Wesley Bailey collects hat trick; Indians gain shutout win against rival Fairfield 

HILLSBORO — Thursday night in a non-conference meeting, the Hillsboro Indians didn’t allow a goal for a second consecutive game, this time defeating their Highland County rival, the Fairfield Lions by a 6-0 score at HHS. 

The Aug. 22 match saw the Indians take a total of 17 shots in the victory, led by senior Wesley Bailey, who had three goals for a hat trick. Bailey took five shots in the game. 

Scoring one goal each for the Indians were Ryan Howland, Tate Davis and Brayden Scruggs, as it was the first career varsity goal from Scruggs. 

Austin Bledsoe totaled three assists, and Howland had two assists. 

At goal in the shutout win for the Indians was Ryan Fender, collecting his second shutout at goal this week. Also contributing to the shutout on defense for the Indians were Dylan Bender, Mathias Hostetler, Cooper Swope and Cameron Burkard. 

“We had a really good win against a good Zane Trace earlier this week, and tonight was a good win for us as well,” HHS head coach Ben Howland said. “So, this was a great week. Our defense, we lost a lot from last year's defense, and they stepped up for us.

“Our offense was great. Made some great passes. It's fun when we play like this.” 

Fairfield keeper Zane Matthews totaled nine saves. 

“We’ve had an up and down start to the year. We're still figuring out a lot of stuff. We've got eight new players this year, seven freshmen, one top first-year sophomore,” FHS head coach Jacob Alexander said. “So it's figuring out our positioning, figuring out the formation. It's a work in progress. Tonight the first half was rough, but the second half we got a little bit better. So, it's just we got to keep building and working hard and things will come together.

“I appreciate the hard work Corey Zimmerman put in up top. He was our biggest threat offensively in a game where Hillsboro made it very difficult on the back line. He put in the work, and it didn't result in a goal tonight, but if he keeps it up, it will. Zane Matthews in goal, there were some big saves there. Give all credit to Hillsboro, but the game could have been a lot worse if it weren't for Zane at goal.”

The win improves the Indians to 3-0 overall, while the Lions now stand at 1-4 overall following a loss to Greenview on Saturday, Aug. 24 at FHS.

Next for Hillsboro is a game Tuesday, Aug. 27 at home against the Chillicothe Cavaliers with a 5 p.m. start at Hillsboro High School in the Frontier Athletic Conference opener for the ’24 season. 

The Lions played again on Saturday, Aug. 24 at home vs. Greeneview in non-conference action, falling by a 3-1 score.

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