Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth's Zach Wysong opened the scoring in Friday's 27-0 win over Edgerton by returning this punt 77 yards for a touchdown. Wysong also hauled in a six-yard touchdown pass in the game, which served as H-BC's 2002 homecoming tilt.
By John Rittenhouse
Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth football fans had two reasons to celebrate Friday.
Not only did the Patriots run their season record to 4-0 with a 27-0 victory over Edgerton, they did it in front of a large crowd on hand for Hills-Beaver Creek High SchoolÕs homecoming game.
The Patriots, who are ranked fourth in the latest state nine-man football poll, proved they deserve that consideration while playing a gutsy Flying Dutchmen team.
Quarterback Curt Schilling threw for 165 yards and two touchdowns to lead the offense, and the Patriot defense recorded its first shutout of the season while limiting Edgerton to 86 total yards.
Ten penalties by the Patriots were the downside of H-BC-E's performance, but a stout defensive effort more than made up for the miscues.
"It was a great defensive effort," said Patriot coach Dan Ellingson. "We played really good base defense. Edgerton was running a lot of counter and misdirection plays, but our guys did a good job of staying home and making plays. Edgerton's two best drives of the game ended up with us intercepting a pass and recovering a fumble, so we came up with some opportunistic turnovers. We also played some really good pass coverage, which allowed our defensive lineman to get some sacks."
With Edgerton unable to dent the H-BC-E defense, the Patriot offense didn't need to play its best game to produce a victory.
The offense produced a season-low 286 total yards, but it didn't turn the ball over while recording three touchdowns in the final three quarters.
"We didn't run the ball as well as we would have liked to, so we had to pass more. We had three pass plays that covered 36 or more yards, and that helped us stretch out their defense a little bit," Ellingson said.
A big play by one of H-BC-E's special teams opened the scoring in the game.
The Patriot defense forced Edgerton to punt after it gained one first down during the Flying Dutchmen's first offensive possession of the game. Then return specialist Zach Wysong returned the punt 77 yards for a touchdown. Wysong then added his first of three extra points to give H-BC-E a 7-0 cushion at the 9:19 mark of the first quarter.
The score remained 7-0 until late in the first half, when one of two interceptions by H-BC-E's Chris Reid set up a 38-yard touchdown pass from Schilling to Tyson Metzger with 1:10 remaining in the second quarter. Wysong's extra point capped the first-half scoring while making it a 14-0 game.
The Patriots all but ended the game with a touchdown and an extra point with 4:11 left in the third quarter.
After the H-BC-E defense stopped Edgerton on downs, the Patriot offense advanced the ball down the field before it faced a fourth-down situation at the Flying Dutchmen six-yard line. H-BC-E took advantage of the situation when Schilling hooked up with a diving Wysong for a six-yard touchdown pass and a 21-0 lead.
Reid, who was limited to a season-low 98 rushing yards by Edgerton, capped the scoring with a two-yard touchdown run at the 11:22 mark of the fourth quarter. The extra-point attempt was blocked.
Ellingson gave credit to Edgerton's defense for making the Patriots work hard for their points.
"I know Edgerton only has won one game, but they have a good team. They have a lot of size, and they are really aggressive on defense. I think they played pretty well," he said.
The undefeated Patriots will play 0-4 Lincoln HI in Ivanhoe Friday.
Team statistics
H-BC-E: 121 rushing yards, 165 passing yards, 286 total yards, 11 first downs, 10 penalties for 85 yards, zero turnovers.
Edgerton: 78 rushing yards, eight passing yards, 86 total yards, four first downs, six penalties for 53 yards, four turnovers.
Individual statistics
Rushing: Reid 23-98, Schilling 2-11, Dusty Seachris 4-10. Wysong 2-2, Jesse Leuthold 1-2, Metzger 1-minus 2.
Passing: Schilling 11-17 for 165 yards.
Receiving: Metzger 3-81, Brant Deutsch 3-47, Wysong 3-25, Kyle Sammons 2-12.
Defense: Schilling 16 tackles and one fumble recovery, Cody Scholten six tackles and one sack, Deutsch seven tackles, one sack and one knocked down pass, Leuthold five tackles and one fumble recovery, Reid two interceptions.