Run game sends Hillsboro Indians to Week 3 win over East Clinton
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO — Sounds of fans cheering and victory bells ringing meant it was a great night of high school football for the Hillsboro Indians at Richards Memorial Field. In fact, it was a bit of a historic night, as the Indians not only defeated the visiting East Clinton Astros, 44-27, but the first victory of the 2022 season for Hillsboro was also the first win of the head coaching career of Nathan Horne.
Horne joins his father Jim Horne in the ranks of winning head coaches at Hillsboro High School, and on Friday night in Week 3 the Indians scored early and eventually gained the coveted first win of the season by using a hard-nosed rushing attack with five players carrying the ball behind the blocking of strong offensive line play by Ian Lawson, Ryan Mau, Gary Reno, Ayden Clemons, Jahari Pitts and Deegan Bloomfield.
Coach Horne spoke highly of the offensive line unit following Friday’s non-conference victory.
“Our coaches Chester Akers and Cody Mathews, they are offensive line guys and they do a great job,” Horne said. “The offensive line is the core of our team. They set up all the things that we do. I can’t give those guys enough accolades … the offensive line, they play hard every day.”
In all, the Indians unofficially totaled 370 yards rushing on 43 carries, and leading the way was Dom Smart with 175 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 15 carries. Austin Barrett finished with 89 yards rushing on 18 carries with one touchdown. Travis Ross totaled 75 yards on five carries, while adding a touchdown. Jeven Hochstuhl finished with two carries for 17 yards, and Cam Smart had three carries for 14 yards and a touchdown.
“It was a good game and to get the monkey off your back,” Horne said of the first win of the season and his first win as head coach. “The kids played hard, and winning is a lot better than losing, that’s for sure. I’m proud of the way the kids played, and it was nice to see our offense get rolling a little bit.
“Dom Smart ran the ball well, and we ran our stretch play well. Again, our offensive line blocked well, and that opened up a lot of things for us. Dom set the tone for us, and it was fun to watch that stretch play, and things were going well for us offensively. Also, Austin was running well for us too, and I was glad to see that. We got him in there and started getting him the ball, and that helped us a lot too. We were able to run out of different formations with him.”
The Indians (1-2) wasted little time by scoring six points on their first drive of the game, starting with 12 yards on a rush from Barrett, then 18 yards from Ross and three straight carries by Barrett, leaving the ball at the East Clinton 46-yard line for a first down. The next play saw the Indians celebrating in the end zone with Dom Smart going on a 46-yard trip to the end zone with 9:26 left in the first quarter, as Smart’s touchdown run saw him outpace the Astros’ defense. The extra-point attempt failed, but the Indians held a 6-0 lead.
Both teams exchanged punts, and the Astros punted for a second time on consecutive drives, but the Astros faked the punt and Dameon Williams ran with the football for six yards on fourth-and-2. The first down eventually saw ECHS forced to punt again three plays later, but on the punt the Indians fumbled the catch attempt, resulting in Williams recovering the punt for the Astros on the Indians’ 20-yard line with 11:45 left in the second quarter.
Three plays later, East Clinton was on the board with a 6-yard run by Williams with 9:27 left on the second-quarter clock. Williams then passed to Adran Baker on the 2-point conversion attempt, leaving East Clinton ahead by a score of 8-6.
The Indians didn’t trail for long, much to the appreciation of the home fans, with HHS first recovering an onside kick on their own 46-yard line. The first play from scrimmage saw a gain of 36 yards for Hillsboro, followed by a 19-yard touchdown run from Dom Smart with 9:07 left in the second quarter. The PAT by Nick Burns left Hillsboro in front, 13-8.
Hillsboro regained possession of the ball on a fumble recovery from Barrett with 8:51 left on the clock in the second quarter. Two plays later, Ross rushed for a 7-yard touchdown, leaving 8:09 in the second quarter. Nick Turner’s kick sailed through the uprights, increasing the Hillsboro lead to 20-8.
Another defensive stand by Hillsboro forced a punt by East Clinton, and after a six-play drive, Hillsboro was back in the end zone with more points added to their lead. Starting from their own 45-yard line, a 10-yard run by Dom Smart gave HHS a first down. After two plays, Hillsboro had an 11-yard gain from Smart again on a run, putting HHS on the 28-yard line. On first-and-10, a Cam Smart pass to Dorian Stewart for 16 yards put the Indians in the red zone, with HHS reaching the 6-yard line.
On first-and-goal, Barrett broke through the defensive line of the Astros for a 6-yard score with 3:50 left in the second quarter. The PAT was good for a 27-8 Indians advantage.
