By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth football team prepared for its homecoming game by spoiling one for Edgerton High School Friday.
Taking on winless EHS in Edgerton, the Patriots scored 41 consecutive points in the first three quarters while spoiling homecoming festivities for the Flying Dutchmen.
The Patriots did throw EHS a bone by allowing the hosts to score a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but the game that ended with H-BC-E winning 41-12 already had been settled at that point.
H-BC-E upped its record to 4-0 and 3-0 in the Southwest Ridge Conference with the victory. The Patriots, Westbrook-Walnut Grove and Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster lead the league with identical 3-0 marks.
The Patriots will be gunning for their fifth-straight win when they host 2-2 Lincoln HI for their homecoming tilt tomorrow.
"Lincoln HI is coming off a 30-8 win over Lakeview," said Patriot coach Dan Ellingson. "They are playing a lot better right now than they were early in the season. They are a very good defensive team, and they have a good quarterback on offense that they like to move around a lot. We'll have to take care of their mobile quarterback."
LH will have to contend with an H-BC-E offense that has been putting up a lot of points in recent weeks.
During Friday's game in Edgerton, the Patriots showed off their big-play capability while scoring 41 points in the first three quarters.
"We did a good job of making big plays offensively. We had three runs of 50 yards or more in the game. Our backs did break some tackles during the long runs. We also received some good down-field blocking," Ellingson said.
The Patriot offense squandered some good field position provided by an interception from the defense by losing the ball on downs to start the game, but it made up for it by scoring 20 points with the next three possessions.
Senior quarterback David Top, who threw for 63 yards and two touchdowns in the game, helped get things rolling when he hit Brad Haak for a five-yard touchdown pass to cap H-BC-E's second offensive possession of the game. A failed extra-point attempt followed the touchdown.
Playing his first game of the season, Patriot senior Lyle DeBoer made an instant impact when he broke loose for a 71-yard touchdown run to end H-BC-E's third possession late in the first quarter. A Top-to-Haak conversion pass increased H-BC-EÕs lead to 14-0.
Chris Reid, who toted the ball 15 times while gaining 184 yards in the game, joined the offensive outburst in the second quarter. Reid scored on a 30-yard run to give the Patriots a 20-0 advantage that stood until the third quarter.
Any chance of an Edgerton rally in the second half was wiped away when the Patriots exploded for 21 points in the third period.
The Patriots received the kick to start the second half and moved in front 27-0 when Reid scored from 55 yards away. The first of three consecutive extra points by Tyler Bush followed the touchdown.
H-BC-E got the ball back moments later and moved in front 34-0 when Top and Reid connected for a 15-yard touchdown pass. The Patriots were faced with a fourth-and-two situation deep in Edgerton territory.
DeBoer recovered an Edgerton fumble as the third quarter progressed, setting up a 57-yard touchdown run by Reid that capped H-BC-E's 41-0 run.
Edgerton got three-yard touchdown runs from Jeremy Landhuis and Kyle Landin in the fourth quarter. Both scores, which occurred with H-BC-E's top defenders watching the game from the sidelines, were followed by unsuccessful two-point conversion attempts.
"We played our positions really well defensively," Ellingson said. "Edgerton is a team that likes to run a lot of reverses and other misdirection plays. We did a good job of staying at home and not letting any of those plays develop."
Team statistics
H-BC-E: 341 rushing yards, 86 passing yards, 427 total yards, eight first downs, six penalties for 60 yards, zero turnovers.
Edgerton: 166 rushing yards, 53 passing yards, 219 total yards, seven first downs, five penalties for 30 yards, three turnovers.
Individual statistics
Rushing: Reid 15-184, DeBoer 7-99, Lee Jackson 4-28, Chris Tiesler 3-13, Jordan Scott 4-17, Travis Broesder 1-1, Clint Roozenboom 1-minus 1.
Passing: Top 5-10 for 63 yards, Curt Schilling 1-2 for 23 yards.
Receiving: Haak 2-8, Matt Buck 1-25, Roozenboom 1-23, Reid 1-15, Kevin Van Batavia 1-15.
Defense: Schilling 15 tackles, DeBoer two tackles and one fumble recovery, Reid four tackles and one interception, Haak two tackles and one interception.