ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DR
Forget a reverse of last year’s game. After a scoreless first quarter, Hillsboro took control of the game in the second quarter and ended up cruising to a 42-14 win over Hesston Thursday night in Hesston.
Hesston was formidable in the first quarter, thwarting the Trojan offense while gaining ground on the powerful running of Swather star Brian Rouhlac. But Hillsboro’s Dustin Jost connected on a beautiful 23-yard pass play to Layne Frick in the opening moments of the second quarter to break the logjam and give Hillsboro momentum that it never really lost. Phillip Terrell ran in the 2-point conversion for an 8-0 lead with 10:34 to go.
The Trojans scored again with 4:47 to go before half on a 39-yard run up the middle and then down the left side of the field by Alan Yoder. Jost ran in the 2-pointer for a 16-0 lead that the Trojans held until halftime.
Hillsboro added a third touchdown four plays into the third quarter on an 11-yard pass from Jost to Ross Duerksen. This time the run failed, but Hillsboro led 22-0. Jost had set up the touchdown on a 59-yard run on the first play from scrimmage.
Hesston then came back to score on a 62-yard drive, with Rouhlac scoring from four yards out with 5:40 left in the quarter. The 2-pt. run made the score 22-8.
But HIllsboro retaliated with a 75-yard drive of its own, capped by a 10-yard run by Duerksen for the touchdown with 12.2 seconds left in the quarter. The run failed, but Hillsboro led 28-8.
After Ronn Coates recovered a Hesston fumble on their next possession, the Trojans went 32 yards for another score on a one-yard run by Terrell with 10:11 left in the game. Jost hit Woods for the 2-point conversion and a 36-8 lead.
The final Trojan touchdown came on a seven-yard run by Kris Jones with 7:17 to go. The 2-point attempt failed and Hillsboro was rolling at 42-8.
The Swathers added a meaningless touchdown with 4:54 to play on a four-yard run.
With the win, Hillsboro completes an undefeated regular season at 9-0 and wins the district title with a 3-0 mark. They will likely play Minneapolis on Tuesday in Minneapolis.
Trojans are district champs!
