Trojans bow out of 3A playoffs
Top-ranked Conway Springs bowls over Hillsboro, 42-14
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Stopping two-time defending state champion and top-ranked Conway Springs is no secret: shut down the single wing, the most perplexing offense a defense has to solve.
Something that has yet to be done the last two years and three out of the last five.
The Trojans took their first crack last year at the same time against the same team in the same setting in Hillsboro.
Sadly, Hillsboro was just another one of the teams that's been trying to solve the Cardinal puzzle the last two years Saturday in the regional round of the Class 3A state playoffs.
Besides a quick 68-yard score by Caleb Marsh down the left sideline with 5:56 left in the first quarter that cut the lead to 7-6, Hillsboro was never again in striking distance.
Like a year ago, the Cardinals again did it eating up the clock with sustaining drives to eliminate the Trojans with a 42-14 win.
The Trojans' 14 points is one of the highest scoring outputs the Cardinals have allowed this year.
Hillsboro would have had put up at least 20 had Derek Hamm not been stopped at the goal line in the closing seconds of the Trojans' season.
If one Cardinal back won't beat you, another one will as they often load the backfield with three running backs counting the quarterback. And it's hard to say who's carrying the ball.
"You've got to tackle pretty much all three people," Trojan senior linebacker Kyle Jilka said of the Cardinal offense. "You don't know who's got the ball so you have to go after them all."
Jilka was in on 13 tackles in his final game as a Trojan, Brian Thiessen had eight and Brodie Unrau added seven, a fumble recovery, and a pick.
It's never a bad idea to try to shut down Cardinal standout junior fullback Darrin Seiwert, the top rusher in 3A.
By trying to slow down Seiwert, the Trojan defense loosened up on Cardinal junior quarterback Matt Wykes.
Seiwert still carried the ball 21 times for a game-high 169 yards, 142 coming in the first half; however, it was Wykes that did the most damage.
Conway's vaunted ground attack plowed up 356 yards on 56 carries while the little-used passing game accounted for 84 yards. Wykes carried 14 times for 85 yards
Forty-three of Seiwert's yards came on the Cardinals' opening drive, a 13 play 69-yarder.
The Trojans got their first burn from Wykes, capping off a near 6:00 scoring drive with a 1-yard touchdown.
Playing his final game as a Trojan, Marsh carried the ball seven times for a team-high 100 yards, helping Hillsboro counter with 156 yards on the ground.
His 68-yarder awoke the sleeping Cardinals as they held the Trojans scoreless until there was 7:00 left in the game.
That gave the two-man demolition team of Wykes and Seiwert too much time to work with as they benefited from their massive offensive line.
"It was an easier week to prepare as far as knowing what to expect a little bit" Trojan coach Dustin McEwen said of the Cardinal offense. "It doesn't matter what offense they run, they've got some big boys that can push the line.
"Wade Weibert is a big kid (6-4, 240), he comes along every eight years, a big kid like that. They've got 12 of them every two years it seems like."
Trailing 21-6 with the Cardinals again knocking on the door, the Trojans dodged a touchdown after a Wykes' pitch malfunctioned at the Hillsboro two, resulting in a fumble recovered by Unrau.
Against a team like Conway, it's mandatory to take advantage of every opportunity given, from field position, punting, to turnovers.
The Trojans prolonged the Conway drive gone awry, moving the ball to their 27.
Back-to-back incompletions and Hillsboro squandered a takeaway going three and out.
Time aided the Cardinals in thwarting Jason Benge's pick by Unrau, which set the Trojans up with their shortest field of the game, the Cardinal 46 with 36 seconds left in the half.
Three straight incompletions and Hillsboro gave the ball right back before intermission, down 21-6.
The Trojans were working against the Conway reserves on their last score of the year.
With the game already decided with the Cardinals up 42-6, Marsh's final return of the year gave Hillsboro first-and-10 from the Trojan 47.
Nine plays later, Derek Hamm's hitting Tim Funk for a 12-yard touchdown completion was too little, too late.
Hamm went to Unrau on the two-point conversion to make for the 42-14 final.
"I'm pleased with the fact we never gave up, but they're better than us" said McEwen. "The seniors, last game, I thanked them for the things they did.
"The game was won up front with their beef (Cardinal line) and there was no way for us. We were on some skates."
Considering the bumpy season, Hillsboro ends the year with a rewarding 7-4 finish.
