Hillsboro wins thriller against Madison-Plains
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MT. STERLING — The Hillsboro Indians crumbled up all their moral victories from this season and tossed them in the waste basket Friday night. It was time for the Indians to gain their first win of the season on the field, and that is exactly what they did against the Madison-Plains Golden Eagles.
In what was a back-and-forth battle from the opening whistle until the final play of the game, but it was the Indians who scored a late touchdown, two-point conversion and held the Golden Eagles in check on their final possession for a 29-28 win at Madison-Plains High School.
The win against MP not only snapped a six-game losing streak to start this season, but an overall skid of nine game dating back to last season.
None of the matters anymore as the Indians won their first road game of the season with what can only be described as a "team win."
"We got the monkey off our back, that's the big thing," Hillsboro head coach Brian Spicer said when asked what it was like to get the first win of the season. "We had played good at times, but we hadn't put a four quarter together until tonight.
"We still made mistakes, but we played four quarters … that was the difference and we came out with the win. This win validates the hard work. You hate all the work you do and not come up with the win. You can talk about the moral victories all you want, but it gets old after awhile."
The fourth quarter didn't start well for the Indians with an interception, and their second possession also ended with a turnover, but still the Tribe didn't back off and continued to stay in the game.
It was senior Chase Gilliland who sparked the Indians with his second interception of the game (his first he ran back for a 50-yard touchdown) with 5:06 left in regulation.
Trailing by a touchdown and starting the drive at the MP 46-yard line the Indians went to work with a one-yard run by senior Christian Wildley and a 21-yard run by senior quarterback Christian Cundiff. Wildey came back with two four-yard runs and Cundiff rushed for 12 yards on a third-and-2 play, taking HHS to the MP 13-yard line.
After Cundiff carried the ball for one-yard, it was Wildey who pounded his way, with one player from MP attempting the tackle, for 12 yards and a touchdown with 2:36 left in the fourth. Unofficially, Wildey finished with 132 yards on 28 carries.
With six losses already and their kicking game struggling throughout the night the Indians decided to go for two points and the lead … it worked.
On the two-point conversion, a run by Cundiff ended in the end zone to give HHS a 29-28 lead. Unofficially, Cundiff had 69 yards rushing on 18 carries.
The game was far from over … the Indians needed a stop on defense.
Madison-Plains threatened with a 20-yard run by Stephen Lemeiux, followed with the junior gaining another seven yards. With 1:10 left in the game Hillsboro's Dillon Hunick stopped MP quarterback Matt Wilson for negative yards. That was followed with a tackle from Craig Jackson and a big-time hit by senior Tyia Cumberland.
After the Golden Eagles used their final time out, the two knockout punches Hillsboro needed came from a tackle in the backfield by Hunick and a final interception sealing the win.
"At halftime (HHS trailed 20-13) we told them, 'Up until today, we lost to some teams that were pretty good … if you aren't playing good enough to win then you are going to get your butts kicked a few times, and I said that's not tonight.'
"The question was were we going to come out in the second half and show if that was the case. We saw a couple looks in their eyes at halftime that this was just another game and it wasn't. They came out here in the second half and played with enthusiasm and heart and those are the things we've been trying to get in the fourth quarter. Tonight it was finally there … and it was nice."
It wasn't just the final minutes that produced thrilling moments, in fact the entire game was a roller coaster of emotion with each team taking and losing back the lead on multiple occasions.
The Golden Eagles were first to score, on their opening drive, with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to Ryne Davis on a second-and-12 play with 6:57 left in the first quarter. The drive consisted of 10 plays and totaled 60 yards.
Each team then had a turnover on downs, but the Indians finally reached pay dirt in the second quarter with their first risk taking moment of the game, when on fourth-and-10 from the MP 20-yard line Cundiff found senior Tyrand Cumberland for a touchdown catch with single coverage. The extra point kick was good, tying the game at 7-7 with 6:50 left in the first half.
The scoring drive not only had the 20 yard touchdown, but on a third-and-8 play on the MP 42-yard line Gilliland kept the drive alive with a 22-yard catch, as it took three MP players to make the tackle at the 20, which helped set up the ensuing touchdown.
Three plays later the Indians led 13-7 when Gilliland grabbed his first interception, taking the ball 50 yards for a touchdown with 5:17 remaining. Gilliland caught the ball at midfield, racing done the HHS sideline, and breaking tackles for the score. The PAT was blocked.
