Trojan generosity leads to district loss against Hesston

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DON RATZLAFF
The Hillsboro High School football team provided more hospitality than an already well-nourished Hesston team needed, helping the Swathers to a 28-12 win over the Trojans in the opening round of district play Friday at Reimer Field.

A couple of helpings of untimely penalties and turnovers were the last thing the Trojans should have offered one of the better teams in Class 3A, but the Swathers (6-1) gladly accepted them.

Twice on the Swathers’ opening possession of the game, the Trojans bailed out the visitors with critical encroachment penalties-the first time on a third-and-five at the Hillsboro 40-yard line and the second time on a fourth-and-five at the Trojan 20.

Five plays after the second helping of Trojan generosity, Swather fullback Kevin Roulhac barreled into the end zone from one yard out to complete the 17-play, 72-yard drive that gobbled up the first 10 minutes of the game.

Casey Brunk’s kick gave Hesston a 7-0 lead.

Trojan coach Len Coryea said his team’s mental errors were evidence that he was out-coached by first-year Swather mentor Nate Wollenberg.

“You gear the guys to charge, charge, charge,” Coryea said about his line. But in this case his team responded impatiently to the Swather threats, he added.

Early in the second period, the Trojans took advantage of some rare generosity on Hesston’s part when Trojan tackle Wade Weibert recovered a fumble by quarterback Andy Schmidt at the Hesston 28-yard line.

On a big fourth-and-seven play at the 25, Trojan quarterback Josh Boese connected with Troy Frick for a 19-yard gain to the 6-yard line. Two plays later, Boese ran off tackle for a five-yard score.

Hesston blocked David Funk’s extra-point kick, but Hillsboro was within one point at 7-6.

On the next possession, Hesston drove to the Hillsboro 27-yard line, but Roulhac fumbled and Matt Brown recovered the football for Hillsboro at the 26.

Not to be outdone in generosity, Boese fumbled in the face of Hesston pressure on the first play from scrimmage, and the Swathers had the ball again at the Trojan 18.

The Swathers drove to the Trojan 9-yard line in three plays, but the defense turned stingy at just the right time, stuffing Schmidt on a fourth-down quarterback keeper with 2:07 left in the half.

An interception by Hesston’s Reed Hammond gave Hesston the ball at the Swather 27-yard line with 55 seconds to go, but the Hillsboro defense held off the Swathers until time ran out at midfield.

The game took a nasty turn for Hillsboro on Hesston’s first possession of the second half. On the third play of the drive, halfback Hammond broke through the Trojan defense for a 55-yard score. Brunk’s kick made it 14-6 with 7:55 left in the third quarter.

Stunned but not shattered, Hillsboro came back with a big scoring play of its own. On fourth-and-seven at the Swather 47, Boese bobbled the shotgun snap, but scooped up the ball and fired downfield to Troy Frick, who had two steps on his defender. Frick made a leaping catch and raced the final 20 yards into the end zone.

“The pass to Troy maybe doesn’t happen if we hadn’t fumbled the ball,” Coryea said. “Certainly, that fumble helped break him open because the safety stopped. It turned out to be a nice play.”

Boese’s 2-point conversion pass to tie the score fell incomplete, but Hillsboro was back to within two points at 14-12.

The Trojans’ momentum was short-lived, though. On the ensuing kickoff, Hammond bobbled the ball momentarily, then took off down the Hesston sideline for an 86-yard touchdown return.

“That flushed us,” Coryea said of the runback. “They have returned (kickoffs) to their sideline all year on the crossing (of return men)-we knew that. Our guys saw him going and they just stayed in their lane. We teach them all year to stay in their lane and we’re not athletic enough to say, ‘Oh, there’s goes the ball, we should take off that way.'”

Brunk’s third PAT kick gave Hesston a 21-12 edge with 4:49 left in the quarter.

Hillsboro handed Hesston another break when Boese fumbled the football on the fourth play of the Trojans’ next possession. Ben Epp recovered it for Hesston at the Hillsboro 39-yard line.

The Swathers slowly but surely marched toward paydirt. But when it appeared the Trojans might stop the drive on fourth-and-one at the Hillsboro 6, they offered Hesston one more treat: an encroachment penalty that gave Hesston a first-and-goal at the 3.

On the next play, Schmidt put the game in the deep freeze with a touchdown dive off left tackle. Brunk’s kick provided the final margin of 28-12.

Hillsboro traded a fumble recover by Tim Funk for an interception by Hesston’s Tyler Keller in the final three minutes, but neither team scored.

Coryea said he felt his team became complacent.

“We got to the point on both sides of the ball where you’re waiting for things to happen,” he said. “Instead of our blockers going to get those (defensive) ends on the pass play, we’re waiting-and then they’re in Josh’s face.

“Josh had the heat on him tonight,” Coryea said of his quarterback’s 9-for-15 passing with a pair of interceptions. “Heat does that to all quarterbacks.”

Still, Boese’s 164 aerial yards was the highlight of Hillsboro’s attack as the Hesston defense held Trojan runners to a season-low 52 yards on 22 carries.

Frick caught five passes for 116 yards while Hillsboro’s one-two running punch of Tim Funk and Michael Suderman managed only 23 and 20 yards on eight and nine carries, respectively.

Coryea credited Hesston’s 6-foot-2, 300-pound lineman James McCartney for contributing to a lot of Hillsboro’s problems on offense.

“He’s the best tackle in the league,” Coryea said. “I watched him on film-and we just couldn’t stop him.

“They have a good football team,” he added. “I won’t take anything away from them. They’re big and fast.”

On offense, the Swathers’ ground-based attack rolled up 273 yards on 50 carries, led by Hammond’s 157 yards on 20 carries. Roulhac added 80 yards on 16 carries.

Hesston threw only three times.

Beyond the mistakes, Coryea felt his team gave a good effort.

“We still played hard and tried to hit hard,” he said. “We just got outplayed. Sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you.”

Coming-Hillsboro will take its 4-3 season record and 0-1 start in district play to Marion (6-1, 0-1) on Friday. The Warriors are coming off a 50-28 loss to state-ranked Southeast of Saline.

“You know they’re coached well,” Coryea said of Hillsboro’s intra-county rivals. “You know Marion will be solid fundamentally. I’ll put down $100 that Southeast made their points because they’re just good. It’s not because there was a breakdown on (Marion’s) part.”

Game time is 7 p.m.

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