LOUDONVILLE – Hillsdale took advantage of several key Loudonville miscues to win a tough, non-conference game on the road Friday night.
The Falcons remained undefeated by claiming the battle of the birds, 20-14.
“I’m proud that we sucked it up and played a little bit better in the second half and got us a ‘W’. We don’t win here at Loudonville very often so we’re going to take our win when we can get it and we’ll get ready for the league,” Hillsdale Coach Tom Williams said.
Hillsdale turned a fumble, interception and mishandled punt into three touchdowns. That was all that was needed as the defense held the Redbirds to 188 total yards, including only 54 on the ground.
“We can’t afford two turnovers and a botched punt that leads to 20 points,” Loudonville coach Rick Rios said.
The win boosted the Falcons to 3-0 heading into their conference schedule. The Redbirds fall to 0-3.
After the Falcons pinned Loudonville within their own 5-yard line with a punt, Ethan Elliott picked off a screen pass and burst into the end zone to score the Falcons’ first touchdown. The PAT failed but the Falcons led 6-0.
With 1:16 left in the first quarter, the Redbirds blocked a punt by Gunnar Richter and recovered on the Falcon 18. On the first play of the second quarter, Redbird quarterback Dylan Polen carried the ball into the end zone from 1 yard.
Early in the third quarter, the Falcons took over on the Redbird 27 after a fumble by Mason Johnson. A 17-yard pass to took Hillsdale to the Redbird 8. After a false start and a holding penalty threatened to stall the drive, Trey Williams hooked up with Andrew Wolf for a 19-yard touchdown pass. Williams completed the 2-point conversion pass to Elliott for a 14-7 lead.
Later in the third quarter, the Redbird punter mishandled the snap and was tackled at the 7-yard line. Two plays later, Wolf scored on a 5-yard jaunt. The extra point was blocked, making the score 20-7.
With 5:18 showing, Loudonville forced a Williams fumble and took over on its own 40-yard line. Polen completed passes for 21 yards to Jayson Mitchell and 29 yards to Alec Bender during a 9-play drive. He capped it with a 4-yard TD pass to Shawn Swindall. The extra point brought the Redbirds to within 20-14 with 2:04 left.
Alex Becker recovered the onside kick for the Falcons at midfield. Hillsdale was able to move the sticks with four runs by Elliott for 20 yards, effectively running out the clock and sealing the win.
Hillsdale overcame 10 penalties for 80 yards. and a 7-6 halftime deficit.
The Redbirds held the Falcons to 94 yards on 32 carries and clamped down on Craig Cline, one of the top rushers in the area.
“I give a lot of credit to Loudonville. Their guys up front and their linebackers did a really nice job against our running game tonight,” Williams said. “And we shot ourselves in the foot. We had a few things to the outside that we really liked but we were getting those holding penalties every few plays and put ourselves behind the chains a little bit.
“We’re just not executing as well as we’d like. It’s something we’re working on and we’ve got to get better quick.”
While the Falcons may have struggled on the ground, their defense also frustrated Loudonville’s running game. Hillsdale held the Redbirds to 54 rushing yards on 32 carries (1.7 yards per carry).
“We weren’t able to run the football effectively, and that gives you some issues,” Rios said. “I was really impressed with their defensive front.”
Williams connected on 11-of-19 passes for 144 yards and 1 TD. Wolfe was his favorite target, grabbing 4 passes for 85 yards. Elliott rushed for 47 yards and Becker added 37. Hillsdale starts Wayne County Athletic League play against Waynedale next Friday.
Polen completed 10-of-21 for 132 yards with 2 interceptions and 1 TD for the Redbirds.
“Besides making a couple of big mistakes, our kids have played through it and they’ve competed and they’ve given themselves the chance to win ballgames the last couple of weeks that maybe people didn’t think we’d be able to win,” Rios said. “And I think we’re right there on the cusp of doing some really good things even with all our young kids. But we’re excited about the future and I’m excited to see how we handle this.
“I thought our defense played lights out tonight. We thought we could compete with them, and now the kids know. We know that’s a really good football team over there, and as we told the kids afterwards, that means we’re capable of being a pretty darn good football team sooner than people expect.”
