JEROMESVILLE — Hillsdale faces an uphill climb, but there is a path forward for the Falcons.
The only thing standing between Hillsdale and the Division VII state championship is Midwest Athletic Conference heavyweight St. Henry. Kickoff is set for Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at Canton’s Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
The Falcons are in the final for a second straight season. An injury-depleted Hillsdale ran into MAC juggernaut Marion Local in last year’s championship game and the Flyers soared to a 74-0 win.
Lessons learned on that cold December morning should serve the Falcons well this time around.
So what are Hillsdale’s keys to victory?
Protect The Football
The Falcons turned the ball over five times against Marion Local. The Flyers scored four touchdowns off those five turnovers, including an interception return for a touchdown.
“We’ve got to … take care of the football. Part of the reason that score got so ugly is we didn’t take care of the football,” Hillsdale coach Trevor Cline sad. “We put our defense is some terrible situations.
“We’ve got to make sure we get that stuff cleaned up this year if we want to give ourselves an opportunity to compete for state championship.”
St. Henry was plus-five in turnover ratio during the regular season. The secondary intercepted 18 passes.
Hillsdale quarterback Kael Lewis had thrown just three interceptions in 220 passing attempts.
“Their quarterback is a great decision-maker in their RPO (run-pass option) game,” St. Henry coach Josh Werling said. “If you’re our of position on the edge they’re going to exploit that.”
Special Teams
There was nothing special about Hillsdale’s special teams in last year’s championship game. The Falcons punted the ball six times, with three sailing out of bounds. Marion Local averaged 49 yards on the three punts they returned. The Flyers took one of those punts 66 yards for a touchdown.
“Special teams-wise, we’ve got to play much better,” Cline said. “We got exposed on special teams last year.
“Part of that was some of the guys that we had to play were guys who weren’t quite ready to play varsity, but due to injuries they were thrown into that role.”
Defensive Fundamentals
Marion Local ran a total of 33 offensive plays in last year’s championship game. The Flyers averaged 10.5 yards per play.
“We have to tackle better,” Cline said. “We did a poor job tackling in the state championship game.”
St. Henry boasts a run-heavy offense, averaging a MAC-leading 203.9 rushing yards per game. Quarterback Charlie Werling was the MAC’s leading rusher and the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year.
“St. Henry does a lot of things well,” Cline said. “Their quarterback does a great job of running the football.”
Business Trip
Last year’s trip to the championship game was a learning experience for an underclassman-dominated roster making its first ever finals appearance. The Falcons can lean on last year’s experience.
“This is a team that has been here two years in a row,” Werling said. “They’re a very good program and they do things the right way.
“We are going to have our hands full, for sure.”