HILLSBORO: Trojans break Riley County curse
Hillsboro downs foe Falcons
with 27-20 win
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
When it comes to athletics, the Trojans' track record against the Riley County Falcons hasn't been the best.
Ever since 1998, the Falcons have made it a habit to ruin Hillsboro's title hopes in everything ranging from basketball up to cross country.
The last time the Trojans passed a Falcon test on the gridiron was with a team bearing such names as Hill, Ratzlaff, Hamm and Loewen.
Hillsboro's most recent football destruction came the following season with the underdog Falcons soundly beating the heavily favored Trojans on their home field.
All the Falcon ghosts that have been haunting the Trojans' football team since the upset in 2000 were there for the first round of the Class 3A state football playoffs Tuesday night in Riley.
There was Falcon coach Steve Wagner, roaming the sidelines like he was two seasons ago.
There was Weston Steiner and Mike Nelson, half of the infamous Nelson brothers that ended the Trojan boys' basketball season back in March, only dressed in street clothes.
The other half of the Nelsons, senior quarterback Jordy, however, was on the field.
If you're Trojan coach Dustin McEwen looking to exorcise some of the Falcon ghosts, who are you going to call?
Try senior tailback Kris Jones.
With the tables turned this time with the Trojans playing the role of underdog, Jones saw to it that Hillsboro made the most of its opportunity.
Jones furnished the Trojans with 205 yards of their 317 yards offense, carrying the ball 13 times for a career-high 119 yards and three touchdowns.
He scored the go-ahead touchdown with 3:20 left in the third quarter, leading the Trojans to a 27-20 upset of the 8-1 Falcons.
"It was really good for the kids on this year's team," a relieved McEwen said. "We played hard the whole night."
Had it not been for the new playoff alignment, the Trojans would have been capturing the moment from the stands.
Coming in at 5-4, the Trojans made it in by the skin of their teeth. The win keeps Hillsboro alive at 6-4.
It looked bleak for the Trojans early on as they fell behind 14-0, especially with Jordy Nelson on the field.
One of the state's fastest, Jordy terrorized the Trojans for 370 yards total offense, doing most of the damage carrying the ball 33 times for 317 yards.
The speedster took off on a 55-yard scramble for the Falcons first score, then plunging in from four to make for the 14-0 lead.
Jordy's numbers meant little with 1:37 left in the game as the Falcons had what could have been the potentially game-winning drive wiped out on a Nelson-fumble.
Brian Thiessen pounced on the loose ball, allowing Hillsboro to run out the clock to advance.
"That was huge," McEwen said of Thiessen's recovery. "It wipes out a score for them and with the time left, all we needed to do was get a couple of first downs and we'd be in business.
"Brian made a real smart decision. He didn't try to pick it up and scoop or do anything with it there. He just fell on it there and kept it in bounds."
Down in a 14-0 hole late in the first half, one of three Falcon turnovers played a factor in the Trojans cutting the lead in two.
Caleb Marsh picked off a Nelson pass to set up 23-yard touchdown pass from Dustin Jost to Jones.
Jost threw for 110 yards with three of his five completions going to Jones for 86 yards.
The Trojan quarterback Jost utilized the good field position on both first half drives, sneaking into the end zone right before intermission to make it a tie-game.
The momentum continued to roll in Hillsboro's favor with Riley County bobbling the second half kickoff.
Marsh was there to recover the fumble, setting Hillsboro up with excellent field position.
Jost aired it out again for Jones, this time for a 44-yard strike and Hillsboro was in front, 21-14.
Nelson still had one final trick left in his bag, scoring the Falcons final touchdown, cutting the lead to 21-20.
If the game wasn't suspenseful enough, the Falcons were left with three opportunities to regain the lead.
The first one came in the fourth quarter, where the Trojans' defense held on a fourth-and-goal at the five.
Riley County had another chance on the Trojans' next possession with Jeremy Starnes picking off a Jost-pass.
But Thiessen's fumble turned out the lights on the Falcons' season.
The Trojans best hope to have another miracle up its sleeve Saturday when take on the defending champion and top-ranked Conway Springs Cardinals.
The Cardinals obliterated Marion in the first round, 42-0 with all the damage being done in the first half.
Saturday's second round match-up begins at 7 p.m. at Reimer Field.
