JEROMESVILLE — Two of the premier playmakers in the Wayne County Athletic League put on a show Friday night at Hillsdale.
Northwestern dual-threat quarterback Ethan Siders threw a pair of first-half touchdown passes and the Huskies held off Hillsdale and standout senior signal-caller Jake Hoverstock 17-12.
The Huskies (7-2, 5-1) can clinch no worse than a share of the WCAL title with a win next week at Waynedale. Northwestern is tied atop the league standings with Dalton, which beat Norwayne 41-16 on Friday in Dalton.
Hillsdale (5-4, 4-2) is a game back. The Falcons are at Rittman next week.
Both Siders and Hoverstock are candidates for WCAL Most Valuable Player and they both played like if Friday. Siders threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Collin Good in the first quarter and a 12-yarder to Cade St. Clair in the second as the Huskies opened a 14-0 halftime lead.
“He’s so shifty in the backfield. He’ll create something out of nothing,” Hillsdale coach Trevor Cline said. “There were some times where we would get pressure on him and no one was open down the field and he would scramble around back there and buy himself some time and find the open man.”
Northwestern extended their lead to 17-0 early in the third quarter on Alex Albright’s 24-yard field goal before Hoverstock and the Falcons came to life. Hoverstock scored on a 4-yard keeper with 2:07 remaining in the third quarter to cut Northwestern’s lead to 17-6. His 15-yard scramble with 2:44 to play in the fourth made it 17-12.
“In the second half he battled along with the other guys,” Cline said of Hoverstock. “We put ourselves in a position to come away with a win.”
The Falcons attempted an onside kick, but the Huskies recovered. Northwestern drove deep into Hillsdale territory but turned the ball over on downs at the Hillsdale 16 with 29.1 seconds remaining.
On Hillsdale’s first play, Hoverstock scrambled and lofted a long pass down the far sideline that the Falcons came down with at the Northwestern 39. Cline’s club rushed to the line and Hoverstock spiked the all to kill the clock. His second down pass fell incomplete. On third down, he lofted a ball toward the end zone that fell incomplete as time expired, but the Huskies were flagged for a late hit, giving Hillsdale an untimed down from the Northwestern 24. Hoverstock’s desperation heave again fell incomplete to seal the win for the Huskies.
“Hillsdale just doesn’t stop. They keep coming at you the whole game,” Northwestern coach Joe Cardinal said. “Kudos to that staff and those kids.”
Hillsdale had more total yards and more first downs, but committed three turnovers and failed to get a punt off early in the second half that resulted in Albright’s field goal. Northwestern committed just one turnover.
“Against good football teams you can’t dig yourself a hole like that,” Cline said. “In the first half and the start of the third quarter, we were our own worst enemy. When we’ve struggled offensively it’s because we can’t get out of our own way.”
Hoverstock completed 14-of-27 passes for 180 yards and rushed for a team-best 62 yards. Fickes had 86 receiving yards.
Siders completed 16-of-25 passes for 154 yards and rushed for a game-high 67 yards.
Hillsdale already has clinched a playoff spot and will likely host a first-round game.
“We wanted to win a WCAL championship. That’s always one of our goals, but this season is far from over,” Cline said. “We need to bounce back next week, go out there and play well and then get ready to go for the playoffs.”
