ONTARIO — Hillsboro remained unbeaten with another strong defensive effort.
The Tigers, ranked sixth in the latest Division 7 poll according to wissports.net, held host Brookwood to just 157 yards of offense in a dominating 30–7 victory to open Scenic Bluffs Conference play.
Senior halfback Tommy Crandall rushed for 177 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 22 carries to lead the Hillsboro offense.
Twin brother Tyler Crandall powered the defensive effort with 10 tackles. Fellow senior Hunter Stanek made nine tackles from his starting defensive end position.
“We were able to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball,” said Hillsboro head coach Eric Auel. “Our defensive line did a nice job of keeping the Brookwood offensive line off of our linebackers and allowed the linebackers to make plays.”
Senior quarterback Joe Helgerson capped Hillsboro’s opening drive with a two-yard touchodnw run to give the Tigers a 6–0 lead less than four minutes into the game.
With Brookwood content on taking fullback Tyler Crandall away, Helgerson carried six times for 22 yards on Hillsboro’s opening drive.
Brookwood’s Cory Ottom returned the ensuing kickoff 40 yards to the Hillsboro 30-yard-line to give the Falcons great field position. Jack Hansen capped the short drive with a 15-yard TD scamper and added the extra point to give the home team a 7–6 lead.
After back-to-back punts, Hillsboro turned to Tommy Crandall on its fourth drive of the game.
Crandall carried seven straight times for 60 yards and finally scored on a 5-yard run. Tyler Crandall added the conversion run and Hillsboro led 14–7 with 4:18 left in the half.
“Our combo blocks were much better executed than the previous week,” said Auel. “Brookwood was physically bigger than most teams we’ve played, so it was critical to make better combo blocks. Our backs ran hard and did a job seeing the field.
Hillsboro sacked Brookwood quarterback Matthew Hansen and forced a punt with 2:13 left in the half. Three plays later Tommy Crandall broke loose for a 51-yard score on a 3rd-and-1 play. He added the two-point conversion and Hillsboro led 22–7 at the half.
“We do not go into the games expecting to be able to run power football against bigger opponents, however, our offensive line did a job up front and allowed our backs to take care of the second level,” said Auel. “We took care of the ball much better than the previous weeks and were better able to vary snap counts to keep blitzes more in check.”
The teams traded turnovers on downs in a scoreless third quarter.
Helgerson put the game out of reach with a 10-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. He completed the two-point conversion pass to Stockwell to close out the scoring. Helgerson finished the night with 46 yards on 13 carries and two touchdowns. He also complete 3 of 4 passes for 14 yards.
Hillsboro (4–0, 1–0 SBC) will travel to New Lisbon Friday to face fellow unbeaten New Lisbon. The Rockets are coming off a 24–18 victory over Necedah.
Hillsboro 30, Brookwood 7
(from Friday, Sept. 11 @ Ontario)
Hillsboro 6 16 0 8 — 30
Brookwood 7 0 0 0 — 7
First quarter
H: Joe Helgerson 2 run (kick failed)
B: Jack Hansen 15 (Hansen kick)
Second quarter
H: Tommy Crandall 5 run (Tyler Crandall run)
H: Tommy Crandall 51 run (Tommy Crandall run)
Fourth quarter
H: Helgerson 10 run (Max Stockwell pass from Helgerson)
Team Statistics
First downs: H 16, B 9. Rushing: H 44-263, B 38-152. Passing Yards: H 14, B 5. Passing: H 3-4-0, B 4-10-0. Fumbles–lost: H 0-0, B 1-1. Penalties: H 5-35, B 10-85.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: H: Tommy Crandall 22-177, Joe Helgerson 13-46; B: Corry Ottom 14-91. Passing: H: Helgerson 3-4-0, 14; B: Matthew Hansen 4-9-0, 5. Receiving: H: Justin Muller 1-14; B: Cory Ottom 1-13.
