Gabe Tayese, right, congratulates Rocky Jones after a touchdown for Washington during a Frontier Athletic Conference game at Hillsboro Friday, Sept. 29, 2023.
Charles Souther (50) and Isaac Hood (10) combine to bring down the Hillsboro runner during an FAC game at Richards Memorial Field in Hillsboro Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. Other Blue Lions pictured include Jermaine Lindsey (68), Miguel Utera (44) and Rocky Jones (7).
HILLSBORO — It was a beautiful night for football, the first Friday of Autumn, as the Washington Blue Lions visited Highland County to take on the Hillsboro Indians in a Frontier Athletic Conference game, Sept. 29.
The Blue Lions were coming off a 49-21 conference-opening loss to Jackson, while Hillsboro won its FAC lid-lifter, 23-17 over Chillicothe in overtime.
Hillsboro had great success running the football as they posted a 36-6 Homecoming victory over Washington.
“This was a great win for us,” Hillsboro head coach Nathan Horne said. “Defense played their tails off. Offensively, we ran off tackle all night. Our line blocked well. It was a good night all the way around, really. You (couldn’t) ask for a better night. I was real pleased with it.”
Horne saw the Indians’ hard work yield dividends.
“It’s exciting, you know, it’s exciting,” Horne said. “We work so hard and I know every program works hard and hats off to Washington Court House.
“We run, we lift three days a week,” Horne said. “It’s exciting to see some rewards from that. I’m excited for the kids.”
The game began with Washington taking the opening kickoff and moving downfield for a touchdown.
The remainder of the game went in favor of Hillsboro as the Indians scored 36 unanswered points.
Washington began its first possession at its own 48-yard line.
Just a few plays later, quarterback Gavin Coffman connected with Rocky Jones for a 9-yard touchdown. The score came with 9:35 to play in the first quarter.
The extra-point kick hit the left upright and deflected away.
Hillsboro moved the ball from its own 35 down to Washington’s 25, where the Indians turned the ball back over on downs.
Washington went three and out and Hillsboro took the ball from its 45-yard line.
From there, Hillsboro did what it very well on this night and that is, run the ball.
The Indians ran the ball 10 consecutive plays and scored on a 9-yard run by Austin Barrett who had four rushing touchdowns on the night.
The Hillsboro extra-point kick was blocked, leaving the score tied, 6-6 with 12 seconds to play in the first quarter.
Washington punted again and soon there was an exchange of turnovers.
Hillsboro fumbled on their next possession, the ball recovered by Washington’s Matthew Colflesh.
The Blue Lions converted a fourth down and 10 to keep a possession going with a pass from Coffman to Noah Haithcock.
A couple of plays later, Mason Coffman scored on a reverse for the Blue Lions on a 30-yard run.
However, the score was nullified by a Blue Lion penalty.
There followed an interception by Hillsboro’s Logan Elliott.
Hillsboro went from Washington’s 43-yard line and Barrett scored on a 9-yard run.
Wesley Bailey converted the extra-point kick to give Hillsboro a 13-6 lead with 4:04 to play in the first half.
The Blue Lions suffered a second turnover with an interception by Jeven Hochstuhl at the Hillsboro 31-yard line.
The Indians moved the ball down field and scored at the end of the half on a 25-yard field goal by Bailey.
Hillsboro took a 16-6 lead up the hill and into the locker room at Richards Memorial Field.
Hillsboro received the opening kickoff and went down to score on a 12-yard run by Barrett.
The extra-point kick was no good, leaving Hillsboro with a 22-6 lead at the 8:18 mark of the third quarter.
After a Blue Lion punt, Hillsboro’s Barrett scored on a 49-yard run. Bailey’s kick gave the Indians a 29-6 lead with 11 seconds to play in the third quarter.
The next possession for Washington was thwarted by an interception returned for a touchdown by Nic Burns.
With the PAT, the running clock began early in the fourth quarter.
Coffman completed a couple of passes to Jakob Hoosier on the next series, but Hillsboro recorded a couple of quarterback sacks and Hochstuhl made his second interception of the game.
Hillsboro was able to run a few plays to close out the game with the 36-6 victory.
Taking a look at the statistics, total yardage was 353 for Hillsboro to 183 for Washington.
Hillsboro ran the ball 50 times for 303 yards and four touchdowns by the senior Barrett.
Washington ran the ball 17 times for 20 yards.
Gavin Coffman completed 13 of 25 passes for 163 yards and one touchdown.
Hillsboro quarterback Mason Dumpert was 2 of 2 passing for 50 yards.
Isaiah Haithcock led Washington’s receiving corps with five catches for 51 yards.
Noah Haithcock had three catches for 24 yards; Rocky Jones had two catches for 30 yards and one touchdown; Jakob Hoosier had two receptions for 16 yards and Mason Coffman had one for 42 yards.
Mason Coffman had one kick return for 20 yards and Aiden Osborne had three for 14 yards.
Defensively, Isaac Hood and Charles South each had 5.5 tackles.
Logan Presely, Matthew Colflesh and Ian Rogers-Wright each recorded 4.5 tackles; Gabe Perez had 3.5 tackles; Rocky Jones had 3 tackles; Jacob Lindsey and Aiden Osborne both had 2.5 tackles; Donnell Tressler had 2 tackles; Mason Coffman and Isaiah Haithcock each had 1.5 tackles and being credited with one-half tackle each were Brayson Self, Wesley Gibbs and Andrew Young.
The Blue Lions had five penalties for 45 yards and Hillsboro had three for 35 yards.
Washington (3-4 overall, 0-2 FAC) will return to Highland County next week to take on the McClain Tigers.
McClain improved to 5-2 on the season with a 20-17 win at Chillicothe (1-6 overall, 0-2 in the conference). The win by the Tigers snapped a 24-game losing streak in the FAC. The previous conference win for the Tigers came on Sept. 28, 2018, a 47-40 win at Miami Trace.
Hillsboro (4-3, 2-0) will have its strongest challenge of the season to date when they host defending FAC champions the Jackson Ironmen on Oct. 6.
Jackson improved to 2-0 in the FAC, 6-1 overall with a 42-13 win over Miami Trace (4-3, 1-1) Friday night.
