Hillsboro Indians Football 2025 Preview

HILLSBORO — The Hillsboro Indians are ready to return to the gridiron for the 2025 season, competing in the Frontier Athletic Conference. Last season, the Indians highlighted their season with four wins, including winning the Rotary Bowl trophy. 

Hillsboro did so with players who have since graduated, but they also return a good amount of players who were a part of the season a year ago. In 2024, HHS was 4-6 overall — along with a 2-3 record in the FAC — as the Indians had wins against Goshen (32-7), East Clinton (65-0), Chillicothe (21-14) and McClain (41-10). 

In all, the Indians’ 2025 team has 37 players on their roster, with 10 seniors, 12 juniors, eight sophomores and seven freshmen. 

Hillsboro’s ‘25 roster consists of seniors Mason Dumpert, Jack Cornele, Zack Brown, Landon Jordan, Jeven Hochstuhl, Shawn Hottinger, Foster Britton, John Deans, Cooper Swope and JaHari Pitts.

The juniors are Braylon Mays, Tre Captain, Malachi Aber, Collin Swackhamer, Andrew Shelton, Kaiden Robbins, Jordan Lowe, Roman Hardy, Markyss Price, Noah Holsinger, Bobby Clemons and Aaron Hatter. 

Sophomores include Landon Holland, Jayce Newton, Kingston Scott, Johnathan Malone, Malaki Kelly, Connor Yochum, Garrett Greiner and Noah Meyer. 

The freshmen class is Ryker Snyder, Ignacio Sosa Gomez, Andrew Couch, Alex Thompson, Maddox Anderson, Cullen Page and Carson Fenner.  

This season, Hillsboro returns 15 lettermen (returning starters), as the Indians will rely on their seniors and juniors this season. 

“A large portion of our team is returning, so we have a fair amount of experience,” Hillsboro head coach Nathan Horne said. “That will be one of our stronger points for sure. Offensively, we have a lot back from last year. We have Mason Dumpert as a three-year starter at quarterback, and we have Jeven Hochstuhl back, plus Tre Captain is back. It’s big for us having all three of them returning.

"Our entire backfield is basically back. We have Collin Swackhamer and Jack Cornele at fullback, so it’s exciting for us. Plus, on the offensive line, we have a lot of experience back.”

The Indians have one player returning who was an honorable mention Division III All-Ohio, first-team All-District and an All-FAC first-team selection a season ago, that being Brown. HHS had two All-Ohio selections a season ago, as offensive lineman Jamar Young (also an All-Ohio honorable mention selection) graduated.

Brown in ‘24 totaled nine receptions for 113 yards and one touchdown as a receiver, plus on offense he had 10 pancake blocks. Defensively, Brown finished with 74 tackles as a safety, with 27 of those tackles being solo with 1.5 tackles for loss. Also on defense, Brown forced two fumbles with one recovery. 

“Zack runs great routes and blocks his tail off at receiver, and as much as we run the ball, that’s important,” Horne said. “He’s a very unselfish player.”

Swackhamer — who was an honorable mention All-FAC and special mention All-District selection in ‘24— returns for his junior season, coming off a strong sophomore campaign. Swackhamer in ‘24 finished the season with a team-high 106 tackles (40 solo) as an outside linebacker with one interception for a touchdown, plus he added three sacks and a fumble recovery.

Also returning is Dumpert at quarterback (an honorable mention All-FAC selection in ‘24), starting his third season under center for the Indians. Dumpert as a junior last season rushed for 336 yards on 79 carries (4.3 yards per carry) with eight rushing touchdowns, plus he passed for 476 yards (27-for-46) with three TD passes. On defense in the secondary, Dumpert totaled 10 tackles (five solo). 

“Having Mason back for a third year is good because it is nice to be able to pick up from where you left off from last year and work on the little things,” Horne said. “We know what his strengths are, and he’s a hard worker. Mason has been a very good player for us, so we’re excited to see what he can do during his senior year.”

Hochstuhl returns for his senior season as he was an honorable mention All-FAC and All-District selection in ‘24. Last season in nine games he led Hillsboro in rushing and receiving yards with the running back totaled 656 yards rushing on 72 carries, plus he had 287 yards receiving on 12 receptions. In all,  he totaled 15 touchdowns last season (two receiving, 13 rushing), including scoring five — tying the HHS single-game record — in the final game of the season against McClain. 

Defensively in the secondary, Hochstuhl also had one interception returned for a touchdown in ‘24, while totaling 29 tackles (16 solo), one sack, one interception, one fumble recovery and he forced one fumble. 

Captain returns as a junior where in ‘24 finished with 449 yards rushing, plus he added 49 yards receiving and he scored five touchdowns. On defense, Captain had two interceptions. 

“Jeven and Tre have speed,” Horne said. “We have speed at the wings, and they can hurt you in a second.” 

On the offensive line, the Indians have three of their five starters returning with Pitts moving from center to right tackle, Lowe at left guard and Hardy at left tackle. The o-line also has Shelton at center and Robbins at right guard. Others working on the offensive line are Yochum and Greiner.

“Our offensive line has been working extremely hard this offseason, and the o-line is a group of hard workers,” Horne said. “They have gelled well with the changes, they have good communication, and we are picking up from where we left off from last year with that group.”

Others to be looked at for their blocking and catching abilities will be tight ends Jordan, Holland and also Brown, plus the secondary is strong too.

“Zack will be playing receiver and safety for us, and he’s one of our senior leaders. Also, Shawn Hottinger is going to be playing safety too,” Horne said. “These two have experience in the secondary, and they played great last year.

“Jeven has played in the secondary at cornerback, and so has Tre, plus we have Foster Britton moving in for us, and we are looking at him to play some corner as well. Our secondary has some athleticism for sure.”

Hillsboro will also have John Deans and Landon Jordan at defensive end, and at linebacker at “Mike” the Indians will have Aber and Cornele. At “Sam,” Hillsboro will look to Swackhamer, and at “Will” the Indians will have Malaki Kelly and Landon Holland. 

“We have solid players at linebacker, and all the linebackers will be used in a rotation,” Horne said. “I think no matter who ends up starting, we’ll be in a pretty good rotation.

“Colin played strong side linebacker last year so he’s returning to the same spot. We have a battle at ‘will’ right now, but we have a good core of linebackers.”

The Indians’ non-conference schedule is different from last season as East Clinton is no longer on the schedule, and replacing them is Dayton Ponitz in Week 5. 

Hillsboro’s non-conference schedule for weeks 1-5 is: Aug. 22 vs Western Brown, Aug. 29 vs. Goshen, Sept. 5 at Portsmouth West, Sept. 12 at Williamsburg and Sept. 19 vs. Dayton Ponitz. 

The FAC schedule for weeks 6-10 is Sept. 26 vs. Jackson, Oct. 3 vs. Miami Trace (homecoming), Oct. 10 at Chillicothe, Oct. 17 vs. Washington and Oct. 24 at McClain (Rotary Bowl). 

“We have been working hard, and I’m happy with the way we’ve been working,” Horne said. “We have a core group of kids that have gotten stronger, they have matured and we needed that because of the league we play in.

“We play in a good football league, and it’s going to be a week-in and week-out battle. There are no easy weeks in our league, and who knows how it all will play out in the end? I feel like we have a fighting shot to be in any game we play.”

The Indians open the 2025 season at home — their first of six home games this season — as they’ll face the Western Brown Broncos at Richards Memorial Field with a kickoff of 7 p.m. 

“We’re excited, and we’re excited with the experience we have,” Horne said, “We’re ready to get rolling.”