Indians ride Downing's arm to first-place tie

(Continued from last week.)

The Tigers had played well in the first half, hosting the 5-1 Miami Trace Panthers on Oct. 15, 1993 in the high school football season.

But everything fell apart for McClain, in the third quarter. The Panthers scored three touchdowns as they swept to a 39-7 win.

McClain had some very good plays on offense, but after the first quarter, they were never able to string enough offensive production together to reach the goal line.

Scott Counter gained 134 yards in 16 carries, but he was most of the Tiger offense.

Trace had a big passing edge, with quarterback Trainer hitting on 10 of 12 passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns.

McClain’s Andy Bolender completed 3 of 12 passing attempts for 23 yards with two interceptions.

Miami Trace moved to 6-1 for the season, while the Tigers dropped to 4-3, having lost three of the last four games.

Clermont Northeastern visited Hillsboro where they were mauled by the Indians, 59-21. The Tribe climbed back into a first place tie in the Southern Buckeye Athletic Conference with the win.

Actually, Jay Stewart, of CNE, took the opening kickoff and raced 87 yards for a touchdown as the visitors grabbed an early 7-0 lead. But Hillsboro took control early in the second quarter, and it was mostly uphill for CNE after that.

Chad Downing connected on 11 of 18 passes for 200 yards and one TD. In this game, the Indian QB went over 1,100 yards passing for the season and there were three games remaining. He had a chance for a landmark season, if all went well.

The Indians were now 3-1 in the SBAC (5-2, overall), and were tied with Blanchester, New Richmond and Western Brown. In their final three games of the season they would face Blanchester, New Richmond and Western Brown. Could the Red and White grab another SBAC football title?

McClain traveled to Oak Hill on week eight of the season to challenge the 4-3 Oak Hill Oaks. The Tigers got off to a good start, but a clipping penalty nullified a 35-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Dusty Anderson in the first quarter. Later, a holding penalty wiped out an 89-yard
touchdown run by Scott Counter in the fourth quarter.

Jim Bob Young replaced Bolender at quarterback in the second stanza. Young connected on five of nine passes for 99 yards, but his receivers dropped three excellent passes that could possibly have taken the Oaks out of the game early.

Oak Hill passed on first down late in the final quarter, finding a receiver all alone in the end zone for a TD. This gave the Jackson County squad a 16-13 lead with only 2:56 remaining in the game. Things were not looking good for the Purple and Gold.

But the determined Tigers drove 61 yards, and Scott Counter ran nine yards for a touchdown with under a minute remaining, lifting the McClain team to a thrilling, come-from-behind, 20-16 win.

For the game, Counter recorded 70 yards on 15 carries and had more than 100 yards called back due to penalties.

Hillsboro traveled to Blanchester the same night (Oct. 22), where they defeated the Blanchester Wildcats, 21-7, in a Southern Buckeye Athletic Conference game. With this win, the Indians maintained a share of the SBC lead. They would meet New Richmond, Oct. 29, a must-win game in order to set up a championship showdown on Nov. 5 with Western Brown.

In the Blanchester game, quarterback Chad Downing established a new passing record at Hillsboro High School, by completing 16 of 28 passes for 164 yards. This gave him a total of 1,289 yards for the season, eclipsing the former record of 1,165 yards, which was set by Erik Callahan in 1987.

The Indians still had two games remaining in the 1993 season.

In a bizarre first half of the Wellston vs. McClain game at Greenfield, Oct. 29, 14 penalties were called on the two teams, including an unbelievable eight for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The half ended with no score.

After a heart-to-heart talk in the McClain locker room, at halftime, the Tigers came out ready to play football in the second half. The Purple and Gold rang up 21 third-quarter points as they rolled to a 34-6 victory.

(Continued next week.)

Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.