Trojan football team passes first district test vs. Lions
Hillsboro football team overcomes turnovers, missed chances to down Lyons, 22-6
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Like the old saying goes, it's not how you play the game, it's whether you win or lose.
At no time during the football season does that matter more than when it comes to district play and the postseason.
A team can play an ugly game, but all that counts is what the score is.
The Trojans game wasn't firing on all its plugs Friday night in their first district test against hosting Lyons, but you won't find Trojan coach Dustin McEwen complaining about his team's 22-6 win.
"In districts, we're going to take that and say it's positive we won," McEwen said. "We understand we had a lot of missed opportunities to say the least. The one thing Lyons didn't do was turn the ball over."
That's something McEwen wasn't able to say about his team, who turned the football over three times on interceptions. On the bright side, the Trojans played their first game where they haven't turned to ball over on the ground.
Luckily for the Trojans, their defense and special teams did enough to neutralize their turnovers.
"We had a ton of turnovers again, but it was mostly through the air," said McEwen, "and not because we didn't hang on to the ball which is good."
Hillsboro's defense held the Lions to 173 yards of offense, more than half of it coming from quarterback Wade Church.
"The defense keeps playing well," McEwen said. "They gave the offense some chances. We just missed a few executions here and there."
Even though the Trojans led the entire game, Lyons hung around until the final horn sounded.
That was attributed to Hillsboro's not hearing the doorbell when opportunity knocked.
Hillsboro pulled away for good with 4:14 left in the first frame.
Quarterback Derek Hamm completed 13 passes of 24 attempts and two touchdowns for 197 yards.
A nine-yard dart from Hamm to Caleb Marsh on second-and-goal made it a 7-0 game after Marsh nailed the PAT.
But the Lions came roaring back on their next possession.
Church went deep for a wide-open Kevin Sechrist on a 65-yard pass to give the Lions first-and-goal at the Hillsboro 10.
Three plays later for three yards, Church shook off some Trojan tacklers for a seven-yard TD.
The Trojans defense wrapped Church up on the two-point conversion attempt, dashing the Lions' only real chance at establishing a lead with 1:15 remaining in the first quarter.
The Trojans gave themselves some breathing room on their first drive of the second quarter.
Facing a third-and-seven at the Lyons 43, Hamm aired it out for Brodie Unrau, who scampered down Hillsboro's sidelines for the score.
Another successful PAT for Marsh and Hillsboro led 14-6 1:04 into the second quarter.
Hillsboro shunned three chances to stretch the lead in the first half with the drives all starting no deeper than the Lions 35.
The first one came when Kyle Jilka broke through the Lions offensive line and blocked a punt.
Leading the Trojans in fumble recoveries, Brian Thiessen was right there to give Hillsboro first-and-10 at the 15.
Catching four passes for 54 yards, a 15-yarder to Daniel Deckert from Hamm made it third-and-four at the nine.
Then Hillsboro drove in reverse on a false start, eventually turning the ball over on downs.
Opportunity knocked again on the Trojans' ensuing drive.
Six runs by Kyle Jilka, who carried 14 times for a team-high 53 yards, and a 7-yard pass from Hamm to Marsh pushed the ball to the Lyons 10 for third down.
Going just one-for-seven on third down conversions the first half, Hillsboro had the drive stall on an incomplete.
One more knock came on Hillsboro's final possession of the first half.
Jilka ran for a yard before another incomplete on second down.
On third and nine at the 34, Hamm floated a pass right to Lyons Brett Higgins.
The clock ran out on Lyons but they were hot on the Trojans heels, trailing 14-6 at intermission.
"We could have been up 35-6 at halftime," said McEwen. "I don't know what it was. I don't think we messed up; we just didn't quite execute. Some good things almost happened."
Hillsboro had yet another chance at great field position to start the second half as Unrau had a big punt return all the way inside the Lion 5.
But a block in the back by the Trojans waived off the dynamic return.
Jilka was in on another blocked punt, this time with the help of Lucas Hamm.
The ball rolled out of the end zone to give the Trojans a 16-6 lead on the safety, the only two points of the third quarter.
Marsh had five catches for a game-high 72 yards.
On a fourth-and-four at the Hillsboro 46, Derek Hamm connected with Marsh for a 34-yard catch.
The Trojans capped off their scoring entirety with 5:08 left, Derek Hamm scoring on a 1-yard keeper. The two-point conversion was no good, but the Trojans' lead was never jeopardized.
The 5-2 Trojans face their stiffest test of the season Friday when they travel to defending MCAA champion, Hesston.
The Swathers are 6-1 on the season, their only loss coming against top-ranked and three-time state champion Conway Springs, a 29-0 shutout.
Hesston dispatched of then 4A unbeaten Wichita Collegiate two weeks earlier, 41-6.
Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
