to punt  — as this was the drive with Cornele’s injury —  and the Blue Lions came back with a touchdown on their second drive of the third quarter.

Washington’s touchdown saw Andrew Young rush for a 57-yard gain on the first play of the drive, and that was followed with Young having a 5-yard carry. Two plays later, the Blue Lions took the lead with a touchdown pass from Pfeifer to Bryson Heath, who was in the end zone for a 13-yard score with 7:48 remaining on the third-quarter clock. Perack made the PAT for a 21-14 Blue Lion lead. 

Hillsboro fumbled and lost possession on the ensuing drive, and the Blue Lions pounced on the extra opportunity as they gained possession of the ball on the Indians’ 24-yard line. It took only one play for Washington to score their fourth touchdown of the game and third score of the third quarter when Pfeifer found Haithcock for a wide-open 24-yard touchdown with 6:55 on the clock. The PAT was no good, leaving the score 27-14. 

The Blue Lions later increased their lead to 30-14 with 3:50 left in the third quarter when Perack kicked a 30-plus yard field goal. 

Following an Indians punt that gave Washington the ball on Hillsboro’s 37-yard line, the Indians had a big defensive play from JaHari Pitts with the defensive lineman gaining an interception with 2:07 left in the third quarter. 

HHS put together a small drive of positive plays, but on a first down play the Blue Lions’ defense forced another turnover, this one being an interception by Wesley Gibbs at the 11:44 mark of the fourth quarter. 

The Blue Lions were back to celebrating a touchdown score with 11:20 left in the game as Pfeifer passed to Osborne for a 63-yard completion for a touchdown. The PAT was no good, leaving Washington holding a 22-point lead by a 36-14 score. 

Hillsboro had a turnover on downs, and the Blue Lions responded with another second half touchdown as Pfeifer found Osborne for a 42-yard touchdown score with 3:42 left in the game. Perack’s PAT was good, putting Washington in front at 43-14. 

The Indians scored one final touchdown when Braylon Mays took advantage of the opportunity in front of him and raced 87 yards for a touchdown with 3:24 on the fourth-quarter clock. Swope made the PAT for a 43-21 score, as that was the final touchdown scored in the FAC game. 

On defense for the Indians, tackles were made by: Mays (one), Dumpert (seven), Cornele (two), Brown (one), Jordan (one), Hottinger (two), Deans (one), Snyder (one), Yochum (two) and Pitts (three). Also in the game, Foster Britton had a fumble recovery. 

Hillsboro will be on the road for Week 10 as they will play in the annual Rotary Bowl game against Highland County and FAC rival, the McClain Tigers (3-6) at 7 p.m. at McClain Field in Greenfield. Both teams are 0-4 in the FAC this season. 

BOX SCORE
WCH    00 07 23 13 — 43
HHS     00 14 00 07 — 21