Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth defender Tyson Metzger (32) braces for contact from Westbrook-Walnut Grove runner Jeff Cooley during Friday’s football game in Ellsworth. H-BC-E defeated W-WG 26-12 to give Ellsworth fans a homecoming win.
By John Rittenhouse
Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth moved within one win of clinching its second consecutive Southwest Ridge Conference championship Friday in Ellsworth.
Playing Westbrook-Walnut Grove in what was a tilt between the conference’s lone unbeaten teams, H-BC-E won the showdown by a 26-12 margin over the Chargers.
The win upped H-BC’s league record to 6-0 heading into a game against Lakeview played in Cottonwood last night.
A win in Cottonwood would lock up the league title for the Patriots, and it probably will give the Patriots a first-round bye in the Section 2 Nine-Man Playoffs.
Fans who arrived late to what was Ellsworth’s 2002 homecoming game missed a lot of the action.
The teams scored a combined 38 points in the first 14:53 of the game before battling to a scoreless draw in the final 33:07.
Fortunately for H-BC-E, they did most of the scoring.
Senior Chris Reid returned a pair of kickoffs for touchdowns in the first quarter to steal the momentum from W-WG, which had found the end zone prior to both tallies by Reid.
Patriot quarterback Curt Schilling, an Ellsworth High School student, electrified the crowd by throwing touchdown passes in the first and second quarters as H-BC-E opened a 26-12 cushion.
The game turned into a tight defensive battle the rest of the night, which worked in H-BC-E’s favor as it blanked W-WG over the final three quarters to preserve the victory.
The Patriots produced shining moments both offensively and defensively, but it was Reid’s long kick returns that lifted H-BC-E to victory while crushing W-WG’s will.
"We’ve always told our kids that special teams play very important roles in every game," said Patriot coach Dan Ellingson.
"That proved to be especially true in this game. In the last couple of weeks Chris has had a hard time picking up rushing yardage because the other teams are keying on him. W-WG did a good job of slowing our running game down, but Chris returned two kickoffs back for touchdowns to get us going."
W-WG proved it could be a tough team to beat when the Chargers put together a 10-play, 67-yard scoring drive with their first offensive possession.
Quarterback Tom LeBoutiller capped the drive with a nine-yard touchdown scamper at the 6:55 mark of the first quarter. A run for a two-point conversion failed.
LeBoutiller’s touchdown gave the Patriots their first deficit of the 2002 season, but it didn’t last long. Reid returned the ensuing kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown, and Zach Wysong booted the extra point to give H-BC-E a 7-6 lead it would never relinquish.
After the H-BC-E defense forced the Chargers to punt four plays into their second possession of the game, Schilling and another EHS player produced a big play.
The Patriot signal-caller hooked up with end Brant Deutsch for a 58-yard touchdown pass to cap a four-play, 75-yard drive. A pass for a two-point conversion after the touchdown failed, leaving the Patriots with a 13-7 advantage with 3:40 remaining in the first quarter.
W-WG fought its way back into the game with a four-play, 65-yard drive during its third offensive possession. LeBoutiller ended the drive with a 27-yard touchdown run at the 2:02 mark of the first quarter, but a failed conversion pass left the Chargers on the short end of a 13-12 score.
Any momentum W-WG gained with its second touchdown quickly vanished as Reid fielded the ensuing kickoff and dashed 71 yards for a touchdown. Wysong’s second extra point followed the return, giving the Patriots a 20-12 cushion with 1:46 left in the first period.
The teams exchanged punts after Reid’s second touchdown, but the Patriot defense came up with a huge play when lineman Robert Metzger recovered a W-WG fumble on the Chargers’ 18-yard line with 9:13 remaining in the first half.
Schilling hit Tyson Metzger with an 18-yard touchdown pass on the first play after the fumble, but a botched snap kept the Patriots from adding an extra point.
H-BC-E led 26-12 at that point (9:07 remaining in the second quarter), and the score remained that way.
The Patriots did have a 12-play drive later in the second quarter, but a pass fell incomplete during a fourth-and-seven situation on the W-WG 17 with 1:26 remaining.
Reid picked off a pass three plays later on the W-WH 42 with 26 seconds left in the first half. H-BC-E, however, had to punt the ball after running three unsuccessful plays after Reid’s pick.
Neither team could generate any offense in the third quarter. H-BC-E had the ball three times in the period and produced one first down.
W-WG didn’t pick up a first down during its first three possessions, but the Chargers did move the ball into H-BC-E territory with their fourth possession of the second half. The six-play series ended on downs on the Patriot 35 with 11:05 left in the fourth quarter.
The Chargers had an outstanding scoring opportunity when they advanced the ball inside the H-BC-E one-yard line, but a botched exchange between the quarterback and center on fourth down led to a two-yard loss with 5:50 left to play.
"That goal-line stand in the fourth quarter was huge," Ellingson said. "If they score, they’re only one touchdown down with plenty of time left. Who knows what would have happened if they would have scored in that situation?"
W-WG did get the ball back twice as the fourth quarter progressed, but interceptions by Schilling and Deutsch ended the possessions.
"This was a good win for us," Ellingson said. "Our defense made some big plays, our passing game was working and our special team’s play was great. Teams have been stopping our running game, but we’re proving that we are more than a one-dimensional team. Games like this will let other teams know that they have to prepare for more than stopping our running game when they play us."
Team statistics
H-BC-E: 135 rushing yards, 162 passing yards, 297 total yards, eight first downs, two turnovers, six penalties for 45 yards.
W-WG: 161 rushing yards, 69 passing yards, 230 total yards, seven first downs, four turnovers, three penalties for 20 yards.
Individual statistics.
Rushing: Reid 18-58, Jesse Leuthold 18-45, Schilling 8-32.
Passing: Schillng 9-16 for 162 yards.
Receiving: T.Metzger 3-55, Deutsch 2-71, Wysong 2-15, Reid 1-14, Kyle Sammons 1-7.
Defense: Schilling 17 tackles and one interception, Reid eight tackles and one interception, Cody Scholten six tackles, Deutsch one interception, R.Metzger one fumble recovery.