Third quarter helps Trojans escape Haven
Trojans hold off Wildcats' fourth quarter onslaught
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Trojan football coach Dustin McEwen wasn't sure what to expect in Friday night's season opener against the hosting Haven Wildcats.
Having a new coach in Marty Nienstedt and being a newcomer to the Trojans' schedule, Haven gave McEwen and Hillsboro good reason to be leery.
Hillsboro made it look easy early in the game, adding 18 unanswered points to the scoreboard.
The worries came back late in the second half after Haven quarterback Andy Meyer hit Jeremy Kocker for a 43-yard touchdown that helped shrink what was once a 31-6 game to 31-20.
Hillsboro never was out of the woods until the final horn sounded with the Trojans hanging on for the 31-20 win.
"I think we walk away with some positives, not only a victory which was one of the things we were worried about, along with coming out here and playing well," said McEwen. "I thought we executed fairly well."
Another thing that has been on McEwen's mind was how his new offensive line was going to respond in its first varsity test.
"I think they (offensive line) did well, and I think that they finally got their first taste tonight of what it's like to be tired in a football game," McEwen said. "They protected well, and they picked up things well."
Neither team seemed able to take care of the football with a total of eight turnovers committed by the two.
Haven's bout with turnovers began with just under 3:00 left in the first frame.
Meyer was picked off by Tyler Peachey, who ran unscathed into the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown return.
The PAT kick was blocked, just one of four Hillsboro PAT attempts that failed, giving the Trojans a 6-0 lead.
Peachey struck again with 2:17 to go in the first half, hooking up with Dustin Jost for a 32-yard touchdown completion.
In his first appearance at quarterback of the 2002 season, Jost was 11 for 19 for 182 yards, throwing three picks.
Nine of Jost's 11 completions went to the senior receiving duo of Shawn Hughbanks and Steve Chisholm, who combined for 128 yards.
"I thought the receivers really played well as far as coming down with some big catches," said McEwen. "Hughbanks caught the ball very well, and Chisholm made a couple of saving-grace type catches because of his height.
"Those are the things we've had in the past, and it's nice to see that those guys are going to rise to that occasion as well."
The Trojans went for two, but Jost was stopped short of the end zone, sending them in at halftime up 12-0.
Hillsboro's defense surrendered 441 yards of offense to Haven with 164 coming on the ground.
The Wildcats had two opportunities to get on the board late in the second quarter, driving the ball deep into Hillsboro territory.
The Trojans' defense stopped both drives inside Hillsboro's 15, making Haven squander excellent field position.
Meyer threw his third pick of the game on the Wildcats' first possession of the second half.
Hoping to find Wes Haines, Meyer instead found Kris Jones.
The Jones-INT set up the first of two Alan Yoder one-yard touchdown runs with 9:10 left in the third quarter.
Haven finally broke up the shutout just under the 8:00 mark in the third quarter with Andy Dirks scrambling in from three-yards out.
Another one-yard touchdown run by Yoder followed by a 38-yard touchdown dash from Caleb Marsh and Haven's defense was winded, trailing 31-6.
Haven woke up :31 seconds into the final quarter.
Meyer broke through from three away, and the Wildcats were right back in the game, 31-14, after a successful two-point conversion.
The Wildcat tandem of Meyer-to-Kocker was enough for Hillsboro's secondary.
Meyer shredded the Hillsboro defense for 264 yards passing with a game-high 131 going to Kocker, a stat that didn't sit well with McEwen.
The 1-0 Trojans travel Friday to Nickerson to face a monstrous Panther team that finished 5-6 a year ago.
Nickerson features a Division I-sized offensive line which McEwen estimates to be 1,200 pounds across the front and standout receiver Noah Krol.
Game time begins at 7 p.m.
