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Jacob Edwards hauls in a 10-yard scoring pass from Jacob Fish midway through the second quarter of last Tuesday?s bi-district game. Edwards caught five passes for 117 yards in Hillsboro?s 35-28 win. |
Hillsboro used the airways Tuesday night to outlast Sedgwick, 35-28, in the bi-district championship game at Joel H. Wiens Stadium in Hillsboro.
Jacob Fish threw for 388 yards and four touchdowns for the Trojans, who improved to 7-3 with the win and played Saturday at undefeated Wichita Collegiate, who defeated state power Garden Plain 50-21.
Jacob Edwards caught two of Fish?s scoring passes, while Taylor Hagen and Ben Bebermeyer each grabbed one.
It was a classic air vs. ground matchup between the Trojans and Cardinals, with the outcome in doubt until the end.
Sedgwick got on the board first after intercepting a Fish pass at the Hillsboro 32-yard line. Six plays later Trent Stucky, the Sedgwick quarterback, scored on a nine-yard run. The PAT kick glanced off the right upright to keep the lead at 6-0 with 9:30 left in the first period.
The Trojans then put together their best sustained drive of the night as they marched 66 yards in 12 plays with Chance Reece bursting across the goal line with 5:11 left in the quarter. Ethan Frantz?s kick made it 7-6.
The Trojans increased the lead early in the second quarter when they cashed in a Luke Moore interception for a 67-yard scoring drive in seven plays. A 38-yard screen pass to Daniel Dick was the big play along the way.
When Frantz missed the PAT, the Trojan lead was 13-6 with 8:01 left in the half.
Sedgwick rebounded quickly, sparked by a 47-yard run by the Cardinals? standout running back Wade Hansen that set the Cardinals up at the Trojan 13. Two plays later Stucky was in the end zone again after a six-yard run. The extra point tied the game at 13 with 6:24 left in the half.
The Trojans went to the air again as Fish completed four of six passes on the brief 58-yard drive, with Hagen catching the seven-yarder for the touchdown and then grabbing the 2-point pass to put HHS up 21-13 with 4:16 to play in the half.
That score held until halftime, but the Trojans dodged a bullet along the way. After finally stopping a Sedgwick drive, Bebermeyer attempted a running catch of a Cardinal punt for a big return, but the ball bounced off his hands and was recovered by Sedgwick at the Hillsboro 23-yard line with 59 seconds to play.
Hansen was in the end zone two plays later, but the score was nullified by a chop-block penalty, which essentially short-circuited the Cardinal drive.
Hillsboro coach Max Heinrich said the fumbled punt, though nearly disastrous for his team, proved to be a positive development.
?I told the kids there will be times when we have adversity?we have to be able to rise up to it,? Heinrichs said.
?We had that fumble late in the first half and you could just see it?our kids said we have to get after it. I think that was the turning point for us. We got the focus we wanted, and I thought we kept it throughout the rest of the game.
?Our defense was better from then, but that running back (Hansen) is great, and that?s a good offense line. But I really believe that turnover was a huge point for us.?
Sedgwick took the second-half kickoff and marched 65 yards in 10 plays with Hansen scoring from two yards out. The kick made it 21-20, Trojans, with 7:01 left in the quarter.
On the very next play after the kickoff, Fish threw deep to Bebermeyer, who gathered it in and raced the final yards for a 64-yard TD. Frantz?s kick made it 28-20 with 6:59 left in the quarter.
Undeterred, Sedgwick put together another sustained drive that started with 6:42 left in the third quarter and ended when the Cardinals missed a 30-yard field-goal attempt at the 11:20 mark of the fourth quarter.
A big 39-yard pass to Beber?meyer on the next possession moved the ball to the Sedgwick 33. Fish picked up eight yards on a keeper sweep, then ran the same play again?only to have the ball snatched out of his arms by Hansen, who raced 74 yards for a touchdown. He also ran the 2-point conversion that tied the game at 28 with 10:09 to play.
But Fish and the Trojans stepped right up with a 19-yard pass to Hagen, followed by a 26-yarder to Edwards followed by a 14-yarder to Edwards once again for the touchdown. Frantz nailed the kick to put Hillsboro up by the final margin, 35-28 with 8:10 left in the game.
But drama continued before the final gun sounded. Sedgwick launched a drive that started at its 32 and got to midfield with a fourth-and-three.
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Hillsboro?s Luke Moore (18) wards off a Sedgwick blocker in an effort to bring down Sedgwick running back Wade Hansen, who ran for 249 yards in Sedgwick?s loss to HHS. |
The Trojans finally stopped Stucky and took over at the Cardinal 49-yard line with 5:09 to go.
Hillsboro moved the ball to the Cardinal 21 before the drive stalled, and Sedgwick took over there with 4:36 left in the contest. Three big running plays moved the ball to the Trojan 33-yard line before another chop-block penalty derailed the Cardinals again. Four plays later, Bebermeyer stuck the knife in the Cardinals by intercepting Stucky?s fourth-and-30 pass with 1:16 left in the game.
The Trojans ran out the clock to seal the win and a berth in the next round. Sedgwick ended its season at 7-3.
Though football records are spotty at Hillsboro, Fish?s 388 yards are believed to be a one-game passing record. He went to the air 32 times and completed 20 with one interception.
?It?s what they were giving us,? Heinrichs said about the Trojans? air assault. ?I?ll tell you what, I?ve got three receivers that I would put against anybody?s. And they didn?t have enough guys to cover all three.
Bebermeyer led the receiving corps with 150 yards on five receptions. Edwards added 117 yard on five catches and Taylor Hagen 54 yards on seven catches. Daniel Dick passed 48 yards on two catches and Luke Moore 19 yards on one reception.
