Captain scores 5 TDs; Hillsboro falls by 3 points to Warren Warriors

HILLSBORO — The Hillsboro Indians’ offense played their best game of the season with 599 yards of rushing offense on 44 rushes with seven touchdowns, which included a 350-plus-yard and five-touchdown performance by senior Tre Captain. 

The defense of Hillsboro (0-4) allowed 50 points to be put on the board in Week 4 against Warren, and all that was spectacular on offense, excluding some turnovers, eventually led to the visiting Warren Warriors (2-2) to defeat the Indians 50-47 Friday night. 

This was the Indians’ first home game of the season at Richards Memorial Field, and as they continued to battle numerous injuries to key starters on both sides of the ball, while playing many younger players, the Indians battled tough. For Captain, he tied the school record with a number of players by having five rushing touchdowns in the game, along with 357 yards rushing on 21 carries. 

Captain was just off the school record of 370 yards set by Austin Barrett in 2022. On Friday night, Captain’s five touchdowns for rushing distances of 64, 50, 69, 1 and 15 yards apiece. The senior quarterback/running back also had two 2-point conversion runs. Last season in Week 1, Captain had a four-touchdown game. 

“It is up there,” HHS head coach Nathan Horne said following the game about Captain’s performance being one of the best in Hillsboro history. “He played his tail off and left it all out there.”

Hillsboro ended with three players total rushing totals of over 100 yards each, with junior Jonathan Malone rushing for 112 yards with one touchdown on 12 carries, and senior Malachi Aber totaled five carries for 107 yards with a touchdown. The offensive line blocking for the 599 yards included: senior Jordan Lowe, senior Roman Hardy, junior Garrett Greiner, senior Andrew Shelton and senior Kaiden Robbins.

“They (Warren) focused on Tre, and we wanted to get the other backs involved, get the fullback established as well,” Horne said. 

The Indians lost three fumbles in the game, plus on the opening kickoff, when Warren recovered their own onside kick attempt. 

Warren used the advantage of recovering the onside kick and scored the first touchdown of the game, capping off a six-play drive of 47 yards with a 12-yard touchdown pass from junior Braylen Murray to sophomore Charlie Lewis with 9:33 left in the opening quarter. The PAT by senior Jaxon Venham left the Warriors ahead 7-0. 

Murray finished 13-of-16 passing for 279 yards, plus he had two receptions for 49 yards, and 15 carries for 56 yards and a touchdown. Venham caught eight passes for 193 yards with two touchdowns. 

The Indians used their stout rushing attack with a one-play drive that reached the end zone as Aber used his athletic ability to get around and past the defense of Warren, racing 70 yards for the touchdown with 9:20 left in the first quarter. The PAT was no good, leaving the Warriors ahead by one point at 7-6. 

Warren was forced to punt the ball with a three-and-out forced by the Indians’ defense, but a fumble by HHS that was recovered by Warren gave the visitors the ball on their own 48-yard line. 

The first play of the drive by WHS was a 50-yard gain as Murray passed to Venham taking the ball to the 2-yard line of HHS. The Indians’ defense battled to a fourth-and goal on the 4-yard line, but Warren broke into the end zone with a pass by freshman Brennen Bowen to Venham  for a touchdown with 4:51 on the first-quarter clock. The Warriors made the PAT with a kick by Venham for a 14-6 advantage. 

Upon regaining possession of the ball, the Indians had another one-play drive which equaled six points when Captain scored his first touchdown of the game, a 64-yard run to the end zone with 4:36 left in the first quarter. The PAT was made by senior Grant Shepard for a 14-13 score with Warren in the lead.

After the Indians’ defense forced a turnover on downs with 3:07 left in the first, Hillsboro took just two plays to score their third touchdown of the first quarter when Captain rushed for a 50-yard touchdown with 2:14 on the clock.

The Indians’ lead lasted under two minutes with the Warriors taking just three plays to jump ahead in the scoring column, with what was an 18-yard drive following a kickoff return eventually seeing Warren reach first-and-goal on the 2-yard line and score their third touchdown of the first quarter, a 2-yard run by Murray. The PAT kicked by Venham sailed through the uprights for a 21-19 Warren lead. 

Following an HHS punt, the Warriors slowed down the pace of the game with a mix of passing and rushing the football for short gains, but even with the Warriors getting to the Indians’ 39-yard line (after starting on their own 20), it was a huge pass deflection by Hillsboro freshman Kel’el Captain that forced a turnover on downs with 5:21 left in the second quarter. 

The Indians had a turnover of their own on the ensuing drive, on the eighth play of the drive, giving the ball to the Warriors, but no harm was done as time eventually expired in the first half with Warren leading 21-19 at halftime. 

