Hillsboro gets past Ellinwood, 32-6

The Hillsboro Trojans overcame mistakes, misfires and otherwise lackluster play to post a 32-6 win over Ellinwood Friday night (Sept. 18) at Joel Wiens Stadium in Hillsboro.

The Trojans scored first on a four-yard run by Chance Reece with 4:04 to play in the opening quarter. Ellinwood blocked Ethan Frantz?s PAT kick and the score stood at 6-0.

Hillsboro seemed on the way to its second score in the second period when they drove to the Eagle 9-yard line in six plays. But a 2-yard running loss by Reece, and an incomplete pass by Jacob Fish set up an intercepted pass on third down near the Trojan goal line by linebacker Tanner Ragan, who returned the ball 99 yards for a score.

This time HHS blocked the kick and the game was tied at 6-6 with 7:52 left in the half.

After trading possessions, the Trojans drove 86 yards in six plays — the big one a 45-yard scoring pass from Fish to Beber?meyer with 1:34 left in the half.

Ellinwood nearly snuck in another score before halftime, taking advantage of two personal foul calls against HHS. With a first-and-goal at the Trojan 9-yard line, an Eagle block-in-the-back penalty pushed the ball back to the 23-yard line with 6.7 seconds left on the clock.

Quarterback Kyle Corbett threw a pass into the end zone, but the Trojans prevented the catch. The clock still showed 0.1 seconds left. This time Corbett connected with his receiver, but he was stopped at the 2-yard line as the half ended.

Hillsboro came out fired up to start the third quarter and got a huge boost from a kickoff return by Bebermeyer that gave HHS the ball at the Ellinwood 43. Reece than rumbled 23 yards around the right end to the 20. After a two-yard gain, Reece took the ball for the third straight time and rolled into the end zone from 18 yards out.

Frantz missed the kick, but HHS had some breathing room with an 18-6 advantage with 10:59 left in the third period.

After Ellinwood possessed the ball for about 5 minutes on the game clock, the Trojans took over on downs at their own 27-yard line. Five plays later, Fish hit a wide open Daniel Kunantaev down the middle of the field for a 63-yard score. Frantz? kick made it 25-6 with 4:04 left in the third period.

Following a rough patch of fumbles, penalties and interceptions by both teams, Hillsboro managed a final score when Matt Yoder broke out of a pack of would-be tacklers and ran for a 55-yard touchdown with about 2:50 left in the contest.

Max Bertinchamp, German transfer student, booted a perfect extra point to the delight of the Trojan student section as Hillsboro completed its 32-6 victory.

The win boosted HHS to 3-0 for the year while Ellinwood dropped to 1-2.

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