Later in the second quarter the Golden Eagles flew away with a 75-yard catch and run from Wilson to Brooks Carter for a score on a third-and-5 play from their own 25-yard line. The PAT made it a 14-13 lead for MP with 1:15 left in the first half.
Carter wasn't finished and that wasn't even his longest play of the game.
Hillsboro going for a big score at the end of the first half was welcomed with a big touchdown, but it came from Madison-Plains when Cater intercepted a pass from Cundiff and in a remarkable turn of events, eluded every attempt by the Indians to tackle him, going 95 yards for a touchdown as time expired in the first half. The score gave the Golden Eagles a 20-13 lead at halftime.
On the first drive of the third quarter the Indians put together one of their finest offensive drives of the season with 16 play, 68 yard drive that ended with Wildey reaching the end zone on a 1-yard run. A 2-point conversion run by Cundiff put HHS up 21-20 with 5:10 left in the third.
The scoring drive began with Wildey running for 30 yards, followed with multiple runs of four-to-six yards each from Wildey and Cundiff until the Indians reached the end zone.
HHS fumbled late in the third quarter and MP capitalized with Wilson running for an 11-yard touchdown on MP's first play from scrimmage with 43.9 left in the quarter. A 2-point conversion run by Lemieux put MP back into the lead at 28-21.
Spicer said this was a victory for the entire team.
"This was a total team victory. We had execution up front … they (MP) committed four guys to our passing game, so we told our guys 'We have to run the ball and be good enough up front,'" Sapicer said. "Good enough has been more about execution and tonight we did a good job."
The win moves HHS to 1-6 overall and 1-3 in the SCOL. MP falls to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the SCOL.
HHS will visit Madison County again next week when they face London. MP will take on Meadowdale in a non-league game.
GAME NOTES: There were a total of three turnover on downs … HHS had five turnovers (one fumble) … MP had three turnovers … There were a total of seven interceptions between both teams … Zach Young had a 13 yard catch in the first quarter and a 14 yard catch in the second quarter … Wildey had a run of 19 yards in the first quarter … Late in the first quarter Wilson had a 20 yard run for MP. In the second quarter he had a run of 21 yards … Lemieux had a run of 25 yards in the first quarter and a 21 yard run in the second quarter … In the third quarter Davis had a run of 17 yards … In the fourth quarter Wildey had a catch of 28 yards … On Lemieux's next to last run of the game he took the ball 29 yards.[[In-content Ad]]
In what was a back-and-forth battle from the opening whistle until the final play of the game, but it was the Indians who scored a late touchdown, two-point conversion and held the Golden Eagles in check on their final possession for a 29-28 win at Madison-Plains High School.
The win against MP not only snapped a six-game losing streak to start this season, but an overall skid of nine game dating back to last season.
None of the matters anymore as the Indians won their first road game of the season with what can only be described as a "team win."
"We got the monkey off our back, that's the big thing," Hillsboro head coach Brian Spicer said when asked what it was like to get the first win of the season. "We had played good at times, but we hadn't put a four quarter together until tonight.
"We still made mistakes, but we played four quarters … that was the difference and we came out with the win. This win validates the hard work. You hate all the work you do and not come up with the win. You can talk about the moral victories all you want, but it gets old after awhile."
The fourth quarter didn't start well for the Indians with an interception, and their second possession also ended with a turnover, but still the Tribe didn't back off and continued to stay in the game.
It was senior Chase Gilliland who sparked the Indians with his second interception of the game (his first he ran back for a 50-yard touchdown) with 5:06 left in regulation.
Trailing by a touchdown and starting the drive at the MP 46-yard line the Indians went to work with a one-yard run by senior Christian Wildley and a 21-yard run by senior quarterback Christian Cundiff. Wildey came back with two four-yard runs and Cundiff rushed for 12 yards on a third-and-2 play, taking HHS to the MP 13-yard line.
After Cundiff carried the ball for one-yard, it was Wildey who pounded his way, with one player from MP attempting the tackle, for 12 yards and a touchdown with 2:36 left in the fourth. Unofficially, Wildey finished with 132 yards on 28 carries.
With six losses already and their kicking game struggling throughout the night the Indians decided to go for two points and the lead … it worked.
On the two-point conversion, a run by Cundiff ended in the end zone to give HHS a 29-28 lead. Unofficially, Cundiff had 69 yards rushing on 18 carries.
The game was far from over … the Indians needed a stop on defense.
