Brown's PAT beats Warriors in opening district match-up
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Three victories have withered away in the closing minutes on the Trojans this season.
That could have had the Hillsboro faithful on edge Friday when the Marion Warriors forced an extra session after Brian Fruechting booted the PAT to tie the game at 13 with one minute, 13 seconds left in the game.
Spencer Brown quieted the vocal Warrior fans though, sinking Marion (4-3, 0-1 district) with a successful extra point kick in overtime — a sore spot for Hillsboro — giving the Trojans a 20-19 victory in the opening game of district play.
"We needed to win one on the last play for a change," an ecstatic Trojan coach Len Coryea said. "We come in here and their fans were yelling at us when we were getting off the bus, the players were banging on our door to the locker room and screaming at us.
"I said we need to come over here and take it to them on their field."
That might have happened much earlier had lightning not delayed the action with less than a minute left in the first quarter.
The game was stopped for nearly an hour and it was well after 10 p.m. by the time the game concluded.
Before the game stalled, the Trojans were in front 7-0 with Brown scoring on a two-yard run on Hillsboro's second drive of the game with 3:56 left in the first quarter.
The Warriors had every chance in the book to win, forcing three fumbles and an interception.
When the game was on again, the Trojans (4-3, 1-0 district) pushed their lead to 13-0 by halftime on the final play with Brown firing for Jake Yoder on a 32-yard touchdown.
Yoder finished the day with 104 yards and a touchdown on the ground, as well as 64 yards and the acrobatic touchdown grab through the air.
"Our biggest play of the game was the last play of the first half," said Coryea.
"I thought that lightning delay really hurt us, though. I knew we had something going at that time and I think it stalled us out and we just didn't get it going again."
Marion did, though, using two fumbles to get back in the game.
Mitchell Leppke got Marion on the board with just more than five minutes left in the third quarter, scoring on a one-yard keeper.
Disaster hit Hillsboro again with 8:37 left in the game with Brown losing the ball on the snap. Marion milked 7:24 off the clock before Austin Hager plowed in to cut Hillsboro's lead to 13-12.
The Warriors opted to go for the victory with a two-point conversion, but Leppke was called for illegal procedure, forcing the game-tying PAT kick.
Leppke gave the Warriors the lead on the first possession in overtime, scoring on third-and-goal from the three.
Fruechting's missed kick proved to be a clincher, though, and Yoder duplicated Leppke's run with another three-yard score, leaving Brown to win the game with the PAT.
He also helped through the air, completing seven of 14 passes for 109 yards and a touchdown, along with one interception.
With two games left in the regular season, the Trojans' post-season hopes are very much alive.
Hillsboro faces as tough a test as it will this season Friday, hosting third-ranked Hesston.
The Swathers opened district play trouncing previously unbeaten, but untested Remington, 34-0.
