JEROMESVILLE — Garrett Smith is listed generously at 5-foot-7 and 155 pounds. but the undersized Hillsdale junior made one big play after another Friday night.
A linebacker and running back, Smith made a critical fourth-down stop late in the third quarter and rushed for a pair of touchdowns as the Falcons throttled backyard rival Loudonville 27-10 at Community Stadium.
The Falcons (3-0) led 13-3 in the third, but the Redbirds (0-3) were set up inside the Hillsdale 5 yard line. On fourth down, Smith threw Loudonville running back Brice Swindall for a loss, then flipped the field with a 53 yard run on the ensuing Hillsdale drive. Smith would cap the drive with a 6 yard touchdown run with just seven seconds remaining in the third quarter, giving the Falcons a 20-3 lead.
“That was pretty much the game right there,” Loudonville coach Rick Rios said. “We had the play that we wanted (on fourth down). We knew they would bring some edge pressure on that.”
Hillsdale coach Tom Williams wasn’t sure what to call on the fateful fourth down.
“On the fourth down play we just kind of guessed,” Williams said. “We were hoping they weren’t going to pass it. We ended up sending (Smith) off the edge and he was right where they happened to run the ball.
“Sometimes you get lucky and that was one of those times … and he made a nice play in the backfield.”
Back-Breaker: Loudonville cut Hillsdale’s advantage to 20-10 on quarterback Dylan Polen’s 5 yard run early in the fourth quarter before Alex Becker put the game away for the Falcons. Becker picked off a Polen pass near midfield and, on the first play of the ensuing Hillsdale drive, the speedy junior outraced the Loudonville defense for a 45 yard touchdown and a 27-10 lead.
“Alex has been playing really good football early in the year,” Williams said. “He’s a super-smart kid and so he’s in the right spot a lot. We always say if you’re in the right spot, good things tend to happen.”
Becker led Hillsdale with 168 rushing yards. Smith added 86 as the Falcons rumbled for 333 yards on the ground.
“We’ve got a heck of a line,” Smith said. “They are big, they are strong and they know what they are doing.”
Hillsdale quarterback Trey Williams completed 6 of 16 passes for 87 yards. The left-handed senior tossed a 36 yard touchdown pass to Trace Stiltner on Hillsale’s first play from scrimmage.
Polen completed 17 of 20 passes for 196 yards. Alec Bender had 135 receiving yards.
Milestone Victory: The win was a significant one for Williams, who is 92-59 in his 15th season at Hillsdale. Already the winningest coach in program history, Williams now has more victories than all other Hillsdale coaches combined.
“Coach (Mike) Mack and I are in our 15th year,” Williams said, “and it has been a real good 15 years.”