Swathers shut out Trojans
Hesston uses 21-point third quarter to handle Hillsboro, 35-0
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
The Trojans knew one of the best chances they had at knocking off the state-ranked Hesston Swathers would be avoiding one of their biggest enemies of the season, turnovers.
That plan was foiled on Hillsboro's first drive of Friday night's second round of district play at Hesston as the Trojans fumbled the ball away on a bad exchange to quarterback Derek Hamm.
Two first-half turnovers led to 14 points for Hesston as part of a 35-0 shut-out the Swathers hung on the Trojans.
Hesston is a good enough team to beat most teams without any help.
The Swathers had two weapons working in their favor, Hillsboro's generosity and a gusting north wind.
With the first of three Hillsboro turnovers, Swather quarterback Randall Drier bolted around the left side on second-and-14 and took it in for six, 1:41 into the game.
Drier shredded the Trojan defense, scoring three touchdowns, two running and one passing.
"The wind hurt, but Drier can throw with the wind or without the wind," said Trojan coach Dustin McEwen. "You can be a little more aggressive offensively, and I think that is the way Hesston has played ball this year.
"Once they get a lead, they can just turn them loose, turn loose Drier's big arm and everybody else's ability to catch the ball and run really good routes."
As it has done all season, the Trojan defense kept the game from coming unraveled in the first half despite trailing 14-0 at halftime.
But the offense never got on track, finishing with season-lows 35 and 86 yards passing and rushing, respectively.
And the strong wind never gave Hillsboro a better starting position than the Hesston 49
In the waning moments of the first quarter, Hillsboro's defense held on fourth down to thwart the Swathers going in front by two scores.
With the wind at their backs the second quarter, for one of four times in the game, Hillsboro moved the ball deep into Hesston territory.
Except the drive stalled out at the Swather 31 as Hamm was hit for an eight-yard loss.
Down 14-0 after Andy Bartell picked off a pass to set up a 6-yard run by Josh Schaben, Hillsboro gave the ball right back to the Swathers on the ensuing series.
A pass intended for Caleb Marsh was tipped twice before settling in the hands of Kendall Drier with 22 seconds still left in the first half.
"We played a pretty good first half really," McEwen said. "Fourteen-nothing could have very easily been 7-7 or could have very easily been 7-0.
"We gave them a short field with both scores they ended up with the first half. Once you get a lead, it turns the offensive game into a much easier game to play."
The bottom fell out on the Trojans in the third quarter.
Hesston ate up nearly 6:00 of the third quarter, making it a 21-0 game after Schaben barreled in on a yardscore.
Hillsboro's complications moving the ball the first half were nothing compared to what it was the second.
The Swathers kept the Trojan offense off the field and the defense on with Randall Drier taking over the game.
A 23-yard bullet to Bartell stretched the lead to 28-0 before Randall Drier ripped off a 36-yard scamper around the left side as third quarter time expired.
With the Trojans down 35-0, the clock kept running the fourth quarter.
"Their linemen and our linemen are pretty equal," said McEwen. "They had some pretty good backs that ran hard and ran fast, and we couldn't get our heads across the tackle at times."
The 5-3 Trojans control their own destiny after their first district loss.
A win tonight over visiting Halstead will send the Trojans into the postseason.
"The nice thing is right now with the way the district is set up," said McEwen, "we can beat Halstead, and we can move on.
"I think that we're a good enough team even though we got beat by 35 points here that we can come and play a tough team in bi-districts and be very competitive."
Tonight's final game for the Hillsboro seniors is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Reimer Field.
