Trojans suffer from 35-0 shutout years ago
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
So much for the Trojans going the whole season without being shutout.
After losing three straight, add the Collegiate Spartans to the list of teams Hillsboro doesn't need to see again.
Behind a massive ground attack, the Spartans (4-1) made it look easy Friday night in Wichita, dealing Hillsboro (1-4) its first shutout of the season, 35-0.
The Trojans came ever so close to thwarting the shutout as Tyler Goldsby tossed to Lucas Hamm on a hook-and-ladder play with :10 left in the game to set up first-and-goal at the 4.
With the streak still alive for Hillsboro, Derek Hamm looked for Lucas Hamm, only to have the ball fall incomplete to preserve the shutout.
On the positive side for the Trojans, they got more production out of the offense after being limited to a season-low 37 yards a week ago by Smoky Valley.
Hillsboro got 60 yards on the ground, led by Lucas Hamm's 23 yards from 13 carries, while Derek Hamm threw for 74 yards.
For about 12:00, the Trojans went toe-to-toe with one of the heavyweights of Class 4A. The only problem — there's still at least 36:00 of football left.
"We had a better effort this week," said Trojan coach Len Coryea. "We showed more courage than we have this season and for the first time, we played hard the whole time."
One key to stopping the Spartans is being able to neutralize their high-powered backfield, not to mention overcoming the junior-college sized offensive line.
Shut down highly-touted freshman Chris Harper, there's still John Houlik and Jeff Evans to worry about.
The Trojans had no such luck as Harper ripped Hillsboro apart for a game-high 205 yards and three touchdowns while Collegiate piled up 384 yards on the ground.
Two of Harper's 14 carries were for 62-yard touchdowns, more yards than Hillsboro has been able to muster since the first week.
Evans carried 13 times for 101 yards and Houlik carried 15 times for 64.
Hillsboro got its first dose of Harper 4:01 into the game with the slippery freshman sliding in for a five-yard score on first-and-goal.
The Trojans still had a bright spot on the Spartan drive with Ryan Kaiser knocking down the Collegiate PAT to leave it a 6-0 game.
Still hanging around after the first quarter, trailing 6-0, Houlik's two-yard bull up the middle started the slide for Hillsboro.
Harper ran in the two-point conversion to make it 14-0 four seconds into the second quarter.
It was Houlik who pushed the Spartan lead to 21-0, scooting around the right side for an 11-yard touchdown with 2:48 left in the first half.
Hillsboro wiped out a good scoring chance for Collegiate late in the first half when Ben Schaefer dropped Evans in the backfield on a fourth down inside the red zone.
The field was too long for the Trojans to take advantage of it, though. Their best field position came early in the fourth quarter after a blocked punt set up first-and-10 at the Spartan 26.
Instead of being able to capitalize on the field position, the Trojans fumbled the drive away.
Hillsboro returns home Friday night to host massive, but beatable Nickerson for the homecoming game at 7 p.m.
