Blue Lions break away from Indians
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO — The Hillsboro Indians made the first half tough on the visiting Washington Blue Lions, but the second half was a different story, as the Blue Lions used an old school rushing attack to start the half and eventually take home the South Central Ohio League win by a 34-14 score at Richards Memorial Field.
For the Indians, they trailed by just six points at halftime by a 13-7 score but were outscored in the second half, 21-7 in what was their final home game of the regular season.
"We played hard, but Washington made the plays and we didn't," HHS head coach Matt Hodge said. "Even in the first half, I felt we left points on the board, and turnovers hurt us in the first half as well."
Before turnovers became a factor for the Indians (0-5, 1-8), it was the Washington (3-2, 5-4) offense who scored on their first drive of the game, going 90 yards on six plays, ending with a 14-yard run by Kyle Garrett with 5:29 left in the first quarter. The PAT by Noah Mesker put the Blue Lions ahead by a 7-0 score.
HHS didn't back down as they put together a scoring drive totaling 48 yards, as Matt Arnold returned a kickoff 42 yards to get the positive field position.
From there, HHS began with a 6-yard pass to Arnold from starting quarterback Logan Lesley. After the completion, Toby Warrington raced four yards, and Lesley followed with a 6-yard run.
The drive continued with another 6-yard run by Warrington and a 10-yard completion caught by Arnold.
Jordan Mosley later had a 2-yard run, and the drive eventually ended with Mosley racing nine yards to the end zone, twisting in mid-air into the end zone for six points. Ashley Purtee kicked the PAT, tying the score at 7-7 with 53.3 left in the first quarter.
The Blue Lions responded with another touchdown ending with a Tye Smith 25-yard run to the end zone with 4:03 left in the second quarter, as the PAT was no good, leaving Washington with a 13-7 advantage. The touchdown came off an HHS turnover on a mishandled punt that was recovered by Travis Leisure of the Blue Lions.
Smith finished the game with four touchdowns.
Once HHS finally took possession of the ball, they had yet another turnover, this time with a fumble on the Washington 46-yard line with 1:57 left in the first half.
The Blue Lions, on the ensuing drive, had two touchdowns called back due to holding penalties, and the Indians made a fourth down stop six yards away from the end zone.
[[In-content Ad]]"In the first half, we played well, but we had too many penalties," Washington head coach Corey Dye said. "We left a score or two out there. At the half, I told the guys to keep playing like they were, but stop holding."
Then came the third quarter where the Blue Lions opened the second half with a 15-play, 80-yard scoring drive that ended with Smith taking the ball six yards to the end zone with 4:33 left in the third for a 21-7 advantage following a pass to Malik Pettiford on the 2-point conversion attempt.
"I was proud of the way the kids came out and played in the second half," Dye said. "We had a nice drive to start the third quarter. I want to credit Hillsboro, Coach Hodge is building a nice program there, and they are going through some of the same growing pains we've gone through as a program in the past."
Hodge also spoke about the second half drive of the Blue Lions that opened the third quarter.
"Credit Washington, the first drive they had in the second half made a big difference in this game," he said.
The drive took 7:27 to complete as it consisted of 14 rushing plays, a majority by Garrett, who had seven rushes in the drive for 34 yards. Smith had 34 yards in the drive as well on seven rushes. Josh Williams had a 12-yard completion in the drive as well.
Washington eventually built a 27-7 lead when Smith scored his third touchdown of the game on a 12-yard dash to the end zone with 5:30 left in the fourth.
The final HHS score came with 3:43 left in the final quarter when Warrington went 17 yards for a touchdown, completing a drive of 76 yards. The scoring drive included a 32-yard run by Mosley and a run of 16 yards by Lesley.
Washington ended their scoring with a touchdown at the 2:05 mark of the fourth with Smith gaining his fourth touchdown on a 27-yard run. Mesker converted the PAT.
The Indians will end the 2013 football season on the road as they travel to face Highland County rival McClain in the Rotary Bowl at McClain Field. The Blue Lions will face their Fayette County rival Miami Trace next Friday.