East Clinton added another touchdown in the first half with Williams rushing for a 2-yard score with 45.1 on the second-quarter clock. Their 2-point attempt failed with Stewart deflecting the pass by ECHS, leaving the score at 27-14, with that score staying at halftime.
Hillsboro’s lead increased to 34-14 with 7:37 left in the third following an 8-yard rush from Dom Smart on third down. Turner made the PAT for a Hillsboro advantage that increased to 34-14. The drive saw Chambers have a 30-yard rush.
Before the drive, Hillsboro’s defense was key with field position as Bloomfield, Ryan Burns and Clemons all were a part of tackles for loss, resulting in a total loss of 10 yards.
“Ayden Clemons had a good game with several tackles for loss, and (Deegan) Bloomfield too. A lot of guys did good things, and Dorian played well, Gary is a workhorse, and Ryan Mau as well. They give you everything they have on every down. So I thought we played good with our defensive line. The offense and defensive line is the core of our team and are a lot of the same kids.”
The Astros scored their third touchdown of the game with 1:03 left in the third with Lukas Runk scoring a short-yardage touchdown from the goal line. The 2-point attempt failed, with Hillsboro’s Nic Burns intercepting the conversion throw.
HHS had one final touchdown left in them as Cam Smart scored the last TD with a 6-yard run on second-and-goal with 6:28 left in regulation. The PAT by Turner went through the uprights for a 41-20 Indians lead.
EC’s final score of the game came with 4:37 left in the fourth quarter when Williams caught a 37-yard touchdown from Runk on first down. EC made the PAT for a 41-27 score.
Next for Hillsboro is a Week 4 home game against the Williamsburg Wildcats, who are 3-0 on the season. In Week 3, the Wildcats defeated Mariemont, 30-21.
“Williamsburg is a good team, and we nipped them the past couple years. They have a lot of kids back, so it will be a good challenge,” Horne said.
GAME NOTES: Gary Reno had a TFL in the first quarter for a 5-yard loss by ECHS … Stewart had a big hit for HHS late in the first quarter, resulting in a 7-yard loss … Jack Cornele made a TFL in the fourth quarter for a 2-yard loss … The Indians snapped a two-game losing streak when facing ECHS, with the most recent win before Friday night being in 2019 … Hillsboro’s win makes all six Frontier Athletic Conference teams having at least one win this season through the first three weeks of the season … The six-team FAC through three weeks stands at 9-9 overall with McClain, Washington and Chillicothe with two wins each, while Hillsboro, Miami Trace and Jackson each have one win.
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Horne joins his father Jim Horne in the ranks of winning head coaches at Hillsboro High School, and on Friday night in Week 3 the Indians scored early and eventually gained the coveted first win of the season by using a hard-nosed rushing attack with five players carrying the ball behind the blocking of strong offensive line play by Ian Lawson, Ryan Mau, Gary Reno, Ayden Clemons, Jahari Pitts and Deegan Bloomfield.
Coach Horne spoke highly of the offensive line unit following Friday’s non-conference victory.
“Our coaches Chester Akers and Cody Mathews, they are offensive line guys and they do a great job,” Horne said. “The offensive line is the core of our team. They set up all the things that we do. I can’t give those guys enough accolades … the offensive line, they play hard every day.”
In all, the Indians unofficially totaled 370 yards rushing on 43 carries, and leading the way was Dom Smart with 175 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 15 carries. Austin Barrett finished with 89 yards rushing on 18 carries with one touchdown. Travis Ross totaled 75 yards on five carries, while adding a touchdown. Jeven Hochstuhl finished with two carries for 17 yards, and Cam Smart had three carries for 14 yards and a touchdown.
“It was a good game and to get the monkey off your back,” Horne said of the first win of the season and his first win as head coach. “The kids played hard, and winning is a lot better than losing, that’s for sure. I’m proud of the way the kids played, and it was nice to see our offense get rolling a little bit.
“Dom Smart ran the ball well, and we ran our stretch play well. Again, our offensive line blocked well, and that opened up a lot of things for us. Dom set the tone for us, and it was fun to watch that stretch play, and things were going well for us offensively. Also, Austin was running well for us too, and I was glad to see that. We got him in there and started getting him the ball, and that helped us a lot too. We were able to run out of different formations with him.”
The Indians (1-2) wasted little time by scoring six points on their first drive of the game, starting with 12 yards on a rush from Barrett, then 18 yards from Ross and three straight carries by Barrett, leaving the ball at the East Clinton 46-yard line for a first down. The next play saw the Indians celebrating in the end zone with Dom Smart going on a 46-yard trip to the end zone with 9:26 left in the first quarter, as Smart’s touchdown run saw him outpace the Astros’ defense. The extra-point attempt failed, but the Indians held a 6-0 lead.
