Loss spoils Trojan playoff chances
19-0 shutout by Marion ends Hillsboro's six-year post-season run
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Even after a loss Oct. 15 at Hesston in the Trojans' district opener, there remained a faint flicker of light for Hillsboro to keep its six-year streak of making the post-season alive.
All it would take be a win over the visiting Marion Warriors.
Of course that would depend on if the Trojans brought their A-game with them.
That faint flicker of light was snuffed out in a big way.
For the first time since 1997, the Trojans (2-6) will be forced to play spectator to the 3A playoffs.
Three turnovers combined with the outstanding games of the Warriors' (6-2) Casey Nelson and Josh Kelsey, canceled Hillsboro's plans with a 19-0 shutout.
It's been that kind of a year for the Trojans, and Friday was another one of those games.
Nelson picked apart the Trojan run defense, carrying 30 times for a game high 127 yards, outdoing the Hillsboro rushing attack by 28 yards.
Forty-five of Nelson's 127 yards came on Marion's opening drive, capped off by Kelsey's three-yard run with 4:06 left in the first quarter to give the Warriors a 7-0 lead.
In the meantime, the Trojans, thanks to a stingy Warrior defense, got nothing going on offense.
"I really think Marion's defense is tough," said Trojan coach Len Coryea. "Their inside guys, they hustle and that's the whole key there.
"They have a good football team, and they're better than us. They're a better team than we are."
Not a team known this season for an explosive offensive input, the Trojans only managed 190 yards for the game with 99 coming on the ground.
Hillsboro's best scoring chance came on its first drive in the third quarter when it was in a 13-0 hole.
The best things that happened to the Trojans were wiping out two of Marion's PAT attempts.
The only way the second half could have started any worse for the Trojans would have been if Marion ran the kickoff back for a touchdown.
Instead, Derek Hamm's kick sailed out of bounds, giving the Warriors the ball at their own 35.
The Warriors didn't roll up a high offensive game, with 233 yards for the night, 190 coming on the ground, but Marion's quicker defense kept the Trojans out of synch.
Marion chewed up nearly half of the third quarter before Kelsey hit Jeremy Vondenkamp for a nine-yard touchdown with 5:29 left.
Facing a fourth-and-goal at the one, Lucas Hamm was stuffed at the goal line, thwarting the Trojans' best chance to get on the board.
"We didn't run the play I wanted," Coryea said of the goal line falter. "Why we do that, I'll never know. You talk to them on Monday about the scouting report that it's not likely we can blow it up the middle.
"Especially on (defensive tackle Dale) Vogel, he's a great football player for them. I thought we could bounce to the outside on them, but we didn't do it."
Lucas Hamm carried the ball 15 times for a team-high 50 yards while Derek Hamm completed 7-of-18 passes for 91 yards with Dan Deckert accounting for 60 of the 91.
Besides the missed scoring drive, the furthest the Trojans were able to get into Warrior territory was the 38.
Chris Freeby was one of Derek Hamm's biggest enemies, picking off two of his passes.
The second interception set up a three-yard score by Nelson to close the deal on Hillsboro with 3:48 to go in the game.
The Trojans close out the long season tonight at 7 p.m. in Hillsboro against second-ranked Southeast of Saline.
Junior varsity
The Trojan junior varsity football team (4-4) ended its season Monday with a 20-16 loss to Marion.
Hillsboro scored first in the first quarter on a 15-yard pass from junior quarterback Kyle Kroeker to sophomore Troy Frick. Marion countered with an 11-yard run for a touchdown. Neither team completed the PAT.
Hillsboro scored first in the second quarter on a 42-yard run by Kroeker and the two-point conversion pass from Kroeker to Frick was good. Marion scored on a two-yard run but the PAT attempt was no good.
Hillsboro scored a team safety in the third quarter and held the Warriors scoreless. In the fourth quarter, Marion scored on a 68-yard run and the two-point conversion was good.
Freshman Jacob Yoder had 20 carries for 94 yards; Matt Brown, 7-32; Kroeker, 5-58. Kroeker was 4-13-39 in passing and Frick was 3-39 in receptions.
Defensively, Daniel Roble had 11 assists; Brown, three tackles, seven assists; Darren Enns, two tackles, eight assists; Alex Nuss, two tackles, seven assists; and Tyler Kaufman, three tackles, three assists, and one fumble recovery.