GAME NOTES: Hillsboro's Chad Blankenship made multiple tackles for loss against WCH, including a tackle for a 14-yard loss … Blankenship also had a 10-yard reception and a 13-yard reception.
For the Indians, they trailed by just six points at halftime by a 13-7 score but were outscored in the second half, 21-7 in what was their final home game of the regular season.
"We played hard, but Washington made the plays and we didn't," HHS head coach Matt Hodge said. "Even in the first half, I felt we left points on the board, and turnovers hurt us in the first half as well."
Before turnovers became a factor for the Indians (0-5, 1-8), it was the Washington (3-2, 5-4) offense who scored on their first drive of the game, going 90 yards on six plays, ending with a 14-yard run by Kyle Garrett with 5:29 left in the first quarter. The PAT by Noah Mesker put the Blue Lions ahead by a 7-0 score.
HHS didn't back down as they put together a scoring drive totaling 48 yards, as Matt Arnold returned a kickoff 42 yards to get the positive field position.
From there, HHS began with a 6-yard pass to Arnold from starting quarterback Logan Lesley. After the completion, Toby Warrington raced four yards, and Lesley followed with a 6-yard run.
The drive continued with another 6-yard run by Warrington and a 10-yard completion caught by Arnold.
Jordan Mosley later had a 2-yard run, and the drive eventually ended with Mosley racing nine yards to the end zone, twisting in mid-air into the end zone for six points. Ashley Purtee kicked the PAT, tying the score at 7-7 with 53.3 left in the first quarter.
The Blue Lions responded with another touchdown ending with a Tye Smith 25-yard run to the end zone with 4:03 left in the second quarter, as the PAT was no good, leaving Washington with a 13-7 advantage. The touchdown came off an HHS turnover on a mishandled punt that was recovered by Travis Leisure of the Blue Lions.
Smith finished the game with four touchdowns.
Once HHS finally took possession of the ball, they had yet another turnover, this time with a fumble on the Washington 46-yard line with 1:57 left in the first half.
The Blue Lions, on the ensuing drive, had two touchdowns called back due to holding penalties, and the Indians made a fourth down stop six yards away from the end zone.
[[In-content Ad]]"In the first half, we played well, but we had too many penalties," Washington head coach Corey Dye said. "We left a score or two out there. At the half, I told the guys to keep playing like they were, but stop holding."
Then came the third quarter where the Blue Lions opened the second half with a 15-play, 80-yard scoring drive that ended with Smith taking the ball six yards to the end zone with 4:33 left in the third for a 21-7 advantage following a pass to Malik Pettiford on the 2-point conversion attempt.
"I was proud of the way the kids came out and played in the second half," Dye said. "We had a nice drive to start the third quarter. I want to credit Hillsboro, Coach Hodge is building a nice program there, and they are going through some of the same growing pains we've gone through as a program in the past."
Hodge also spoke about the second half drive of the Blue Lions that opened the third quarter.
"Credit Washington, the first drive they had in the second half made a big difference in this game," he said.
The drive took 7:27 to complete as it consisted of 14 rushing plays, a majority by Garrett, who had seven rushes in the drive for 34 yards. Smith had 34 yards in the drive as well on seven rushes. Josh Williams had a 12-yard completion in the drive as well.
Washington eventually built a 27-7 lead when Smith scored his third touchdown of the game on a 12-yard dash to the end zone with 5:30 left in the fourth.
The final HHS score came with 3:43 left in the final quarter when Warrington went 17 yards for a touchdown, completing a drive of 76 yards. The scoring drive included a 32-yard run by Mosley and a run of 16 yards by Lesley.
Washington ended their scoring with a touchdown at the 2:05 mark of the fourth with Smith gaining his fourth touchdown on a 27-yard run. Mesker converted the PAT.
The Indians will end the 2013 football season on the road as they travel to face Highland County rival McClain in the Rotary Bowl at McClain Field. The Blue Lions will face their Fayette County rival Miami Trace next Friday.
GAME NOTES: Hillsboro's Chad Blankenship made multiple tackles for loss against WCH, including a tackle for a 14-yard loss … Blankenship also had a 10-yard reception and a 13-yard reception.