Hillsboro football team fall to Ellinwood
n Two points separate Hillsboro and Eagle football teams.
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
For the second consecutive year, a missed field goal again proved costly for the Trojans Friday night against the hosting Ellinwood Eagles.
With a shot at redemption from last season's 22-20 punch in the gut from the Eagles in Hillsboro, the Trojans' fate partially rested on a Caleb Marsh field-goal attempt.
Last year, the kick was wide left, but Friday, the kick never made it to the tee.
A bad snap and an Eagle-recovery on the fumble allowed them to again beat the Trojans by two points, 9-7, snapping Hillsboro's two-game winning streak.
"I don't doubt the effort they gave was good enough for us to win," a sullen Trojan coach Dustin McEwen said. "I don't think we didn't play hard. We just couldn't finish it."
That was only half of the problem for the Trojans Friday.
Scoring a season-best 19 points a week earlier in a win over Smoky Valley, the end zone has been about the only place the Trojans can't seem to put the ball.
"When we get inside the red zone, we need to find ways to score," McEwen said. "We're working on that in practice, and hopefully it will work. It's frustrating when we're not scoring."
Opportunity for the Trojans to put good distance between themselves and the Eagles knocked several times in the fourth quarter.
Nobody heard it though.
Unfortunately for Hillsboro, the scoreboard is what makes the difference, not the numbers.
On paper, the Trojans were clearly the better team, holding the Eagles to a slim 175 yards of total offense while rolling up 294 themselves.
The Trojans jumped on top of the Eagles on the second play of the second quarter with quarterback Derek Hamm crashing up the middle from a yard out.
Back from an ankle injury two weeks earlier against Nickerson, Marsh made it a 7-0 game, splitting the uprights on the PAT.
Ellinwood answered quickly, capping off a 12-play drive with a nine-yard pass from Cody Engle to Anthony Barr with just over 11:00 left in the half.
Tyler Wirtz was a nuisance for the Trojans, hauling in two catches for 85 yards that helped set up both scores for the Eagles.
The PAT was no good, and Hillsboro clung to a 7-6 lead at the half.
The Trojans had a chance to regain the lead before halftime, but the 60-yard drive that would have reclaimed the lead ended when Hamm was picked off by Engle in the end zone.
Ellinwood surged back right after halftime, driving the ball deep into Hillsboro territory with the aid of a 35-yard pass from Engle to Wirtz.
Playing a solid game all night, the Trojan defense held the next three plays, holding Ellinwood to three instead of six.
Engle connected on the 25-yard field goal with just over 7:30 left in the third quarter.
A Derek Mayfield-interception gave the Trojans a fresh set of downs in good field position, the Eagle 47.
But Hillsboro had the drive stall at the six, bringing Marsh on to attempt the go-ahead field goal, one that could ruin the Eagles' homecoming just like they did to the Trojans the year before.
Then came the misfortune with the bad snap.
Hillsboro still had an eternity to overcome it and stage a comeback.
Throwing for 148 yards, Hamm hit Tim Funk for a 21-yard gain that set the Trojans up at the Eagle 27.
Reverse was all that worked for Hillsboro, and the drive ended on an incompletion.
One chance was left for Hillsboro after Hamm again hooked up with Funk to move the ball to the Eagle 35.
Carrying the ball 15 times for a team-high 73 yards, Funk also caught two passes for 43 yards.
Daniel Deckert led the Trojans receiving, catching three passes for 50 yards, one a 21-yard catch that moved the ball to the Eagle 29 with just over :30 left in the game.
Hillsboro's chances withered away on a pass that couldn't get hauled in, securing the Eagles' crushing victory.
"Our defense played well," McEwen said. "The only big plays we really gave up were those big catches by Wirtz.
"We moved the ball well offensively, but Ellinwood did a good job of keeping us from making any big plays. We've got to work at driving to get big plays."
Spearheaded by Kyle Jilka's team-high 10 tackles, seven assisted, the Trojan defense held the Eagles to a sparse 60 yards on the ground on 30 carries. Wade Weibert had three tackles for a loss.
The Trojans look to bounce back from the loss Friday when they host struggling Ellsworth for homecoming at 7 p.m.
