JEROMESVILLE – Kael Lewis took an audible exhale before a postgame interview Friday night.
He might as well have been doing it for the entire Hillsdale football program.
After more than a decade of disheartening defeats, the recurring Norwayne nightmare for the Falcons was finally snuffed out at rain-soaked Hillsdale Community Stadium.
Losers of 11 straight against the Bobcats – including two winner-take-all, Week 10 tussles in both 2024 and 2025 that decided the league title – the Falcons put a resounding pounding on the Bobcats this time around, 33-3.
The victory not only locked in a playoff spot for Hillsdale (8-1, 5-1 Wayne County Athletic League), but it pulled the Falcons into a tie with Norwayne (5-4, 5-1) and Smithville (8-1, 5-1) for a potential share of their first conference title since 2014.
Lewis, one of five Hillsdale seniors celebrated on Senior Night, was electric.
The star quarterback ran for a career-high four touchdowns (17 carries, 103 yards overall) and connected with play-making junior receiver Davis Radcliffe for a 54-yard pass on the game’s other score.
Lewis said he had never been on a team that had beaten Norwayne in football, even as far back as middle school.
The Bobcats entered Friday on a 20-game win streak in WCAL play and had won the last two league crowns outright, despite the fact that Hillsdale had qualified to back-to-back Division VII state championship games in those seasons.
“This is one of the greatest feelings I’ve ever had in football,” the senior said. “It’s been a monkey on my back against Norwayne my entire life.”
“It’s so special,” added Lewis, who was 18-of-28 for 227 yards passing. “We knew we needed this win to get back into the league title race and that’s exactly what we did. We came out fired up and handled business.”
The Falcons will have to win at Chippewa (6-3, 4-2) in Week 10 to claim a share of their fourth-ever WCAL championship (also 2010, 2011 and 2014). Norwayne could still get a piece of that title with a win at Northwestern (2-7, 0-6), while Smithville could do the same with a win at Dalton (3-6, 3-3).
“We have worked for this for many years and the guys who came before them have done everything they could to give themselves an opportunity to win a league title and beat Norwayne,” Hillsdale coach Trevor Cline said. “But it just, for whatever reason, hasn’t happened.
“Now to get back in first place … and to be able to be in position to control our own destiny is a special situation and one we’ve been working for for quite a while. This isn’t only for this team, it’s for all those players that came before and came close.”
The Falcons had the upper hand on Norwayne by halftime Friday night, carrying a 13-3 lead into the break behind Lewis touchdown runs of 1 and 7 yards.
Norwayne continually tried to get its passing game going through upstart sophomore quarterback Bradley Lanz, but the Bobcats managed just three first downs in the opening half, when they were outgained by a 259-106 count.
Outside of a 23-yard field goal by Carter Miller late in the second quarter, the Bobcats were shut out by a stout Hillsdale defense. Mason Sloan, who set the Falcons’ single-game record for tackles with 24 in Week 8, was in on a variety of big stops.
Lanz had entered the night with more than 2,000 passing yards as a first-year starter. But he finished 8-of-22 for just 74 yards, throwing interceptions to junior Ayden Salyer and senior Kyle Turk.
The Bobcats made a few key drops on deep passes that also hurt their chances.
“Kudos to Hillsdale for coming out with a lot of energy and executing,” said Norwayne coach Adam Indorf, who hadn’t lost to the Falcons since his first season leading NHS in 2014. “They got after it and made some plays.
“We had opportunities in the pass game but we just couldn’t make the plays there.”
Senior running back Cameron Hackworth was a bright spot for the Bobcats, rushing for 130 yards on 15 carries – including a 43-yard run on the first play from scrimmage in the second half.
But Norwayne turned the ball over on downs to end that drive with an incomplete pass in the end zone. Lewis and the Falcons slowly buried the visitors from there.
When the senior connected with Radcliffe for their 54-yard touchdown strike midway through the third, it was Turk picking up a pair of blocks on the play to help push the lead out to 19-3.
Radcliffe, voted one of the team’s captains, finished with a career-high eight catches for 133 yards.
“The growth he has made from last year to this year is really special and I look forward to seeing him continue to grow as a senior,” Cline said.
“Our senior class is so small in numbers and they’re all tight,” Radcliffe added. “It was emotional for them and I’m glad that my class and everybody else could help get the win for them.”
Hillsdale surged further ahead at the end of the third quarter, 25-3. Lewis hit his senior brother, Knox Lewis (5 catches, 40 yards) for 15 yards to convert a fourth-and-8 play, then scored from eight yards out one snap later.
Turk’s interception came immediately after that and Kael Lewis ran in a 19-yard touchdown with 8:30 to play.
When the Hillsdale quarterback hit his brother for a 2-point conversion pass, it triggered a running clock.
The win marked the first time Norwayne had been held without a touchdown in a WCAL game since the Falcons shut out the Bobcats in 2014, 27-0.
An 11-time WCAL champion, Norwayne still could make the playoffs. As of late Friday night, the projection site fantastic50.net had the Bobcats at a 92 percent chance to make Week 11 with a win in Week 10 against Northwestern.
“Our kids know that we’ve got a target on our back, so we try to come prepared every week,” Indorf said. “Obviously, this one stings a little bit.”
The Falcons, meanwhile, have everything in front of them. With Friday’s win, they clinched a home playoff game, and they have a chance at a first-round bye with a victory at Chippewa.
“We’ve made a lot of history (the last three seasons), but (a WCAL title) is not one of them,” Lewis said. “There’s only been three Hillsdale teams to win a league title. We knew we had to come out and win tonight.”
Lewis, who cleared 7,000 career passing yards Friday, said he felt major relief after having two rough games against Norwayne the past two years.
In those two losses combined, he passed for just 174 yards and one touchdown while throwing three interceptions.
“He led the team on both sides of the ball tonight,” Cline said. “I’m really proud of him; it’s definitely a special moment and it definitely goes as one of the top games in his career.”
The Falcons now have a 14-game win streak at home and have extended their Ashland-area record of qualifying for the playoffs to 11 consecutive seasons.
Since losing at Smithville in Week 5, they have outscored their opponents by a whopping 178-17 count.
“This was supposed to be the down year for us and our guys weren’t willing to accept that and they worked extremely hard,” said Cline, whose other seniors this year are Mikey Shenberger and Colt McCoy.
“The job’s not done yet and obviously we’ve got to get refocused, because what Chippewa has done this year has been pretty impressive with the bounce-back year they’ve had.”
Photos by Doug Haidet
