Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth junior quarterback Curt Schilling pitches the ball to a runner during Saturday's Section 2 Nine-Man championship game against Nicollet in Hills. Nicollet scored 24 unanswered points and fought off a late rally by the Patriots to post a 31-20 win.
By John Rittenhouse
Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth's attempt to repeat as the Section 2 Nine-Man football champion came up short during the section championship game played in Hills Saturday.
Entertaining Nicollet, the state's third-ranked team, No. 4-ranked H-BC-E expected to be in a tight battle for the right to represent the section in the state tournament.
The game was tight for three quarters, but a 24-0 scoring run by the undefeated Raiders during the second and fourth quarters led to a 31-20 victory in the end.
Nicollet, 11-0 overall, moves into the state quarterfinals on Saturday. The Raiders host Chokio-Alberta-Herman-Norcross. H-BC-E’s 9-1 season is complete.
Like many big games, Saturday’s was decided by field position and turnovers.
Unfortunately for the Patriots, they came up on the short end of the stick in both areas. H-BC-E turned the ball over four times in the game (three fumbles and one interception). The Raiders didn't score any points off the turnovers, but they did benefit from the field position that resulted from the miscues.
“We just turned the ball over too many times,” said Patriot coach Dan Ellingson. “We lost two fumbles and one interception in the first half alone. If we hadn't turned the ball over, we might have been on top at halftime.”
Instead, the Patriots trailed 16-7 at the intermission.
Neither team could generate much offense early in the game as the first three offensive series turned into three-and-out possessions.
Nicollet received the third punt of the game, taking over on the 50-yard line at the 7:43 mark of the first quarter.
The Raiders advanced the ball 28 yards in seven plays before running back Tony Hulke scored at the end of a 22-yard run on the eighth play. Mattias Hellblom added the extra point for Nicollet, making it a 7-0 game with 4:08 left in the opening period.
The teams exchanged punts as the first quarter progressed, and H-BC-E took over on the 50 following the boot by Nicollet.
On the third play of the ensuing series, Patriot senior tailback Chris Reid broke free for a 42-yard touchdown run. Zach Wysong added the extra point to knot the score at seven with four seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Nicollet scored nine unanswered points to gain a 16-7 advantage by halftime, but the situation could have been worse for H-BC-E if not for some big stops produced by the Patriot defense.
After forcing Nicollet to punt four plays after Reid’s touchdown, H-BC-E fumbled on the third play of its next possession and Raider Mike Rosin recovered the loose ball on the Patriot 17. Hellblom missed a 30-yard field-goal attempt four plays later.
H-BC-E fumbled on the first play of its ensuing possession and Raider Paul Nourie recovered on the Patriot 23. The outstanding field position was squandered once again as Reid picked off a pass in the end zone two plays later.
The Patriots ended up paying a price for giving the Raiders excellent field position too many times. After forcing the Patriots to punt four plays after Reid's interception, Nicollet’s J.J. Hornung blocked the kick, and the ball rolled out of the back of the end zone for a safety. The play gave Nicollet a 9-7 edge at the 5:37 mark of the second quarter.
Nicollet forced the Patriots to punt late in the first half, giving the Raiders the ball on H-BC-E's 44 with 52 seconds remaining. Five plays later, Nourie tossed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jamie Wagner. Hellblom's extra point made it 16-7 with 14 seconds left in the half.
Neither team could get anything going offensively to start the third quarter, but the Raiders did get some good field position when they gained possession of the ball on the H-BC-E 41 after a punt by the Patriots with 1:20 remaining. Nicollet covered 41 yards in seven plays with Wagner scoring on a six-yard run with 11:00 left in the fourth quarter. A Nourie-to-Rosin conversion pass made the tally 24-7.
H-BC-E lost the ball on downs at its own 46-yard line five plays into its next possession, setting up a five-play drive by the Raiders. Wagner, who hauled in a 42-yard pass on the third play of the possession, capped the march with a two-yard touchdown run with 7:06 left to play. Hellblom added the extra point to make it a 31-7 difference.
To H-BC-E's credit, the Patriots didn't give up.
The Patriots mounted a 65-yard scoring drive that was capped by a two-yard run by Dusty Seachris with 4:39 remaining. A conversion pass fell incomplete, leaving the Raiders sporting a 31-13 cushion.
Seachris recovered a fumble on the Raider 32 during the first play of Nicollet's next possession, and Patriot quarterback Curt Schilling hooked up with Tyson Metzger for a 32-yard touchdown pass on first down. An extra point by Wysong made it a 31-20 game with 4:24 left to play.
H-BC-E got the ball back on its own 26 with 2:29 left, but the possession ended on downs when a fourth-and-seven pass fell incomplete one minute later.
Nicollet was able to run the remaining 1:29 off the clock to ice an 11-point win.
Although the Patriots came up short, Ellingson was proud of the way his team rallied late in the game, and with its play throughout the season.
“We got two quick scores at the end, but we still were two scores down. Being four scores down is too much to overcome,” he said. “We would have liked things to turn out differently Saturday, but our kids had an undefeated regular season, which is something they really can be proud of. They weren't expected to go undefeated during the regular season, but they did it.”
Team statistics
H-BC-E: 143 rushing yards, 118 passing yards, 261 total yards, eight first downs, four penalties for 20 yards, four turnovers.
Nicollet: 154 rushing yards, 81 passing yards, 235 total yards, 10 first downs, four penalties for 25 yards, two turnovers.
Individual statistics
Rushing: Reid 16-78, Jesse Leuthold 6-26, Wysong 2-34, Schilling 2-7, Seachris 1-2.
Passing: Schilling 9-24 for 118 yards.
Receiving: Metzger 4-52, Wysong 2-58, Brant Deutsch 1-13, Leuthold 1-minus 5.
Defense: Schilling 14 tackles and one fumble recovery, Reid three tackles and one interception, Leuthold eight tackles, Cody Scholten eight tackles, Pat Nelson three tackles and one sack, Seachris one fumble recovery.