Week 2 Football Preview: Tribe wants to stay Road Warriors against Devils
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By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Week one is in the books, and the road warrior mentality of the Hillsboro Indians will be in full force once again. In their past six away games, the Indians have gone a perfect 6-0, and they are looking to notch their seventh straight road win, with the challenge being a tough Gallia Academy team.
The road warrior mentality began with the Indians' last season, going undefeated with five wins in away games and continued into week one of this season.
"You know, I told the guys last year, we had a lot of success on the road, and when you go on the road you have to play perfect football," Hillsboro head coach Brian Spicer said. "Several things last week hurt us, but our kids did a nice job focusing. It's strange, but if we would have been playing at home, we could have possibly had some of our mistakes eliminated."
"Mistakes grow on the road, and this will be Gallia's first home game, and I'm sure they will take their momentum and use it."
Gallia, who are celebrating their 85th year of football, runs a Wing-T offense, and according to Spicer, the Blue Devils are run-oriented for the most part.
"Gallia runs the ball a lot, but they like to play action pass. When teams aren't looking, they will drop back, but will still hit you with the run."
Hillsboro (1-0) defeated the Blue Devils 35-34 at Richards Memorial Field last season, but this is a different Gallia team who enters week two with a win over Athens, 36-21.
HHS quarterback Aric Carroll was 11 of 22 for 127 yards, two touchdowns and one interception last week. Carroll also had 16 rushes for 75 yards. Bodhi Hawkins had five rushes for 71 yards, and Matt Gallimore rushed for 41 yards on 10 carries.
Chase Gilliland was the leading receiver for HHS with six catches for 47 yards. Dow Kiefer had a 33-yard TD reception, and Kordell Ford caught a 13-yard pass for a score.
"Last year, Gallia played Athens and they (AHS) dominated Gallia and were in control. This year was in reverse," Spicer said. "I know they have to be happy with that. In what I've seen of them, they've run the ball well and have a veteran offensive line.
"Gallia gave us fits last year, and they are improved. They've come a long way."
In their game against Athens, Gallia led 20-0 at halftime, with senior running back Austin Wilson (5-9, 160) scoring twice in the first half and finishing the game with 128 yards rushing and four touchdowns. Wilson also caught four passes for 74 yards.
GAHS senior quarterback Ethan Moore (6-1, 190) scored once on a QB keeper in the first half and finished the first week of action with 15 rushes for 66 yards. Junior running back Drew Young had nine carries for 67 yards.
"Their quarterback does a nice job, and he can run the show," Spicer said. "They were in a spread offense two years ago, and in the Wing-T, you can see he's more comfortable this season."
Last year, GAHS switched from the spread offense to the Wing-T offense under head coach Mike Eddy.
"No. 7 (Wilson) plays the slot back, and he is a speedster, plus he plays special teams," Spicer said. "They will throw the ball to him as well. They lost their big fullback from last year, but their new guy (Young) is a lot quicker. Overall, they are competitive."
Defensively, Gallia uses a 4-4 defense, as Spicer said they have big guys up front and will try to shut teams down up front with their four linemen and four linebackers.
"Athens is similar to us in style, but I wish I knew more about their athletes to make a better comparison," Spicer said. "Athens made second half adjustments against Gallia and came within a score late in the fourth quarter. The final score was a bigger margin than how the teams played."
After looking at the film from a week ago, Spicer said he was pleased with the way the Indians' defense played.
"Britt (Wells) had two interceptions and one fumble recovery," he said. "You have to appreciate an effort like that, and we had a lot of guys give good efforts.
"Just from watching film, we did a good job of smacking people. The guys played hard, and our defensive backs of Dow, Britt and Kaleb (West) all hit hard and all three went downhill for their hits. We dropped guys, made open field tackles, and we weren't going to let Western Brown beat us with the pass. We had some vicious hits, and overall, we did what we wanted to do."
HHS will kickoff against Gallia Academy at 7:30 p.m., Friday at GAHS.
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