Hoisington’s line play paves the way to a 35-6 win over Hillsboro

Dominated on both sides of the ball by the play of Hoisington?s linemen, the Hillsboro football team suffered a 35-6 homecoming beat-down Friday night at Joel H. Wiens Stadium.

For the first time this season, the Trojans were shut out offensively, scoring their only touchdown of the night on a 55-yard interception return by Justus Hilliard in the closing seconds of the first half.

Hoisington, meanwhile, drove the ball almost at will for most of the night, but stopped themselves four times on turnovers, including three lost fumbles and Hilliard?s pick-six interception.

Hoisington scored first on a 28-yard field goal by Brandon Ball with 4:39 left in the first quarter, then added a touchdown at the 7:16 mark of the second quarter on a 26-yd run by Hunter Hanzlick. Hillsboro blocked the kick to keep the score at 9-0.

Hoisington struck again late in the half, recovering a fumble by Hilliard at the Hoisington 35-yard line, then scoring in three plays — the final one being a 43-yard run by Hanzlick with 2:26 left. The PAT kick missed the mark and the Trojans were still within two scores at 15-0.

After Hillsboro punted the ball back to Hoisington with 29.8 seconds left in the half, Cardinal quarterback Tyler Specht launched a deep pass down the Hoisington sideline, but Hilliard snatched the ball, zig-zagged his way through a flock of pursuing Cardinals and crossed the goal line with 16 seconds remaining. Jeff Jorgenson?s kick was blocked for a 15-6 halftime score.

Hoisington continued to wear down the Trojans as the second half began. The Cardinals? Rudy Gearhart ran the opening kickoff back to the Hoisington 46-yard line. The Cardinals then scored twice — first on a 22-yard touchdown run by Hanzlick that was called back on an offensive facemask penalty, then for real on a 4-yard run by Steffan Dolechek, who fumbled near the goal line, then recovered the ball in the end zone. Ball converted the kick and the visitors led 22-6.

After Hoisington scored on a 35-yard run by KC Stephens to push the lead to 28-6 with 2:57 left in the third quarter, Hillsboro put together its most impressive drive of the night. Shifting into a hurry-up offense, the Trojans drove from their own 29-yard line to the Hoisington 8 in seven plays. The highlight of the drive was three quick passes from Hilliard to sophomore Carson Herbel — his first receptions of the season.

But at the 8-yard line, Hillsboro imploded. Two delay-of-game penalties and three sacks of Hilliard pushed the ball all the way back to the 31-yard line, with Hoisington taking over on downs from there.

The Cardinals scored their final touchdown on a 17-yard sweep by Dolechek with 5:06 left in the game.

The impact of Hoisington?s line play is reflected in the total offense numbers for both teams: The Cardinals rolled up 449 yards while holding the Trojans to 125, including a mere 55 yards on the ground on 27 carries.

With the loss, Hillsboro?s record falls to 1-3 for the season while Hoisington improves to 3-1.

Written By
More from Don Ratzlaff
Bring back the stool
Let?s be honest: Nobody likes to pay taxes. But responsible citizens will...
Read More