By John Rittenhouse
Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth began defending its 2001 Southwest Ridge Conference football championship with a win in Hills Friday.
The Patriots entertained Southwest Star Concept, a talented team that is expected to be one of H-BC-EÕs top challengers in the league this year.
SSC put up a good fight in Friday's game, but the Quasars never had a lead in the game that went to the Patriots by a 23-14 margin in the end.
The game was close most of the way, but H-BC-E dominated the contest statistically while avoiding mistakes that could have turned the contest into an upset.
"It seemed like we had the ball most of the time," said Patriot coach Dan Ellingson. "The score was close in the end, but we seemed to be in control of the game most of the time."
SSC quarterback Tyler Leopold passed the ball for 87 yards and two touchdowns in the game, but it was the three interceptions he threw early in the game that helped the Patriots build a lead they would never relinquish.
Leopold threw interceptions to end each of SSC's first three offensive possessions, and H-BC-E ended up scoring 10 points off the turnovers.
Cody Scholten's first of two picks of the game, which ended SSCÕs first possession of the tilt, didn't lead to any points.
Leopold's second interception went to Zach Wysong, who returned the ball 21 yards into Quasar territory. When H-BC-E's ensuing drive stalled, Wysong was called upon to boot a 27-yard field goal that gave the hosts a 3-0 cushion.
According to Ellingson, H-BC's field position after plays like WysongÕs defensively tilted the game in favor of the hosts.
"I think the big key in this game was field position. We were able to force them to do some things they didn't want to do because of where they were at on the field. That was a big advantage for us," he said.
Scholten's second interception of the game late in the first quarter came back to haunt SSC as well.
After taking over near midfield, the Patriots advanced the ball inside the SSC 10-yard line before Chris Reid, who ran for 153 yards in the game, scored on an eight-yard scamper at the 9:14 mark of the second quarter. WysongÕs extra point made it a 10-0 game.
SSC got back into the game late in the first half, when Leopold hooked up with Eric Joens for a 16-yard touchdown pass with 2:24 left in the second quarter. Javier Jemenez added the extra point to make the difference 10-7.
Good field position helped the Patriots again when Wysong returned the kick following SSC's first touchdown 44 yards into Quasar territory.
The big return set up a drive that appeared to be in trouble when the Patriots faced a fourth-and-goal situation with two seconds left, but quarterback Curt Schilling delivered an eight-yard touchdown pass to Reid as time ran out in the first half. Wysong booted the extra point to make it a 17-7 game at the intermission.
SCC trimmed the difference to three points (17-14) with its first possession of the second half. Leopold hit Stephan Mathias for a 21-yard score at the 6:12 mark of the third quarter, and Jemenez's extra point followed.
The Patriots got six of the points back late in the third quarter, when Schilling tossed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Brant Deutsch with 19 seconds left in the period. Wysong's extra-point attempt was blocked, leaving the Patriots with a 23-14 advantage they were able to keep by blanking SSC in the final 12 minutes of the game.
"It was a close game, and we knew it would be," Ellingson said. "With the guys SSC had coming back, we knew this game would be a good test for us. We were happy to come out on top."
The 2-0 Patriots will play 1-1 Lake Benton in their first road game of the season Friday.
The Bobcats lost a 26-6 game to Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster last Friday, but Ellingson said the Bobcats will offer the Patriots a challenge.
"Defensively, Lake Benton always is one of the hardest hitting teams we'll face all season. That's something weÕll have to be prepared for. Offensively, they like to run plays out of a full-house backfield. TheyÕll run power-running plays out of the full-house set. They also like to get their running backs involved in the passing game," he said.
Team statistics
H-BC-E: 213 rushing yards, 61 passing yards, 274 total yards, 13 first downs, four penalties for 26 yards, one turnover.
SSC: 54 rushing yards, 87 passing yards, 141 total yards, four first downs, two penalties for 20 yards, three turnovers.
Individual statistics
Rushing: Reid 26-153, Schilling 11-25, Jesse Leuthold 8-21, Wysong 1-5, Dusty Seachris 1-9.
Passing: Schilling 7-13 for 61 yards.
Receiving: Tyson Metzger 5-39, Reid 1-9, Deutsch 1-13.
Defense: Schilling 11 tackles, Wysong four tackles and one interception, Scholten three tackles and two interceptions, Leuthold one tackle.