Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth senior linebacker Jesse Leuthold (41) contests a pass headed for the hands of Glenville-Emmons' Tim Westland during FridayÕs football game in Hills. The Patriots opened the season by rolling to a 43-6 victory over the Wolverines.
By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth football team made a statement during the season's first game against Glenville-Emmons in Hills Friday.
The message H-BC-E sent was clear. The Patriots still are a very dangerous team that can hurt its opponents in a number of ways.
G-E found that out the hard away Friday during what turned into a lopsided win for H-BC-E.
The Patriots scored two touchdowns on special teams and kicked a field goal, they scored one defensive touchdown and three offensive touchdowns (two by run and one by pass) during the game. When the final gun sounded, H-BC-E celebrated a 43-6 victory.
"This was a good game to have for our first game," said a pleased Dan Ellingson, H-BC-E's head coach. "We got a chance to look at a lot of different people in different positions. It was a good game to build some confidence in."
The Patriots, who outscored G-E 43-0 before yielding a late touchdown, took control of the contest at the earliest possible moment.
H-BC-E won the coin toss and chose to receive the ball to start the game, and senior Chris Reid stunned the Wolverines by returning the kick 75 yards for a touchdown. Zach Wysong then added his first of four extra points for a 7-0 cushion.
The Patriot defense took advantage of the early momentum when Wysong picked off a G-E pass and returned the ball inside the G-E 20-yard line.
The good field position wasn't wasted as quarterback Curt Schilling tossed a five-yard touchdown pass to Tyson Metzger to make it a 14-0 game 2:34 into the contest.
G-E, which turned the ball over six times in the contest, did so again during its second possession as Reid intercepted a pass. The turnover led to a 24-yard field goal by Wysong with 2:58 remaining in a first quarter that ended with H-BC-E sporting a 17-0 cushion.
The Patriots increased their lead to 23 points early in the second quarter.
Reid, who ran the ball 17 times for 118 yards in the opener, dashed 30 yards for a touchdown with 9:27 left to play in the second stanza. The extra-point attempt failed, leaving H-BC-E with a 23-0 lead it took into the second half.
The Patriots settled the issue by scoring 14 points in the first 7:11 of the third quarter.
After forcing G-E to punt to start the second half, H-BC-E put together a drive that was capped by a 14-yard scoring-burst by Jesse Leuthold at the 9:03 mark of the third quarter.
Wysong, who added the extra point after Leuthold's run, returned a G-E punt 52 yards for a touchdown and kicked another extra point to make it a 37-0 game with 4:49 left in the third period.
The Patriot defense came up with another big play in the fourth quarter when Drew Spykerboer scooped up a G-E fumble and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown with 5:19 left to play.
G-E answered Spykerboer's six-pointer with 35-yard touchdown run from Seth Buchanan with 1:39 remaining in the game.
Ellingson was proud of the way H-BC-E played Friday, but he expects a bigger challenge when the Patriots host Southwest Star Concept tomorrow.
The Quasars rolled to a 49-20 win over Lyle-Austin Pacelle in their opener.
"SSC has a very good quarterback as well as their top two receivers and linemen coming back. They'll be a good team, so we'll have to play pretty well to win," he said.
Team statistics
H-BC-E: 196 rushing yards, 42 passing yards, 238 total yards, eight first downs, five penalties for 30 yards, two turnovers.
G-E: 150 rushing yards, 21 passing yards, 171 total yards, three first downs, two penalties for 10 yards, six turnovers.
Individual statistics
Rushing: Reid 17-118, Schilling 2-27, Leuthold 2-15, Wysong 2-12, Lee Jackson 4-12, Travis Broesder 2-11, Dusty Seachris 1-1.
Passing: Schilling 6-14 for 42 yards.
Receiving: Metzger 3-14, Broesder 1-15, Kyle Sammons 1-12, Reid 1-1.
Defense: Schilling 10 tackles, Wysong two interceptions, Reid one interception, Leuthold five tackles and one interception, Clint Roozenboom, one tackle and one interception, Spykerboer one tackle and one fumble recovery, Chris Gaul two tackles and two sacks.