SMITHVILLE — Hillsdale found just enough offense on Friday night to slip past Smithville 14-7 in a tight Wayne County Athletic League football encounter.
The Falcons (6-0 overall, 3-0 in the WCAL) broke on top when sophomore quarterback Kael Lewis connected with Jake Haven on a 33-yard touchdown pass with 5:39 showing in the half.
It stayed that way deep into the fourth quarter.
Hillsdale’s Owen Sloan scored on a 2-yard plunge with 7:43 remaining in the game to make it 14-0.
The Smithies closed to within 14-7 on a 37-yard TD pass from Trei Durstine to Isaiah Lee with 2:30 to play.
But neither team scored again.
Lewis topped the Falcons’ offense by completing 13-of-22 passes for 159 yards. Owen Sloan had 53 yards rushing on 26 attempts.
The Smithies (4-2, 1-2) got 64 yards rushing from Durstine and 63 from Ashton Raber.
The game was played nearly dead even. Hillsdale owned an edge in first downs (12-11) and passing yards (159-50).
Smithville got the best of it in rushing yards (167-153) and total yards (217-212).
The Falcons host 1-5 Waynedale next week.
The Smithies travel to 1-5 Northwestern on Friday.