JEROMESVILLE – Early in his football career, Hillsdale High School senior Owen Sloan chose to wear the No. 1 on his jersey.
For whatever reason, he said it didn’t feel right, so he switched to No. 26 in seventh grade – a number he still sports when he suits up for the Falcons on Friday nights.
Ironically, however, that No. 1 creeped back into Sloan’s life last week when Hillsdale opened its season at Black River.
Instead of being on a jersey, it’s attached to his name in the HHS record books after he captured arguably the most coveted record in the program: career rushing yards.
On his final carry Friday, Sloan ripped off a 32-yard touchdown run that put the Falcons ahead 35-0 in the second quarter.
It was his third score in a span of about 16 minutes of game clock and it pushed him past former Hillsdale record holder Corbin Mager (3,089), giving Sloan 3,112 career yards on the ground.
“That ‘24 Power’ play is probably what he’s run the most from last year into this year,” said eighth-year Falcons head coach Trevor Cline, who laughed before adding, “but as good as he is, basically whatever running play you call he does OK on.”
“I like getting out into space on that play and watching the development of the play and the blockers out in front of me,” Sloan said. “You just find the seam and hit it.”
Piling up yards and finding the end zone has kind of been Sloan’s thing.
The 5-foot-9 senior also has Hillsdale’s top total for career touchdowns (45 and counting) and last year set HHS marks for single-season touchdowns (32) and rushing yards (1,658).
If he can stay healthy this season – and if the Falcons can make another playoff run after taking state runner-up in Division VII a year ago – Sloan could find his way into the OHSAA record books for career rushing TDs.
Fewer than 40 players have scored at least 75 times on the ground in Ohio history, but things like that aren’t on his personal radar.
“I’ve always looked at the records and just wanted to have all of them, but I always knew I couldn’t do it myself and that I’d have to be part of a good team,” Sloan said. “The goal is for everybody working hard together in the offseason so we can achieve those goals together.”
“He’s one of the best team-first players I’ve been around at Hillsdale,” Cline said. “I’m sure, just like anyone, in the back of your mind you know (the record is) there, but he always puts the team first in any situation.”
Never was that more evident than late last season.
With Hillsdale plowing through records on its way to the Division VII state championship game – just the second team in Ashland-area history to play for a title – Sloan battled through an ankle injury that severely worsened over the final three games.
He’s one of the best team-first players I’ve been around at Hillsdale.
Hillsdale head coach trevor cline on running back Owen Sloan
A week after setting the Hillsdale record for single-game rushing in a 50-48 win over Malvern (287 yards and four touchdowns on 37 carries), Cline said Sloan could barely get through warm-ups before the regional title game against Cuyahoga Heights.
Somehow, he still managed to put up 151 yards and two TDs on 15 carries in a 44-14 victory that night.
The win capped off a seven-game stretch during which Sloan ran for 18 touchdowns and 962 yards.
But by the time the Falcons paired up with Danville in the Final Four (a 25-22 win), Sloan could endure just 37 yards on 16 carries.
In the state championship against Marion Local, he played just a quarter, managing 14 yards on seven carries.
“It was pretty much the worst pain I’ve been in,” Sloan said. “The Danville game was pretty bad, then the week after, I went to do physical therapy and just tried braces and a bunch of stuff to try to hold it together.
“But in pre-game against Marion Local, I went out and ran a five-yard stop and it just gave out again.”
Cline said when the doctors saw Sloan, they were surprised he was even able to walk.
“It was pretty much the worst pain I’ve been in.”
Owen sloan, discussing his ankle injury during last year’s playoff run
Despite also missing a combined four games his freshman and sophomore years due to a hip injury, Sloan could finish his career as the team’s top running back in all four of his seasons.
A three-time captain, he was able to add about 15 pounds of muscle in the offseason – a lot of it on his upper body while he slowly worked his ankle back into shape.
Sloan said it took him about four months to get back to feeling 100 percent, tediously easing through physical therapy while hitting all the necessary benchmarks.
He weighs 190 pounds now and said he could already tell last week at Black River that he was able to muscle his way through a few more tackles than usual.
“I just knew I wanted to be bigger and maintain my speed moving side-to-side and making cuts,” said the senior, who said he’s been hand-timed at 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash.
“Him continuing to get stronger and put on more weight is a huge benefit for us because he hasn’t lost a step in his speed,” Cline said. “… Not only is that going to help him with the longevity of the season, but it’s also an intimidation factor.”
Sloan said he already feels like the game has slowed down more for him than in previous seasons. And after seeing what he could do when he was patient enough to wait behind his blockers in the 287-yard game against Malvern, he said that’s the formula he wants to follow in 2025.
Cline said Sloan almost always used to outrun or bounce outside of his pulling linemen on power or counter runs, but now he realizes what he can do when he lets the play develop.
“Looking back, my freshman, sophomore years – and even early my junior year – I’d just get the ball and run,” Sloan said. “So I’ve learned from my mistakes.”
It’s an approach that could turn his career rushing record into one that could last for many years at a program whose winning ways have been built around talented running backs.
Since its renaissance began about two decades ago (all 13 of the Falcons’ playoff appearances have come since 2009), Hillsdale has overwhelmingly leaned on talented runners for its successes.
The team has had backs with 1,000-yard rushing seasons seven times since 2008, coming from Sloan in 2024, Garrett Smith in 2018 (1,210) and 2017 (1,375), Mager in 2014 (1,045) and 2012 (1,574), Zach Fulk in 2010 (1,070) and Dustin Simpson in 2008 (1,204).
Add in talented backs Mike Bowles (1,221 yards in 1998), Drew Austin (1,016 in 1985) and Mike Tyson (1,034 in 1976), and Hillsdale’s offensive calling card has almost always been its ability to grind it out on the ground.
Sloan has taken it to another level.
He said he would love to reach 5,000 career rushing yards and have a 2,000-yard rushing season when all is said and done as a senior.
“Since we have been more of a run-first team for many years, beating the rushing record at Hillsdale is extremely impressive,” Cline said. “And it’s even more impressive with the injuries that he dealt with early on in his career.
“In my opinion, Owen is the best running back that’s ever played at Hillsdale.”
