HILLSBORO: Conway Springs thwarts Trojans at regionals
Hillsboro football team bows out with 28-7 loss to top-ranked Conway Springs
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
The single wing.
Few offenses can do the job of keeping defenses on their heels quite like the single wing.
No team in the state has had the success running the single wing offense any better than Conway Springs.
The Cardinals executed their offense perfectly Saturday night in Hillsboro, rolling up 326 yards on the ground with backs Darren Seiwert and Jason Benge each running for more than 100 yards.
Conway Springs used long, clock- eating drives to keep the Hillsboro offense off the field and advance to the next round with a 28-7 win.
"Our whole purpose was to keep the clock moving," Cardinal coach Mark Bliss said. "They (Trojans) have such good athletes and can strike quickly.
"Our concern was to establish the line of scrimmage, keep the chains, moving and keep their offense off the field. They've got great skill players. I knew that going into this game, and I told Coach McEwen that we respected their kids very much and we knew that they were capable of hitting the long ball at any time."
The Trojans' season ends at 6-5 overall, perhaps a disappointing ending for seniors Kris Jones, Dustin Jost, Steve Chisholm, Shawn Hughbanks, Graham Ratzlaff, James Bina, Alan Yoder, Dustin Hendricks, Grant Anderson, and Derek Ulrich.
Hillsboro had numerous chances to make the game closer than it ended.
Rushing for a game-high 127 yards, Seiwert coughed up the ball on the Cardinals' first possession.
Against the defending state champion Cardinals, it's mandatory to capitalize on their mistakes and utilize field position.
Those were things the Trojans could never do as they went three and out on their first drive.
Of their nine drives for the game, the Trojans got into Cardinal territory on just three of them, all in the second half — not to mention Jost throwing several passes that just missed the target.
"We had opportunities," McEwen said. "Dustin was throwing right on the money, and we had some opportunities to make some big catches that could've moved the ball and sustained drives for us.
"Just a few drops here and there, we might have found ourselves in a little closer ball game. Those are things you take."
Conway pulled away with a 14-play 86-yard drive that ate up better than 6:30 of the first quarter, ending on a Seiwert run up the middle from a yard out.
The Cardinals scored again on their third drive, capping off an 11-play 68-yard drive with a 7-yard run by Matt Wykes with 6:29 to go in the first half.
Wykes did his share of damage too, carrying the ball 11 times for 63 yards.
Conway's defense, led by linebacker and Colorado State signee Nathan Pauly, yielded the Trojans 48 yards of offense in the first half with 35 coming through the air.
The second half fared slightly better for Hillsboro, finishing with 95 yards on the ground and 98 passing.
"Pauly is an animal," Jost said. "They were a lot bigger and quicker than what I thought they'd be. If we'd had caught some of those passes, it could've been a totally different game."
The Trojans held the Cardinals to a three and out to start the second half, only to give the ball right back on a Yoder fumble that was scooped up by Wykes.
Easily a good enough team to win without help, the Trojans spotted the Cardinals a touchdown with Seiwert barreling in from 18 to push the lead to 21-0.
The momentum seemed to shift a little once Chisholm threw Wykes for an 18-yard loss on second and 11 at the 50.
Backed up all the way to their 32, the Cardinals punted on third and 29.
Jones was a huge reason the Trojans were facing the Cardinals. His 15-yard run moved the ball into Cardinal territory for just the second time in the game.
Jost hit Caleb Marsh for a 26-yard gain, setting up a first and 10 at the Cardinal 22.
Jones broke up the shutout the next play, dashing 22 yards to pull the Trojans to 21-6. Marsh's PAT was good, and Hillsboro seemed to be right back in it.
But another long drive by the Cardinals quieted that thought with Benge picking up 35 of his 108 yards on a touchdown run, which turned out to be his team's final TD of the night.
However, Hillsboro still wasn't finished.
Starting from their own 22, Jost threw to Marsh, twice to Hughbanks, and once to Jones to set Hillsboro up at the Cardinal 25.
A roughing-the-passer call on Conway gave the Trojans first and goal at the two. They ran three running plays but had no luck reaching the end zone.
The drive stalled out at the one with Jost's pass intended for Brodie Unrau bouncing off the junior's chest on the Trojans' final offensive play of the season.
"I think we came a long way from those first three games," said McEwen of the 2002 season. "Both just in effort that we gave on the field, coming up with big plays and eliminating mistakes. The maturity of the offensive and defensive line made a big improvement over the year.
"We've got a good senior class leaving as far as kids that have been involved in a lot of wins. They'll be missed. They were a good group to work with. As far as win-loss, maybe not as many wins and more losses than what we've had the past few years, but as far as enjoyment and showing up to work, they did everything they were supposed to."
