Indians fend off Tigers for Rotary Bowl win

GREENFIELD — Sometimes when two rivals square off with pride, bragging rights and even a possible playoff spot for one of the two teams on the line, the energy level, aggressiveness and will to win are unmatched. 

That brings everyone to the 2025 Rotary Bowl, where the momentum swings and hard-nosed football brought out the very best in two teams who battled in Week 10 at McClain Field to see who would hoist the Rotary Bowl trophy.  

The winner on Friday night in front of a packed stadium in Greenfield saw the Hillsboro Indians (5-5) defeat the host McClain Tigers, 35-34 to take home the coveted Rotary Bowl trophy, and with the win unofficially put themselves into the playoffs, as all the stars aligned elsewhere for the Indians. 

“We went out there in a heavy package, practiced it all week, and it was good to see the hard working things you put in pay off today,” HHS head coach Nathan Horne said.

Getting the win saw the Indians trail 28-27 going into the fourth quarter. McClain (3-7) took the lead in the rivalry game with 9:44 left in the third quarter when sophomore quarterback Hudson Lovett fended off the Indians defense on second-and-20 to pass a 25-yard touchdown to Holden Lyons in the end zone for a 28-27 advantage, after trailing by 13 points earlier in the first quarter and 27-8 with 6:55 left in the second quarter.

Unofficially, Lovett passed for 163 yards and rushed for 172 yards.

As the Tigers held the one-point lead going into the fourth quarter, that’s when the Indians regained possession of the ball following a Tigers punt. 

Hillsboro opened the drive with an 8-yard run from Jonathan Malone — who made his season debut — followed with a 5-yard rush by Braylon Mays. The drive continued with a run of three yards by Malone, and after a penalty on the Indians, senior quarterback Mason Dumpert had a 33-yard completion to Landon Holland with 8:32 left in the fourth quarter. 

Following a 5-yard loss, the Indians had a 20-yard rush by Mays taking the Indians to the 2-yard line and a first-and-goal situation. Mays totaled 95 rushing yards, unofficially. 

After a 1-yard rush by Malone, it was Dumpert putting the finishing touches on the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run with 6:11 left in the fourth quarter. 

“He (Mays) had a couple good counters, a couple lead plays and really helped us out on our last score, getting us a first down and inside the 10-yard line,” Horne said. “He did a good job, and I don’t run him as much as we were in that heavy package. Putting the two tight ends in took him off the field some, but when he came in he played his role and had some real good runs.”
Coach Horne also spoke of Malone’s ’25 debut. 

“Johnny is a good player,” he said. “We haven’t seen him in a Friday night situation, but he came out, and he’s been practicing real hard.”

Then possibly the biggest decision of the game came down to HHS head coach Nathan Horne deciding to go for a 2-point conversion … and it worked. The 2-point conversion play was a run by Malone, putting the Indians ahead at 35-28. 

“It was just one of those things where I was just going to kick the extra point, but I mulled it around for a while, and one of their athletes goes down and it was one of their bigger guys, and it was either you play it a little conservative and kick the extra point and you are up by six, and they score and tie it or we go for the gamble, and if we don’t get it we are only up by five and a score for them wins the game,” Horne said. “I said ‘forget it,’ and I said let’s just go for it. Let’s go for the win, and let’s be aggressive and if we don't get it, we don’t get it, so we ran an off tackle play, it popped and that was it.”

That play ended up being of great importance as the game continued. 

The Tigers answered with a five-play drive that started at the Indians’ 45-yard line and ended with the Tigers scoring a touchdown when Lovett scrambled to find Leland Bond in the endzone for six points with 2:50 left in regulation. That made the score 35-34, and eventually the Tigers went for two points in the conversion, but it failed, leaving the Tigers trailing by one point. 

“We just got a slow start again,” McClain head coach Keith Penwell said. “We got a slow start, got some stops, and when we came out in the second half we were on a roll, took the lead, but we were just one play away. Our kids played extremely hard, they always do, and I’m always proud of them with the effort they give, but we were just one play away.”

The Indians recovered the short kick attempt and ran the clock out after four plays, sealing the win on a fourth-and-six play where Dumpert broke away down the Indians’ sideline to seal the win with the first down coming with 1:06 left in the game. 

Horne talked in detail about the fourth-and-six call near the end of the game.

“It never crossed my mind to punt, but I thought about running the ball because I knew that would eat some clock,” he said. “We took a shot, and I took a shot. I called a backside post there, and they kind of covered it. Their safety stayed back and covered it, and I was like, ‘Oh, no, it’s not going to be there, and Mason did the smart thing … he tucked the ball and ran, got that first down and that’s all she wrote. I didn't call a quarterback run. I was trying to throw the ball there, and Mason made a very smart play there.”

Going to the start of the game, the Indians struck first with a 10-play drive that went 71 yards, ending with an 8-yard touchdown run by Malone for the first touchdown of the game with 6:43 left in the quarter. Cooper Swope’s PAT left the Indians ahead by a 7-0 score. Malone unofficially rushed for 212 yards.

Hillsboro then recovered the loose football on the ensuing short kick, putting the Indians at their own 40-yard line. Four plays later, Hillsboro was in the end zone with a run of 1-yard to pay dirt on second-and-goal by Dumpert. The Indians made the PAT off Swope’s kick for a 14-0 lead.  