Hillsboro’s defense forced a punt to start the third quarter, and the Indians started their first offensive drive of the second half in their own 25-yard line, Three runs later, it was a 69-yard run by Captain on a third-and-4 play from their Indians’ 31-yard line which saw the senior have another big touchdown run. Captain then raced into the endzone for a 2-point conversion run, putting the Indians ahead 27-21 with 7:43 left in the third. 

The back-and-forth between the Indians and Warriors continued with Warren taking back the lead with another long drive of 10 plays, which also included an injury to Bowen, who took over at QB while Murray played receiver. Bowen later left the game with an injury, finishing the game 4-of-4 passing for 58 yards and a touchdown pass. 

On fourth-and-goal from the HHS 9-yard line, a run by freshman Bentley Ison up the middle of the defense put the Warriors back in the endzone with 3:43 left in the third quarter. The PAT by Venham gave WHS a 28-27 lead. 

The Indians continued to have success on offense with the ensuing drive ending with the Indians gaining eight points and a 35-28 lead. The drive began with a 12-yard run by Aber, followed by a 16-yard rush by Captain. With the ball on the Warriors’ 32-yard line, senior Braylon Mayes battled for a 2-yard gain. Next was a run of seven yards by Captain, then a 4-yard run by Aber. 

Captain on second down had a run of 18 yards to the 1-yard line of Warren. Captain finished the drive with a 1-yard carry for a touchdown with 46.0 left in the third. Captain then raced the ball back to the endzone on a 2-point conversion run, putting the Indians ahead 35-28. 

Warren answered with a 1-play burst to the endzone when a pass from Murray to Venham in the middle of the field resulted in a 61-yard touchdown pass-and-catch with 29.8 remaining in the third. Venham’s PAT tied the score at 35-35. 

Following a fumble by Hillsboro on the Warren 13-yard line, Hillsboro’s defense stepped up with a big stop on third-and-7 from the 16-yard line with Hardy collecting a sack for a 4-yard loss, forcing a punt. 

That play ended up being even bigger as the Indians' offense took advantage of starting their next possession on the Warren 48-yard line. Seven plays later, it was Malone running 30 yards through the defense of the Warriors for a touchdown. HHS went for a 2-point conversion but didn’t convert, leaving the Indians' lead at six points for a 41-35 score with 4:15 left in regulation. 

Warren wasn’t finished adding points to their final total because it took them only one play to regain the lead with a 43-yard reception by Lewis off a pass from Murray with 4:05 left in the fourth quarter. Venham made the PAT for a 42-41 lead over the Indians. Lewis totaled two catches for 55 yards and a touchdown. 

Again, it was another fast drive in the game, this time giving the Indians a five-point lead when Captain rushed for a 15-yard touchdown, leaving 2:52 left in the fourth quarter. That play was set up with runs of seven and 36 yards by Malone. The 2-point conversion attempt was no good, but the Indians held a 47-42 lead. 

The defense of the Indians was unable to hold the Warriors with WHS eventually getting to a second-and-goal situation, and they took the lead with a 1-yard run for a touchdown by Murray. The quarterback then followed with a 2-point conversion run to put the Warriors ahead 50-47, which was the final score. The final touchdown was set up with a 39-yard reception by Venham off a pass by Murray

The Indians had one final shot to tie the score to take the lead, but the Indians had two late penalties that forced a third-and-33 from their own 30-yard line, which eventually ended the game as time expired. 

The Indians will play their second consecutive home game next Friday night at Richards Memorial Field as they are scheduled to host the Williamsburg Wildcats (3-1) with a kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. On Friday, Williamsburg defeated Portsmouth West (3-1) by a 28-12 score at PWHS. Last season Williamsburg defeated Hillsboro, 26-7 at HHS in Week 4 (Sept. 19, 2025). 

GAME NOTES: WHS junior Conner Moore totaled 11 carries for 57 yards … Hillsboro’s Mayes finished with six carries for 23 yards … Hillsboro’s Shelton had a big stop on third-and-goal in the first quarter … Hillsboro kicker Shepard had a hit on a kickoff return that saved a potential score … Hillsboro junior Jayce Newton forced an incompletion with a pass breakup on third-and-13 which forced a punt by Warren … Aber had a stop on a second-and-goal for the Indians in the third quarter … Before an eventual touchdown by Warren in the fourth quarter, the Indians attempted an onside kick where illegal touching was called by the officials as HHS attempted to catch the ball out of the air on the attempt.

BOX SCORE
WHS    21 00 14 15 — 50 
HHS     19 00 16 12 — 47