Trojans claw way to first victory of year
n Hillsboro overcomes turnovers, injuries in come-from-behind win over Panthers, 13-12
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Derek Hamm started Friday night's game against the visiting Nickerson Panthers on the Trojans offensive line.
Once Caleb Marsh was hobbled late in the second quarter by a sprained ankle, the show was left for Hamm to run as the Trojan quarterback.
Despite throwing a pick to start the fourth quarter, Hamm still led the Trojans to a dramatic, come-from-behind win over the feisty Panthers, 13-12.
"I didn't feel nervous back there," Hamm said. "The whole team played good, and we did a good job of not giving up the deep passes."
The win squares Hillsboro's record to 1-1 both on the year and in the MCAA.
Friday's game had all early the makings for coming unraveled on the Trojans much like it did a week earlier against Haven.
Consider the Trojans lucky.
It's not every day a team overcomes five turnovers and comes out on top.
Two games into the year, the Trojans have turned the ball over seven more times than they've been in the end zone.
And two of Hillsboro's five helped Nickerson get a 12-0 jump on the Trojans in the opening quarter.
The Trojans gave the Panthers the 12-0 lift, squandering their first two drives of the game.
Of the five Trojan drives the first half, only two did not result in Hillsboro turning the ball over.
Marsh fumbled deep in Hillsboro territory on third-and-14 which led to a 13-yard touchdown run by Dallas Stephens.
The Panthers went for two, but Daniel Deckert thwarted the attempt, wrapping up Garrett Rempel with 6:51 to go.
Hillsboro's next drive ended when Marsh was picked off by Jacob Unruh, who returned the ball 27 yards to the Trojan 10.
On fourth-and-two, Logan Farney plunged into the end zone to put the Panthers up, 12-0.
Without the turnovers, Hillsboro had the emergency brake on the Panthers offense.
A team that leans heavily on its ground game, Nickerson was limited to just 94 yards from 34 carries. Through the air, the Trojans allowed the Panthers five completions for a meager 38 yards.
"We turned the ball over and gave them 12 points," Trojan coach Dustin McEwen said. "You look at what the defense did, the defense played pretty well and didn't give them a whole lot.
"We had some guys that showed up big for us. Hamm stepping in and playing quarterback for Marsh, that was big. Everybody just started stepping up and doing their job."
Marsh ended his shortened-night carrying the ball 13 times for 70 yards.
Thirty-three of his 70 set the Trojans up with a first-and-goal at the three.
Brodie Unrau cut the Panther lead in half on the ensuing play, zipping in from the two seven seconds into the second quarter.
Marsh's PAT got the Trojans within five.
One week earlier, Hillsboro couldn't catch a break in its opener against the Wildcats.
But the Trojans avoided some land mines against the Panthers.
With the Panthers facing fourth-and-goal at the 13 in the waning moments of the first half, Kyle Jilka picked off Rempel to deny Nickerson.
Jilka played inspiringly in preserving the victory for the Trojans.
Carrying the ball 15 times for a game-high 75 yards, Jilka was responsible for stymieing two potentially disastrous drives for the Panthers.
Nickerson drove the ball all the way to the Trojan 26 on a lengthy drive in the third quarter before Jilka recovered a fumble.
The Trojans stuck with running the ball down the Panthers throat as the ground game pounded out a season-high 270 yards on 50 carries.
Pounding the ball up the middle eventually wore out the Panthers, aided by highly-touted freshman Michael Suderman adding 59 yards from six carries.
Hillsboro caught perhaps its biggest break of the game to start the fourth quarter when Hamm's pass was intercepted by Tyler Smith.
Smith lost control of the ball before Deckert pounced on it, giving the Trojans a fresh set of downs at the Panther 28.
"That was a huge break for us," Jilka said of the Trojans dodging a bullet. "We've worked on that play in practice.
"Our ground game played good and Hamm really stepped up and Suderman helped us out a bunch, too."
"It's not too often you throw an interception and end up getting a first down out of it," said Hamm. "We we're pretty lucky there."
Tim Funk ripped off 19 of his 33 yards on two runs, setting up a first-and-goal at the nine.
With 1:56 gone by in the final quarter, Jilka bulldozed his way into the end-zone for the go-ahead touchdown.
The Trojans had one final escape act to do, one that allowed them to run out the clock.
Nickerson had a last gasp on first-and-10 at its own 40.
But a fumble recovered by Wade Weibert slammed the door on Nickerson.
Hillsboro faces a nasty road test Friday night when it travels to Lindsborg to face the Smoky Valley Vikings.
The Vikings edged the Trojans last season by the same score Hillsboro defeated the Panthers by.
Game time is 7 p.m.
