ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DR
Josh Boese connected with Chad Hughbanks on a scoring pass with 33 seconds left in the game to give Hillsboro a 13-12 victory over Smoky Valley Friday at Reimer Field.
In a game where both teams were hurt by penalties at ciritical moments, the Viking suffered the last agony when they were called for pass interference on a fourth-and-5 incomplete pass at the Viking 12-yard line with 36 seconds to play. The penalty gave the Trojans a first and goal at the seven, and Boese threw the game-winning fade pass to the far side of the end zone for the 13-12 lead. Hillsboro’s 2-point conversion attempt failed.
Hillsboro legitmately outplayed the Viking through much of the game, and twice in the first half had the ball inside the Viking 20-yard line and could not punch it in.
The Trojans finally got the job done on their fourth possession when Josh Boese bulled his way in from one yard out to cap a 64-yard, nine play drive. David Funk’s kick made it 7-0 with 2:25 left in the first half.
But Smoky came right back, helped by a 38-yard pass from Darrin Biegert to Rowdy Jones, to score on their next possession on a 20-yard pass from Biegert to Tarron Tubbs with 46 second left in the half. The Trojans blocked the extra-point kick to maintain a 7-6 lead.
Smoky Valley grabbed the lead with 1:38 left in the third quarter on a one-yard plunge by Biegert. This time the Trojans stopped the Vikings’ 2-point conversion attempt to keep the deficit at 12-7.
The game seemed to be determined when Boese was intercepted in Smoky Valley territory with 3:40 left in the game. But the Trojan defense stopped the Vikings in three plays, forced the punt and took possession at their own 38-yard line with 1:52 to play. Going almost exclusively with the pass, the Trojans moved fown the field, aided by a personal-foul penalty against Smoky. that moved the ball to the 12-yard line. One play and one pass interference penalty later, the Trojans were set up the winning play from the 7.
The huge victory for Hillsboro improves its record to 3-1 for the year and 2-0 in Central Division play.
Hillsboro completes upset of Smoky Valley in final seconds
