By John Rittenhouse
It wasn't pretty, but the Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth football team completed an undefeated regular season by edging Lakeview 7-6 in Cottonwood Wednesday, Oct. 16.
A partially snow-covered, muddy field set the stage for a low-scoring, turnover-filled game.
The teams turned the ball over a combined 10 times in the contest, but H-BC-E was able to overcome both mistakes and poor field position through the second half to record its second straight 8-0 regular season and wrap up its second straight Southwest Ridge Conference title with a 7-0 mark.
The win proved to be an important one as the Patriots locked up the No. 1 seed for the Section 2 Nine-Man Football Playoffs. The top-seeded team in Section 2 receives a bye in the quarterfinal-round of the playoffs. H-BC-EÕs first playoff action will be at 3 p.m. Saturday, when it hosts No. 4 Southwest Star Concept, a 28-16 winner over Edgerton Tuesday, for a semifinal-round game in Hills.
When they host their playoff opener, the Patriots will hope for better field conditions than what they played on during the Oct. 16 win over the Lakers. H-BC-E turned the ball over four times in the game, and most of them were the result of a slippery ball.
"The conditions were miserable," said Patriot coach Dan Ellingson. "There was snow on the field, and the middle of the field was completely muddy. The ball was slipping out of everyone's hands."
Lakeview lost the ball six times in the game, and the first turnover proved to be costly.
The Lakers' defense forced the Patriots to punt at the end of their first possession of the game, and Lakeview's return man fumbled the ball. Patriot Zach Wysong recovered the loose ball on the Lakers' 35-yard line, and it set up a scoring drive that was capped by Chris Reid's 21-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter. Wysong added the all-important extra point to make it a 7-0 game.
The score remained the same until late in the first half when Lakeview's Tyler Laleman scored on a 44-yard touchdown dash with 44 seconds left in the second quarter.
The Lakers tried to run for a two-point conversion, but the Patriot defense stopped the attempt short of the end zone to maintain a 7-6 advantage.
Neither team could produce any second-half points, but Lakeview did come close.
The Lakers were in a first-and-goal situation at the H-BC-E two-yard line, but a fumble in the end zone on third down was recovered by Patriot defender Brian Gacke.
Gacke's big play came midway through the fourth quarter, and it proved to be the best scoring opportunity either team would have in the second half.
"We had terrible field position in the second half," Ellingson said. "The ball was on our end of the field the whole time. Because of the field conditions, our field position and the fact that they were playing our receivers tight, we didn't attempt a pass in the entire second half. We were able to run the ball a little bit, but we didn't want to take the risk of trying to throw it."
Not taking any chances proved to be a wise choice for H-BC-E in this game. With the help of Lakeview's six turnovers (five fumbles and one interception), the Patriot defense blanked the hosts in the final two quarters to preserve the win.
Still, Ellingson said H-BC-E will need to address its shortcomings before a long playoff-run will be possible.
"We had six penalties in the game, and two of them took away first downs from us. We also have to concentrate more on holding onto the ball. We have to do a better job of that, because we will run into poor weather conditions again down the line," he said.
Team statistics
H-BC-E: 142 rushing yards, 24 passing yards, 166 total yards, three first downs, six penalties for 33 yards, four turnovers.
Lakeview: 150 rushing yards, 107 passing yards, 257 total yards, five first downs, four penalties for 40 yards, six turnovers.
Individual statistics
Rushing: Reid 19-113, Jesse Leuthold 8-24, Curt Schilling 3-3, Wysong 1-2.
Passing: Schilling 2-4 for 24 yards.
Receiving: Tyson Metzger 2-24.
Defense: Schilling 11 tackles and one fumble recovery, Wysong one fumble recovery, Leuthold four tackles and one fumble recovery, Cody Scholten eight tackles and one interception, Brant Deutsch one fumble recovery, Gacke one fumble recovery, Clint Roozenboom two tackles and one sack.