By John Rittenhouse
There's more than one way to beat an opponent, and the Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth Patriots proved that during a 20-8 football win over Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster in Brewster Friday.
Senior tailback Chris Reid ran wild through opposing defenses while H-BC-E recorded five straight wins to start the season, but the Patriots ran into a Raider squad that did an admirable job of keeping Reid in check by watching his every move defensively.
The attention SV-RL-B gave Reid paid off as it limited the standout runner to 54 yards in 17 carries, but the strategy ultimately backfired as H-BC-E found some other ways to get the ball in the end zone during a 12-point victory.
A dose of fullback Jesse Leuthold and a potent passing attack led by Curt Schilling and Tyson Metzger allowed H-BC-E to overcome SV-RL-BÕs defensive mindset.
Leuthold ran the ball for 135 yards and two touchdowns, and Schilling fired eight completions to Metzger for 54 yards and one touchdown to give the Patriots their sixth consecutive win.
"They really worked hard on stopping Chris, and they did a pretty good job," admitted Patriot coach Dan Ellingson. "We didn't get anything when we tried to run him to the outside. We were able to come back with some quick fullback blasts up the middle, and we had a good night passing. Jesse did a really good job. He was getting positive yardage all night. Curt was 11 of 16 passing, and that helped us stretch out their defense quite a bit."
Leuthold made an instant impact offensively.
After the Patriot defense forced SV-RL-B to punt early in the game, Leuthold broke loose on a 58-yard touchdown run during H-BC-E's first offensive play from scrimmage. A run for a two-point conversion failed, but H-BC-E had a 6-0 lead it would never relinquish.
Leuthold, who matched Reid with 17 carries in the contest, helped the Patriots expand their lead to 14-0 before the first half was complete. He found the end zone for the second time at the end of a one-yard plunge midway through the second quarter. A successful two-point conversion pass from Schilling to Brant Deutsch followed the touchdown.
H-BC-E seemed to be in control of the game to start the second half, but that changed during the third.
SV-RL-B's second possession of the period turned into a long drive that ended with Cory Place scoring on a one-yard run. When Anthony Johnson carried in the two-point conversion, the Raiders were six points away (14-8) from tying the game.
The Patriots, however, never let the Raiders find pay dirt again before sealing the game's outcome with a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.
H-BC-E's second possession of the final period was capped by a three-yard touchdown pass from Schilling to Metzger. The Patriots' ensuing extra-point attempt was blocked, leaving H-BC-E with a 20-8 advantage.
The Patriots did drive the ball deep into SV-RL-B territory after Deutsch recovered a fumble, but they ran the remaining time off the clock instead of trying to score a late touchdown when they had the ball inside the SV-RL-B 10-yard line in the game's final minute.
Ellingson said the Patriots also played well defensively.
"Our defense did a good job. They had runs of 17 and 28 yards. After those two runs, they didn't have any other big ones," he said.
The Patriots are bracing for what is expected to be their biggest test of the regular season when they play Westbrook-Walnut Grove in Ellsworth tomorrow.
W-WG has won five straight Southwest Ridge Conference games after starting the season with a non-conference loss to LeRoy-Ostrander, the stateÕs No. 1-ranked nine-man team.
"They are a very good team," Ellingson said of the Chargers. "They are very quick on the line, they have a quarterback who runs the bootleg a lot, and they have a good receiver whom they look to get the ball to a lot.
"The keys for us will be to contain their quarterback and take away their No. 1 receiver. To contend with their quickness, our linemen will need to maintain their blocks."
The game will serve as Ellsworth's homecoming tilt.
Team statistics
H-BC-E: 181 rushing yards, 94 passing yards, 275 total yards, 10 first downs, six penalties for 40 yards, two turnovers.
SV-RL-B: 114 passing yards, 114 rushing yards, 228 total yards, seven first downs, eight penalties for 63 yards, one turnover.
Individual statistics
Rushing: Leuthold 17-135, Reid 17-54, Zach Wysong 1-1, Schilling 1-minus 9.
Passing: Schilling 11-16 for 94 yards.
Receiving: Metzger 8-54, Deutsch 1-3, Reid 2-37.
Defense: Schilling 21 tackles, Leuthold 11 tackles, Brian Gacke eight tackles, Deutsch two sacks and one fumble recovery.