JEROMESVILLE – Hillsdale’s senior football players had their last dance at home Friday night.
Owen Sloan made sure it wasn’t a slow dance.
Hosting fourth-seeded Symmes Valley in a Division VII, Region 27 semifinal, the top-seeded Falcons needed just one run from their record-breaking senior running back to set the tone for the game.
Sloan took Hillsdale’s first play from scrimmage through the middle, then bounced it outside and off to the races for a 59-yard touchdown, laying quick groundwork for a 48-7 throttling of the Vikings.
It marked the 40th win in four seasons for the most successful senior class in the history of the HHS program. It also sent the Falcons (11-1) into a regional championship game next week against playoff rival Danville (8-5) at a neutral site.
The 11th-seeded Blue Devils won their third straight game as a road underdog by upsetting second-seeded Waterford 19-14 on Friday night.
Sloan continued to cement his legacy as Hillsdale’s best-ever running back, stacking up 205 yards on just 12 carries and running for a career-best five touchdowns – four of them before halftime.
“The first run (of the game) has gotta be everything you’ve got,” Sloan said. “I know it has to be that every play, but you’ve just got to set the statement and keep rolling with it.
“It was the last game on this field for us seniors and we have a great offensive line that creates those holes. That allows me to do what I do, I guess.”
The senior has cleared a program-record 4,600 rushing yards for his career and has over 1,600 in each of the last two seasons. Sloan also eclipsed 400 career points Friday night, and even surpassed 200 career tackles on defense in the win.
“He had an awesome game and it’s neat just to be able to cap his career here at home and be able to go out that way,” Falcons head coach Trevor Cline said. “From the get-go, he was someone that was able to make big plays for us.”
Hillsdale didn’t have any trouble putting things out of reach early against the upstart Vikings (9-3), who one week earlier picked up just their second playoff win since 2011.
Brock Bower added the Falcons’ other first-half score on a 2-yard touchdown run and Hillsdale finished its night with 372 yards on just 28 carries (13.3 yards per carry).
Reed Twining capped the game’s scoring with a 1-yard plunge in the fourth quarter, giving the Falcons multiple playoff wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time ever.
“They are the standard – I think that’s the best word for it,” said Symmes Valley head coach Ben Ferguson, who said Sloan was the best running back his team faced all season. “(We’ve got a) young team, some guys we’ve had to ask step up and things of that sort.
“They weren’t ready, but they’ve got to grow up fast. … Just to even come out here and compete, I’m proud of them.”
The Vikings entered with just two seniors on their roster and had a combined seven wins in the previous three seasons. But after a three-and-a-half-hour bus ride to Jeromesville, they opened up the game threatening on their first two drives.
Led by sophomore quarterback Bronx Carpenter, the visitors pushed the ball into Hillsdale territory on their first two marches with a pass-heavy attack.
Carpenter threw the ball 14 times on those initial drives and the Vikings converted three of their first four third-down plays.
But they had no points to show for it.
In the second quarter, Hillsdale forced three turnovers in a span of 14 Symmes Valley plays. The hosts claimed interceptions by Bower and Porter Boreman, and got a fumble recovery from Brady Heller.
All of those turnovers led to Falcon touchdowns, as they built a 34-0 halftime lead.
“Our defense has done a nice job,” Cline said. “There were a few plays where they caught us on things, but that’s gonna happen in high school football.
“Even when we gave up a couple of big plays, they settled down and were able to get us off the field and get our offense back on the field.”
The first-half dominance followed the trend the Falcons have set all season. They now have outscored teams 348-44 before intermission this year.
Carpenter ended his night 25-of-34 through the air and connected with sophomore Levi Russell for a 63-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. The two also linked up for a 31-yard gain on Symmes Valley’s third play of the game. Freshman Beckem Roth also chipped in six catches for 48 yards.
Carpenter, who had a 406-yard passing game in Week 4, finished his sophomore campaign with over 3,000 yards passing and 35 touchdowns.
Ferguson believes he will be the best quarterback in school history if he’s able to stay healthy in the years to come.
“The next two years he’s gonna lead the team,” Ferguson said, “and then there’s plenty more in our sophomore, junior and freshman classes who will step up as well.
“We were just happy to be here, happy to compete. We’ve always said, if we’re gonna end up losing, we want to lose to the best.”
For its part, Hillsdale didn’t end up needing a huge night from star quarterback Kael Lewis.
The junior finished 6-of-12 passing for 68 yards passing, eclipsing 5,000 passing yards for his career. Senior Hayden McFadden led Hillsdale’s receivers with 36 yards on three catches.
Lewis actually ended up posting more rushing yards (82 on five carries) than passing yards.
“(Lewis) is one of our fastest players on our team and that’s something that – as the year went on – we’ve been wanting to add to our offense. When the time comes, we will obviously continue to add onto that.
“He runs away from a lot of guys and he’s not worried about lowering his shoulder and being physical.”
It was a bittersweet night for the Falcons overall, though, with the seniors playing in their final home game.
Hillsdale finished a perfect 7-0 on its home turf this season and the seniors posted a 22-4 record at home during their careers.
“You couldn’t ask for a more beautiful night,” Sloan said. “We have an amazing community and they always come out and support.”
Now it’s on to their second straight Elite Eight, where the Falcons will pair up with postseason nemesis Danville.
Hillsdale narrowly beat Danville in last season’s state semifinals, 25-22, and when both programs switched to Region 27 this year, many believed they might end up playing for the regional title.
The two also paired up in the second round in 2022, an all-time classic won by Danville, 42-41.
“It’s gonna be an awesome atmosphere,” Cline said. “I know the previous two (playoff meetings) have been great atmospheres and ones that our kids have talked about how they loved playing in that environment.”
The Blue Devils opened the season just 2-3, but have won six of their last eight and appear to be peaking at the right time. Before the playoffs began, they hadn’t beaten a team with a winning record this season.
“We know it’s gonna be tough,” Bower said. “Freshman year we lost to them, last year we beat them, so it’s best-of-three. We’ll find out.”
Hillsdale notebook
Prior to Friday’s game, Hillsdale found out it had lost longtime standout kicker AJ Brown to a knee injury he suffered in the team’s 63-6 playoff win over Conotton Valley.
The senior finishes his career as one of the best kickers in Ohio history, connecting on 191-of-207 PATs and 10-of-12 field goals in his career.
Brown totaled 221 points and broke the school record with a 45-yard field goal earlier this season.
“It’s sad to see, and frustrating,” Cline said. “He had a great career and it just stinks that that’s how it ended.”
Bower said he’s been Brown’s backup all four seasons, but he never kicked in a game until last week.
He made 5-of-6 PAT tries Friday night and all six against Conotton Valley.
“He is elite at the high school level and it’s tough shoes to fill, and I still haven’t filled them,” Bower said of Brown. Even in warm-ups today he was right out there helping me.”
Unofficially, Brown’s 191 made PATs are 15th in state history, and his 221 kicking points are 25th.
(Photos by Tom Theodore)