The aforementioned drive also included a run by Malone, plus a facemask penalty on the Tigers, followed by HHS having a 42-yard reception by Landon Jordan of the Indians setting up a goal line play, which eventually saw the Indians score a touchdown. 

“We had the lead, and we kind of surprised them with what we were doing and so forth, and turnovers helped get them back into the game with short yardage, and then they also had their explosive offense,” Horne said. “Their quarterback is good, and he’s going to be really good. He’s good now, and we knew he was explosive.”

McClain answered with a four-play drive of their own as their first scoring drive of the game went for 79-yards, including a gain of 8 yards by Brady Binegar off a pass from Lovett. Two plays later, another catch by Binegar off a Lovett pass, plus a personal foul in the Indians, left MHS on the Indians’ 30-yard line. 

The next play saw Lovett race for a 30-yard score, as the touchdown run with 3:48 left in the first quarter made it a 14-6 score. Then, the Tigers added two more points to their side with a pass from Lovett to Anderson on the 2-point conversion try for the 14-8 score. 

“They (HHS) got some pressure at times, but Hudson does a great job of avoiding it and keeping his eyes downfield. He made some big plays with his feet, made some big throws on the run and stepped up in the pocket, and slid outside. He had a really good game,” Penwell said. “I also thought our offensive line played pretty well.”

Hillsboro went back in front by 13 points two plays later with Mays breaking away from everyone on the first with a 71-yard touchdown on second-and-13. Swope’s kick sailed through the uprights for a 21-8 advantage. 

Following punts from both teams, it was Hillsboro building a 21-point lead with 6:55 left in the second quarter as Malone rushed for a 63-yard touchdown on a second-and-11 play. Hillsboro didn’t convert the 2-point conversion try but led 27-8. 

McClain answered with a touchdown of their own with 4:27 left in the second quarter as a pass from Lovett found Bond for a 22-yard touchdown. A pass to Gavin Anderson on the 2-point conversion try was good, making the score 27-16. 

“Hudson is a gamer and getting used to the Friday night speed, and our league is tough,” Penwell said. “Our league has a lot of good teams, and there is never an easy week by any means. Over time you get used to that speed, and Hudson is young. He has two more years, and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.”

The Tigers had an opportunity to add more points to their total scoring, but the Indians defense overcame some quality gains by the Tigers, including a 5-yard pass to Jordan Bell, followed later with an 11-yard run on a QB keeper by Lovett. The drive and first half ended with a sack by JaHari Pitts of Hillsboro, leaving the first-half score at 27-16. 

“At halftime we were leading pretty good and said a few things at halftime,” Horne said. “We talked about some schemes and things at halftime and what we needed to work on. We mixed it up a little on defense, ran some even front, ran some odd front and kept them guessing on that, and we were able to edge one out.”

McClain came out of the locker room strong with a three-play drive that saw the home team cut Hillsboro’s lead to five points in the Frontier Athletic Conference contest. The third-quarter opening drive started with a 5-yard gain by Lyons off a Lovett pass. Next was a 15-yard run by the sophomore quarterback of McClain. 

Next was the run that added six points to their Tigers’ total, a 56-yard run by Lovett with 11:05 left in the third. After Lovett raced through and past the Indians’ defense, the 2-point play failed, leaving the Indians ahead by five points at 27-22. 

The intensity of the game continued to build as one play with 10:07 left in the third saw off-setting personal fouls following a Hillsboro run with a big hit from Lyons, as the fumble by HHS was recovered by McClain’s Eli Douglas. 

Once the dust settled and everyone left the play safely, the Tigers regained possession of the ball on the fumble recovery. After a penalty on McClain, it was second-and-20 on the HHS 25-yard line, and that’s where MHS took the lead off a 25-yard pass from Lovett to Lyons in the end zone. The 2-point conversion play was no good, but the Tigers led 28-27. 

“I thought overall we improved a lot this year from last year,” Pensell said. “I look forward to continuing that this offseason. We have a lot of young guys who got a lot of time this year, so they’re getting used to that game speed, so I’m excited for the future with these guys.” 

Penwell also spoke about his senior class.

“They are such a great group, positive energy and they did such a great job with our underclassmen," Penwell said. “They helped them, kept the energy up in a positive way, and they have been a fun group to be around. I’m super proud of them, and I know they all will be super successful because they are all hard workers. I wish the best for them.”

As previously mentioned, the Indians eventually regained the lead for good with the Dumpert run of one yard for a touchdown. 

In an interesting turn of events, it seems like the Indians are playoff bound in Division III, Region 12 as Hillsboro possibly jumped to the No. 12 and final playoff spot. JoeEitel.com has the Indians unofficially in the 12th spot with Bellefontaine losing to Jonathan Alder (42-7), Franklin losing to Brookville (28-7) and Wilmington losing to New Richmond (39-13). 

If the Indians are indeed No. 12, they will face the No. 5 seeded team, which is projected to be the Miami Trace Panthers (9-1) of the FAC, as they defeated the Washington Blue Lions (48-15) on Friday. 

BOX SCORE
HHS    21 06 00 08 — 35
MHS    08 08 12 06 — 34