Tigers keep first place in SCOL; defeat rival HHS

           GREENFIELD – The McClain Tigers put their stamp on the South Central Ohio League Tuesday night, as they defeated Highland County rival Hillsboro 6-1 at McClain Field in Greenfield.

            Hillsboro, who has won the past four SCOL championships, played hard against the first-place Tigers, but a fast start by MHS hampered any chances of a victory Tuesday.

            The quick start by the Tigers started with a goal by Trey Lightle, followed with a goal from Luis Rivas to make the score 2-0 in the first half.

            After a long break in-between scoring, MHS put two more goals on the scoreboard with less than a minute remaining, to take a four-point lead into the half.

            The third goal for MHS came with 54 seconds left as Daniel White scored on a header. White, again, put the ball into the net with a goal at the 38.5 second mark of the first half extending McClain’ advantage.

            “I’m excited for the kids. I’m proud of how hard they’ve worked and played,” McClain coach Shawn Jackson said. “This has been a long time coming and we played all the kids (Tuesday).”

            In the second half, Sam Henry made the score 5-0 with a goal past the Hillsboro keeper.

            HHS came back to break the shutout as Jacob Miller netted Hillsboro’s only goal with 11:08 left in the game.

            The last goal was scored by Lightle, his second of the game, with 8:21 remaining in regulation.

            “Ryan Case, our keeper, played a good game,” Jackson said. “He made some good saves. We played as a team. Everyone gelled and played tough.

            “Daniel (White), Nate (McNeal) played well, and as a team we acted like we wanted to win the game. Our defense also played great.”

            The loss puts HHS at 3-7-2 overall, 3-4-2 in the SCOL.

            “McClain got up quick on us and got going,” Hillsboro coach Wayne Thiel said. “The last two goals of the first half really put us down, but we had good effort in the second half. McClain has been a good team, and this year it all has come together for them.”

             Thiel does want to see some things change as the season continues.

            “Our defense was asleep in the first half and we need better leadership back there,” he said. “I was impressed with some of our JV players.”

            The MHS win puts them at 9-1-1 overall, 6-1 in the SCOL.

            The Tigers take their SCOL lead to London this Thursday in league play.

SCORE BY HALF

HHS – 0 1 – 1

MHS – 4 2 – 6