Hillsboro hosted the Miami Trace Panthers at Richards Memorial Field on Friday in Frontier Athletic Conference (FAC) football action.
The Indians and Panthers put on a show for the fans as Hillsboro would win 76-48.
With the win Hillsboro improved to 6-3 overall on the season and clinched their first winning season since 2009.
Miami Trace received the opening kickoff and wasted little time putting the ball in the end zone as Tyler Taylor found Brady Wallace open for a 51 yard touchdown pass. The attempted 2 point conversion was stopped by the Indians resulting in a 6-0 lead for the Panthers.
Hillsboro answered right back on a five play drive that ended with Mark Gallimore scampering 10 yards for the touchdown. Britton Haines added the extra point to give the Indians their first lead of the night at 7-6.
The Indians forced a fumble on the Panther’s ensuing drive as Taylor was hit and the ball knocked loose before his hand came forward. Four plays later Mason Swayne connected on a 36 yard touchdown pass to Haines. The Point after was no good and the Indians settled for a 13-6 lead at 4:45 in the first quarter.
Each team scored on consecutive two play drives that saw a running back scamper 50 plus yards to the house and resulted in a 20-12 lead for the Indians.
Miami Trace tied it a 20 points apiece on a 20 yard touchdown run by Wallace and successful two pint conversion at the end of the first quarter.
After Hillsboro scored to make it 27-20 the Panthers answered on a three play drive that saw Taylor find Caden Sweitzer wide open along the sideline for a 29 yard touchdown pass. The ensuing two pint conversion was good and gave Miami Trace their final lead at 28-27 with 1:50 to play in the first half.
The Indians would score two more times before half time while the Panthers managed another score of their own to provide a 41-36 score after a wild first half.
The Indians defense stepped up in the second half and only allowed the Panthers to score two touchdowns while also stopping both two pint conversion attempts.
The Indians added five touchdowns on five second half drives, as the Panthers were unable to get stops on third down, to provide the final 76-48 final score.
Hillsboro head coach Jack O’Rourke said, “We ran it very well tonight. The line blocked well and the backs hit the holes the way we teach them to.”
Hillsboro totaled 586 yards of offense in the game and the two teams combined for 1180 yards of offense.
Hillsboro will travel to Greenfield to take on the McClain Tigers next week for the final game of their season in the annual Rotary Bowl.
Reach Ryan Applegate at 937-402-2572, or on Twitter @RCApplegate89.
