Hillsboro moves to 4-0 with 55-35 win over Williamsburg

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The Hillsboro Indians earned their fourth straight victory to start the season for the first time since the 1990’s as they traveled to Williamsburg and beat the Wildcats 55-35.

Hillsboro came into the game without a turnover but that changed on the third play of the game as Josh Keets fumbled the ball and it was recovered by the Wildcats.

Williamsburg capitalized on the Indians mistake as they used eight plays to march 59 yards down the field and capped the drive with a 23-yard pass completion. Following the point after the Wildcats held an early 7-0 lead.

The Indians turned to Mark Gallimore and Keets on their next possession as they used five plays to go 56 yards. The drive was capped off by Keets who rumbled 25 yards for the touchdown.

Reece Bloomfield came on and put the ball through the uprights to tie the game at 7 apiece with 5:21 to play in the first quarter.

The Indians and Keets got their second touchdown of the game following a four and out by the Williamsburg offense.

Hillsboro needed only three plays, one of which resulted in a 10-yard penalty that gave the Indians a first down and 20 to go at the Williamsburg 40.

On the very next play Keets was able to get to the edge and glide into the end zone with 2:15 to play in the first; Bloomfield added the extra point to give Hillsboro their first lead of the night at 14-7.

Williamsburg went back to the air on the ensuing possession as they earned their second score of the night on a 16 yard pass completion and then converted the point after to tie the game at 14 with 10:09 to play in the half.

Hillsboro’s fourth possession of the game saw Gallimore break a 47-yard run on the opening play then score on a 9-yard run two plays later and Bloomfield converted his third consecutive extra point to give Hillsboro a 21-14 lead with nine minutes to play in the second quarter.

James Coday and Justin Spears came up big defensively on the ensuing Wildcats possession as they combined to break up a pass on fourth and five to force a turnover on downs and give Hillsboro the ball on their own 40-yard line.

Hillsboro wasted little time taking advantage of the turnover and needed only two plays to score as Keets ripped off a 20-yard run before Gallimore got the edge on the next play and took it the distance for his second score of the game.

The touchdown and extra point pushed the Hillsboro lead to 28-14 with 5:21 to go in the half.

Hillsboro’s Lane Cluff made his presence known on the next Williamsburg possession as he recorded two tackles including a key sack on second down as the Indians forced the second punt of the game by the Wildcats.

Hillsboro got the ball back at their own 49-yard line and ate up all but 59 seconds of clock with a seven play scoring drive that was capped with a 5-yard touchdown run by Deon Burns and fifth consecutive extra point by Bloomfield to extend Hillsboro’s lead to 35-14.

Williamsburg needed only 45 seconds to answer as they went to the air three times on the drive ending with a 1-yard touchdown pass. The Wildcats converted the extra point to pull themselves to within 14 points with the score 35-21.

A fumble on the opening offensive play of the second half by Williamsburg at their own 25 yard line gave Hillsboro a short field on their opening possession of the half and they quickly took advantage with a four play scoring drive that was capped off on a one yard rushing touchdown by starting quarterback Mason Swayne. The touchdown and extra point again pushed Hillsboro’s lead to 21 points with the scoreboard showing 42-21.

Williamsburg was able to answer on their next possession as they put together a 13-play drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown run for the Wildcats and the ensuing extra point brought the score to 42-28 with 4:32 to play in the third.

The Indians kept rolling offensively as they needed only three plays on their ensuing possession to punch the ball into the end zone as Keets registered his third score of the night on a 33-yard scamper and special teams made it 7-7 on the night on extra points to give Hillsboro a 49-28 lead.

The Wildcats put together another long scoring drive as they used 14 plays and nearly seven minutes of game clock. The drive was capped with a 1o-yard rushing touchdown to bring the score to 49-35 with 7:11 to play.

The Indians saved their best for last as they needed only one play for Swayne to zig and zag his way down the field for an 80-yard score. Bloomfield was no good on the extra point try as he missed for the first time in the game.

Each team had one final possession but neither was able to score and the Indians let the final ticks runs off the clock for the 55-35 win.

Reach Ryan Applegate at 937-402-2572, or on Twitter @RCApplegate89.

Hillsboro’s Josh Keets runs over a Williamsburg defender on Friday at Abrams Stadium in Williamsburg where the Indians battled the Wildcats in high school football action.
http://www.timesgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2018/09/web1_Keets-vs-Williamsburg.jpgHillsboro’s Josh Keets runs over a Williamsburg defender on Friday at Abrams Stadium in Williamsburg where the Indians battled the Wildcats in high school football action.
Beat Wildcats 55-35

By Ryan Applegate

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