Madison-Plains threatened with a 20-yard run by Stephen Lemeiux, followed with the junior gaining another seven yards. With 1:10 left in the game Hillsboro's Dillon Hunick stopped MP quarterback Matt Wilson for negative yards. That was followed with a tackle from Craig Jackson and a big-time hit by senior Tyia Cumberland.
After the Golden Eagles used their final time out, the two knockout punches Hillsboro needed came from a tackle in the backfield by Hunick and a final interception sealing the win.
"At halftime (HHS trailed 20-13) we told them, 'Up until today, we lost to some teams that were pretty good … if you aren't playing good enough to win then you are going to get your butts kicked a few times, and I said that's not tonight.'
"The question was were we going to come out in the second half and show if that was the case. We saw a couple looks in their eyes at halftime that this was just another game and it wasn't. They came out here in the second half and played with enthusiasm and heart and those are the things we've been trying to get in the fourth quarter. Tonight it was finally there … and it was nice."
It wasn't just the final minutes that produced thrilling moments, in fact the entire game was a roller coaster of emotion with each team taking and losing back the lead on multiple occasions.
The Golden Eagles were first to score, on their opening drive, with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to Ryne Davis on a second-and-12 play with 6:57 left in the first quarter. The drive consisted of 10 plays and totaled 60 yards.
Each team then had a turnover on downs, but the Indians finally reached pay dirt in the second quarter with their first risk taking moment of the game, when on fourth-and-10 from the MP 20-yard line Cundiff found senior Tyrand Cumberland for a touchdown catch with single coverage. The extra point kick was good, tying the game at 7-7 with 6:50 left in the first half.
The scoring drive not only had the 20 yard touchdown, but on a third-and-8 play on the MP 42-yard line Gilliland kept the drive alive with a 22-yard catch, as it took three MP players to make the tackle at the 20, which helped set up the ensuing touchdown.
Three plays later the Indians led 13-7 when Gilliland grabbed his first interception, taking the ball 50 yards for a touchdown with 5:17 remaining. Gilliland caught the ball at midfield, racing done the HHS sideline, and breaking tackles for the score. The PAT was blocked.
Later in the second quarter the Golden Eagles flew away with a 75-yard catch and run from Wilson to Brooks Carter for a score on a third-and-5 play from their own 25-yard line. The PAT made it a 14-13 lead for MP with 1:15 left in the first half.
Carter wasn't finished and that wasn't even his longest play of the game.
Hillsboro going for a big score at the end of the first half was welcomed with a big touchdown, but it came from Madison-Plains when Cater intercepted a pass from Cundiff and in a remarkable turn of events, eluded every attempt by the Indians to tackle him, going 95 yards for a touchdown as time expired in the first half. The score gave the Golden Eagles a 20-13 lead at halftime.
On the first drive of the third quarter the Indians put together one of their finest offensive drives of the season with 16 play, 68 yard drive that ended with Wildey reaching the end zone on a 1-yard run. A 2-point conversion run by Cundiff put HHS up 21-20 with 5:10 left in the third.
The scoring drive began with Wildey running for 30 yards, followed with multiple runs of four-to-six yards each from Wildey and Cundiff until the Indians reached the end zone.
HHS fumbled late in the third quarter and MP capitalized with Wilson running for an 11-yard touchdown on MP's first play from scrimmage with 43.9 left in the quarter. A 2-point conversion run by Lemieux put MP back into the lead at 28-21.
Spicer said this was a victory for the entire team.
"This was a total team victory. We had execution up front … they (MP) committed four guys to our passing game, so we told our guys 'We have to run the ball and be good enough up front,'" Sapicer said. "Good enough has been more about execution and tonight we did a good job."
The win moves HHS to 1-6 overall and 1-3 in the SCOL. MP falls to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the SCOL.
HHS will visit Madison County again next week when they face London. MP will take on Meadowdale in a non-league game.
GAME NOTES: There were a total of three turnover on downs … HHS had five turnovers (one fumble) … MP had three turnovers … There were a total of seven interceptions between both teams … Zach Young had a 13 yard catch in the first quarter and a 14 yard catch in the second quarter … Wildey had a run of 19 yards in the first quarter … Late in the first quarter Wilson had a 20 yard run for MP. In the second quarter he had a run of 21 yards … Lemieux had a run of 25 yards in the first quarter and a 21 yard run in the second quarter … In the third quarter Davis had a run of 17 yards … In the fourth quarter Wildey had a catch of 28 yards … On Lemieux's next to last run of the game he took the ball 29 yards.[[In-content Ad]]