Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth quarterback Curt Schilling (11) delivers a pass during Friday’s 39-35 football win over Edgerton in Hills. Schilling passed for 174 yards during H-BC’s homecoming game before a knee injury late in the fourth quarter put him out of commission for the rest of the season.By John RittenhouseThe Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth Patriots rallied from a halftime deficit to defeat Edgerton 39-35 in a high school football game played in Hills Friday.After opening a 14-0 cushion in the first 7:12 of play, the Patriots found themselves trailing 27-20 at the intermission during homecoming night at H-BC.H-BC-E responded to the challenge to outscore the Flying Dutchmen 19-8 in the second half to run its season record to 4-0.The game was a wild one as the teams racked up a combined 897 yards of total offense, but it was H-BC-E’s ability to make big plays that turned the tide in a shootout."As long as we kept scoring points, I thought everything would be o.k.," said Patriot coach Dan Ellingson. "We had a lot of big plays in this game. Wysong (Zach, an H-BC-E running back) had three touchdown runs over 50 yards. We also had touchdown passes of 68 and 37 yards. The big plays were the key."Wysong, who carried the ball 16 times for 222 yards, passed the 100-yard barrier before the first quarter was complete.On the third play of H-BC-E’s opening offensive possession of the game, Wysong dashed 62 yards for a touchdown before adding the extra point to make it a 7-0 game at the 10:19 mark of the first quarter.Edgerton lost the ball on downs to end its first offensive possession of the game, and Wysong raced 53 yards for a touchdown on the third play of H-BC-E’s second possession of the game. Wysong added the extra point to make the difference 14-0 with 4:48 remaining in the first period.The Flying Dutchmen displayed some big-play ability of their own when back Travis Hulstein ran 45 yards for a touchdown with 2:59 left in the first quarter. The extra-point attempt failed, leaving the Patriots with a 14-6 cushion.Edgerton managed to knot the score before the first quarter was complete.After forcing the Patriots to punt, the Flying Dutchmen put together a six-play drive that ended with Hulstein scoring on a one-yard run as time elapsed in the period. A Max Zwart-to-Brad Bosma conversion pass tied the game at 14.H-BC-E regained the lead at 20-14 1:03 later, when Patriot running back Tom LeBoutillier scored on a three-yard run.The rest of the first half belonged to Edgerton, which scored 13 unanswered points to gain a 27-20 halftime lead.Edgerton answered LeBoutillier’s touchdown with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Zwart to Brett Elgersma with 6:58 left in the first half. The Flying Dutchmen sported their first lead of the game (21-20) after a successful extra point.The Zwart-to-Elgersma combination clicked again for a six-yard touchdown pass with 1:49 remaining in the second period. A failed extra-point attempt followed, leaving Edgerton with a 27-20 lead.Touchdown passes gave Edgerton the halftime advantage, but it was a ground game that churned out 232 yards and gave H-BC-E defenders fits."They were running off tackle and blowing us off the ball," Ellingson admitted. "They have a good passing game, but they kept running the off tackle play and we couldn’t stop it."The Patriots kept Edgerton out of the end zone in the third quarter while scoring 13 points of their own to regain the lead at 33-27.H-BC-E quarterback Curt Schilling, who completed seven of 11 passes for 174 yards in the game, tossed a pair of touchdown strikes in the third quarter.H-BC-E’s first possession of the second half ended with Schilling hitting Travis Broesder for a 68-yard touchdown pass at the 7:02 mark of the third period. Wysong knotted the score at 27 with an extra point.Wysong, who had 312 yards of total offense with 90 receiving yards, hauled in a 37-yard touchdown pass from Schilling with 1:19 remaining in the third quarter. The extra-point attempt failed, leaving the Patriots with a 33-27 cushion.Edgerton threatened to score early in the fourth quarter when Patriot defender Lee Jackson ended the threat by picking off a pass in the end zone.The interception set up an 80-yard drive that ended with Wysong scoring on a 53-yard run with 10:45 left in the game. The score remained 39-27 when a pass for a two-point conversion failed.Edgerton climbed back into the game when Zwart hit Hulstein for a touchdown pass with 8:17 remaining in the game, and Zach Boyum carried in the two-point conversion to make the difference 39-35.The Patriots chewed some time off the clock with a drive that ended on downs inside the Edgerton five-yard line.Wysong intercepted a pass moments later, and the Patriots were able to run the remaining time off the clock to secure the victory.H-BC-E had to pay a big price for their win. Schilling, the leader of H-BC-E’s offense and defense, left the game with a serious knee injury late in the fourth quarter. He will miss the rest of the season.The Patriots will face one of their biggest tests of the year when they take on 3-1 Lincoln HI-Lake Benton without Schilling in Lake Benton Friday.Team statisticsH-BC-E: 348 rushing yards, 174 passing yards, 522 total yards, eight penalties for 50 yards, 20 first downs, zero turnovers.Edgerton: 232 rushing yards, 143 passing yards, 375 total yards, five penalties for 40 yards, 13 first downs, two turnovers.Individual statisticsRushing: Wysong 16-222, LeBoutillier 20-102, Schilling 3-19, Broesder 2-3, Jackson 1-2.Passing: Schilling 7-11 for 174 yards.Receiving: Wysong 5-90, Broesder 1-68, Jackson 1-16.Defense: Schilling 16 tackles, Wysong five tackles and one interception, Brian Gacke 12 tackles, Cody Scholten 10 tackles, Jackson one interception.