Both teams exchanged punts, and the Astros punted for a second time on consecutive drives, but the Astros faked the punt and Dameon Williams ran with the football for six yards on fourth-and-2. The first down eventually saw ECHS forced to punt again three plays later, but on the punt the Indians fumbled the catch attempt, resulting in Williams recovering the punt for the Astros on the Indians’ 20-yard line with 11:45 left in the second quarter.
Three plays later, East Clinton was on the board with a 6-yard run by Williams with 9:27 left on the second-quarter clock. Williams then passed to Adran Baker on the 2-point conversion attempt, leaving East Clinton ahead by a score of 8-6.
The Indians didn’t trail for long, much to the appreciation of the home fans, with HHS first recovering an onside kick on their own 46-yard line. The first play from scrimmage saw a gain of 36 yards for Hillsboro, followed by a 19-yard touchdown run from Dom Smart with 9:07 left in the second quarter. The PAT by Nick Burns left Hillsboro in front, 13-8.
Hillsboro regained possession of the ball on a fumble recovery from Barrett with 8:51 left on the clock in the second quarter. Two plays later, Ross rushed for a 7-yard touchdown, leaving 8:09 in the second quarter. Nick Turner’s kick sailed through the uprights, increasing the Hillsboro lead to 20-8.
Another defensive stand by Hillsboro forced a punt by East Clinton, and after a six-play drive, Hillsboro was back in the end zone with more points added to their lead. Starting from their own 45-yard line, a 10-yard run by Dom Smart gave HHS a first down. After two plays, Hillsboro had an 11-yard gain from Smart again on a run, putting HHS on the 28-yard line. On first-and-10, a Cam Smart pass to Dorian Stewart for 16 yards put the Indians in the red zone, with HHS reaching the 6-yard line.
On first-and-goal, Barrett broke through the defensive line of the Astros for a 6-yard score with 3:50 left in the second quarter. The PAT was good for a 27-8 Indians advantage.
East Clinton added another touchdown in the first half with Williams rushing for a 2-yard score with 45.1 on the second-quarter clock. Their 2-point attempt failed with Stewart deflecting the pass by ECHS, leaving the score at 27-14, with that score staying at halftime.
Hillsboro’s lead increased to 34-14 with 7:37 left in the third following an 8-yard rush from Dom Smart on third down. Turner made the PAT for a Hillsboro advantage that increased to 34-14. The drive saw Chambers have a 30-yard rush.
Before the drive, Hillsboro’s defense was key with field position as Bloomfield, Ryan Burns and Clemons all were a part of tackles for loss, resulting in a total loss of 10 yards.
“Ayden Clemons had a good game with several tackles for loss, and (Deegan) Bloomfield too. A lot of guys did good things, and Dorian played well, Gary is a workhorse, and Ryan Mau as well. They give you everything they have on every down. So I thought we played good with our defensive line. The offense and defensive line is the core of our team and are a lot of the same kids.”
The Astros scored their third touchdown of the game with 1:03 left in the third with Lukas Runk scoring a short-yardage touchdown from the goal line. The 2-point attempt failed, with Hillsboro’s Nic Burns intercepting the conversion throw.
HHS had one final touchdown left in them as Cam Smart scored the last TD with a 6-yard run on second-and-goal with 6:28 left in regulation. The PAT by Turner went through the uprights for a 41-20 Indians lead.
EC’s final score of the game came with 4:37 left in the fourth quarter when Williams caught a 37-yard touchdown from Runk on first down. EC made the PAT for a 41-27 score.
Next for Hillsboro is a Week 4 home game against the Williamsburg Wildcats, who are 3-0 on the season. In Week 3, the Wildcats defeated Mariemont, 30-21.
“Williamsburg is a good team, and we nipped them the past couple years. They have a lot of kids back, so it will be a good challenge,” Horne said.
GAME NOTES: Gary Reno had a TFL in the first quarter for a 5-yard loss by ECHS … Stewart had a big hit for HHS late in the first quarter, resulting in a 7-yard loss … Jack Cornele made a TFL in the fourth quarter for a 2-yard loss … The Indians snapped a two-game losing streak when facing ECHS, with the most recent win before Friday night being in 2019 … Hillsboro’s win makes all six Frontier Athletic Conference teams having at least one win this season through the first three weeks of the season … The six-team FAC through three weeks stands at 9-9 overall with McClain, Washington and Chillicothe with two wins each, while Hillsboro, Miami Trace and Jackson each have one win.
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