Staff Writer
â??? Domination!
Thatâ??s the
word that first comes to mind when describing Heritage Hillsâ?? 26-0 win over
Southridge at the Hoosier Authority Fan Wagon game Sept. 29 at Southridge.
How
dominating were the Patriots? Coming into the game, the host Raiders were
averaging 370 rushing yards per game. The Patriots held them to 50 yards,
total. Heritage Hills began every possession in Southridge territory except for
the opening drive of the second half, when Southridge kicked off.
â??To shut
this team out is an accomplishment,â? said 29th-year Heritage Hills coach
Bob Clayton. â??They are an excellent football team. I still say they are an
excellent football team, but we got the effort from our kids tonight, and we
really did a good job.â?
With the
win, the Patriots have now won 59 straight games in the Pocket Athletic
Conference.
â??It (the
59-game streak) means a lot,â? said Clayton. â??People always ask me how you do
it. Itâ??s that hunger, and every team has to have that hunger to be champions if
they want to succeed.â?
Heritage
Hillsâ?? first two drives started on the Southridge 36 and 23, respectively. But
an interception on the initial drive and a punt after two consecutive sacks
from Southridgeâ??s Chad Wertman left the Patriots with nothing to show for the
great field position.
After
another Southridge three-and-out (the Raiders ran nine plays over their first
three possessions), Heritage Hills began its third drive at the Southridge 33.
Eight plays later, Nathan Schipp scored from one yard out on 4th and 1. The
extra point from Seth LaGrange made it 7-0 with 3:40 left in the first half.
â??We
finally settled down and moved the ball,â? Clayton said. â??We should have had
some scores earlier than that, though, but we took some big sacks.â?
Raiders were finally able to get that elusive first down. Two plays later,
though, Schipp intercepted a pass from Raider quarterback Brad Roesner near
midfield, returning the ball to the Southridge 31 with 2:16 left in the half.
hooked up with Alex Bettag for a 14-yard touchdown pass. The ensuing extra
point made it 14-0 with 34 seconds left.
before the half) was huge,â? Clayton said. â??The kids did a good job with no timeouts
left to keep their poise.
made a couple nice passes down there to get us in striking distance and then
made the throw into the end zone for the touchdown.â?
punts to start the second half, Heritage Hill started out at the Southridge 45.
McGrew scored from 11 yards out eight plays later, giving the Patriots a 20-0
lead with 10:37 left in the game. The extra point was no good because of a bad
snap.
After Southridge
turned the ball over on downs, the Patriots again got possession in Raider
territory, this time at the 27. Five plays later, Bettag scored his second
touchdown of the game, this one from two yards out on an end around. The extra
point was wide left, giving the Patriots a 26-0 lead.
After a
Southridge punt, Heritage Hills took over and ran out the clock.
The
Patriots improve to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in Pocket play, while the loss drops
Southridge to 5-2 overall and 4-1 in the conference.
Next week,
Southridge will travel to Pike Central while Heritage Hills will host Tecumseh.
Both games are set to kick off at 7 p.m. CT.
â??I thought
tonight was going to be a tell-tale sign to see if they had that hunger and
desire and wanted to be champions,â? Clayton said. â??I thought they did a good
job. Now I want them to build from this and be this team instead of the other
team thatâ??s been showing up.â?
NOTE: Photos from the game will be made
available Monday when we receive them from our student photographer at
Southridge.
So
what do you
think? Share your thoughts in our Football forum.