By John Rittenhouse
A fast start by the Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth Patriots set the stage for a 26-16 homecoming victory over Lincoln HI in Hills Friday.
With a big crowd on hand to watch H-BC-E's first game of the season in Hills, the Patriots didn't disappoint their fans. They erupted for 20 points in the first quarter.
The Rebels outscored H-BC-E 16-6 the rest of the way, but they never got any closer to catching the Patriots than the 10-point margin at game's end.
"We jumped out to an early lead, and our defense did a good job of holding them down the rest of the night," said Patriot coach Dan Ellingson. "I think this was the most physical game we played all year, and we needed to be physical because LH was a big, strong team."
The win leaves H-BC-E with a 5-0 overall record and a 4-0 mark in the Southwest Ridge Conference.
The Patriots, defending state champion Westbrook-Walnut Grove and Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster are tied for first place in the loop with 4-0 records.
The standings will take on a new look tomorrow night as H-BC-E squares off against SV-RL-B in Hills.
"SV-RL-B was ranked No. 2 in the last state poll," Ellingson said. "They like to run the option on offense, and (back) Ryan Paplow has the most rushing yards in our conference right now. Paplow is a very fast runner. SV-RL-B is a very physical team, too."
A fast start like the one H-BC-E used to best LH would help the Patriots' cause against the Raiders tomorrow.
H-BC-E took a 6-0 lead with the opening possession of the game and took advantage of a pair of turnovers by the Rebels to increase the advantage to 20 points by the end of the first quarter.
After receiving the kick to start the contest, H-BC-E went on a 69-yard drive that ended with David Top tossing a 26-yard touchdown pass to Brad Haak. A missed extra-point attempt kept the tally at 6-0.
LH moved the ball into Patriot territory with its first possession before Patriot Curt Schilling, who had 22 tackles in the game, recovered a fumble to end the threat.
A few plays later, Top and Chris Tiesler connected for a 55-yard touchdown pass. Chris Reid carried in the two-point conversion to make it a 14-0 game.
The Patriot defense chipped in a big play as the period progressed when Reid intercepted a pass and returned it 60 yards to cap H-BC-E's 20-point run.
H-BC-E was unable to score in the second and third quarters, but the Patriot defense kept the game under control by limiting LH to eight points during the same periods.
Rebel running back Scott Fogelson ended H-BC-E's shutout bid when he scored on a four-yard run in the latter part of the second quarter. A successful conversion pass from quarterback Josh Eastman to Kyle Sik sliced the difference to 12 points at 20-8.
The score remained the same until the fourth quarter. After H-BC-E’s defense stopped the Rebels on downs, the Patriot offense went on a drive that ended with Reid scoring on a 44-yard burst with 7:30 remaining. A failed conversion run left the Patriots sporting a 26-8 advantage.
SV-RL-B ended the scoring with less than 1:00 remaining. Jack Weber scored on a four-yard run before Eastman and Sik hooked up for another conversion to make it a 10-point difference in the end.
With Reid rushing for 144 yards and Top passing for 137 more, Ellingson was proud of the contribution the H-BC-E offense made to the homecoming win.
"We had a good night offensively. We moved the ball well and picked up a lot of first downs. LH ran more plays than we did, but we were able to score when we had to," he concluded.
Team statistics
H-BC-E: 218 rushing yards, 137 passing yards, 355 total yards, 12 first downs, three penalties for 35 yards, three turnovers.
LH: 129 rushing yards, 83 passing yards, 212 total yards, nine first downs, zero penalties, five turnovers.
Individual statistics
Rushing: Reid 21-144, Lyle DeBoer 3-13, Top 3-1, Tiesler 4-11, Jesse Leuthold 7-47, Kevin Van Batavia 1-2.
Passing: Top 6-10 for 137 yards.
Receiving: Haak 4-59, Tiesler 1-55, Reid 1-23.
Defense: Schilling 22 tackles and one fumble recovery, Reid four tackles and two interceptions, Leuthold nine tackles, Brant Deutsch five tackles and one fumble recovery, Darin DeBoer four tackles and one interception.