By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth football team locked up the Southwest Ridge Conference championship and completed an undefeated regular season by rolling to a 37-14 victory over Lakeview in Hills Wednesday, Oct. 17.
Junior running back Chris Reid ran for 155 yards and two touchdowns and snagged a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback David Top to help the Patriots cap an 8-0 regular season.
The victory locked up the No. 1 seed for the Section 2 Nine-Man football playoffs for H-BC-E.
The Patriots receive a bye in the opening round and host No. 4 Nicollet, a 39-0 winner over No. 5 Edgerton during a semifinal-round game played in Nicollet Tuesday.
The H-BC-E-Nicollet clash will be played at 3 p.m. Saturday in Hills.
H-BC-E needed a win to win the SRC title outright. Westbrook-Walnut Grove beat Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster Oct. 17 to up its league record to 6-1, which was good for second place behind the 7-0 Patriots.
"Winning a conference championship is something we didn’t talk much about at the beginning of the year," said Patriot coach Dan Ellingson. "As the season went along, we realized it was something we could accomplish and thought we could do. I think the kids were really happy with it (to win the conference). They are focused, so hopefully we can come back and play well Saturday."
The Patriots scored two touchdowns in each of the first three quarters to put the Lakers away Oct. 17.
H-BC-E received the opening kick and gained momentum and a 7-0 lead moments later.
After a 49-yard run by Lyle DeBoer to the Lakeview one-yard line, Jesse Leuthold found the end zone during the next play. Tyler Bush added the extra point.
After Kevin Van Batavia recovered a fumble to end Lakeview’s first possession, the Patriots increased their lead to 13 points when Top hit Reid for a five-yard touchdown pass. The extra-point attempt was blocked.
Ellingson said scoring early against the Lakers was one of the keys to victory.
Lakeview showed some signs of life when Tyler Jeseritz scored on a one-yard run and carried in the two-point conversion to make it a 13-8 game early in the second quarter, but H-BC-E scored the next 24 points to put the game out of reach.
Reid found the end zone two more times before the first half was complete.
During H-BC-E's possession following Lakeview’s first touchdown, Reid exploded for an 85-yard touchdown run during a third-and-long situation. A run for a two-point conversion failed.
Reid scored on a four-yard run in the final minute of the first half. Another conversion run failed, leaving the Patriots with a 25-8 halftime advantage.
Top, who completed 12 of 18 passes for 146 yards, tossed a pair of touchdown passes in the third quarter to ice the game.
The senior quarterback hit Darin DeBoer for a 15-yard touchdown, which was followed by a blocked extra-point attempt.
Top and Reid hooked up for a 33-yard score as the third quarter progressed. A pass for a conversion fell incomplete, leaving the hosts with a 37-8 cushion.
Jeseritz capped the scoring for Lakeview with a one-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Team statistics
H-BC-E: 224 rushing yards, 146 passing yards, 360 total yards, 12 first downs, six penalties for 62 yards, one turnover.
Lakeview: 258 total yards, 24 passing yards. 282 total yards, 17 first downs, three penalties for 15 yards, six turnovers.
Individual statistics
Rushing: Reid 13-155, L.DeBoer 10-86, Leuthold 3-8, Chris Tiesler six-(minus 11), Jordan Scott 1-(minus 1), Top 1-(minus 13).
Passing: Top 12-18 for 146 yards, Curt Schilling 0-3 for zero yards, Bush 0-1 for zero yards.
Receiving: D.DeBoer 4-69, Brad Haak 3-22, Reid 2-38, L.DeBoer 2-11, Van Batavia 1-3.
Defense: Schilling 16 tackles, Haak seven tackles and one interception, Brant Deutsch seven tackles and one interception, Leuthold five tackles and one interception, Kyle Braun five tackles and one knocked down pass, Van Batavia one fumble recovery, Tiesler one fumble recovery, Tyson Metzger one fumble recovery.