JEROMESVILLE – The runaway betting odds would have been on the offense being the reason Hillsdale was going to run roughshod through yet another regular season this fall.
When a team has a soon-to-be three-time All-Ohio quarterback returning for his senior year, it only makes sense that the eyes gravitate to the points on the scoreboard.
And while Falcons star signal-caller Kael Lewis has delivered another season of stupendousness (2,564 yards and 33 total touchdowns on offense), Hillsdale’s defense has stealthily become one of the best in program history.
In 2025, the Falcons allowed just 101 points in the regular season, setting up a second consecutive run to the Division VII state championship game.
Hillsdale lost five of its top six tacklers from that team – four to graduation (Brady Heller, Aiden Hoffman, Owen Sloan and Jesse Trevathan) and another to injury (current junior Deacon Boreman).
“There were a lot of people that were expecting us to take a big drop-off,” senior defensive end and captain Knox Lewis said, “but we knew people were going to be competing for spots on defense, which was only going to make us better.”
Somehow, someway, the Falcons have not missed a beat. In fact, based solely off points allowed, they’ve been even better.
Hillsdale has surrendered just 94 points – likely the fewest in a 10-game regular season in school history.
“I think it’s one of the most athletic defenses we’ve had; we just have athletes everywhere and they move well,” said assistant coach Mike Mack, who has been on staff at HHS since 2004 and focuses on defense. “And it’s just a lot of fundamentally solid kids. We don’t have a lot of kids doing their own thing, they just do what they’re supposed to do.”
The Falcons (9-1) will bring that athleticism with them Friday night when they host Mineral Ridge (10-1) in a Division VI, Region 21 quarterfinal.
It’s the 11th consecutive season Hillsdale has made the playoffs and the fifth straight year the program has hosted a postseason game – both Ashland-area records.
And if the Falcons are to get their 20th all-time playoff win (currently an area-best 19-14 record in the postseason), they’re going to need the defense to show up big against a balanced Rams offense averaging 38.9 points per game.
Dominance in youth
Since its 28-14 loss at Smithville in Week 5, Hillsdale has overwhelmed its opposition by a 219-17 score.
Stunningly, the Falcons have ushered in that dominance with a youth movement at the forefront.
The team’s top three tacklers are all underclassmen – freshman linebacker Mason Sloan (116 tackles) and sophomore linebackers Drew Daugherty (82) and Porter Boreman (77).
Mack said defensive ends Carston Stephens (61 tackles, 3 sacks) and Knox Lewis (27 tackles, 3 sacks) can be credited for funneling ball-carriers their way, but there’s no ignoring the eye-popping contributions coming from so much youth.
“With the young guys, one of the really good things about them is they love to hit, they love to attack, they love to be physical,” said Hillsdale’s fifth-year defensive coordinator Josh Barr, who has also gotten 31 tackles from freshman defensive tackle Reid Morgan.
“That’s kind of how they carry themselves on defense: ‘We’re gonna be the best and it doesn’t really matter how old we are.’ They kind of feel like they’ve been here forever,” Barr said.
The 5-11, 213-pound Sloan has been the true outlier among them all. The younger brother of 2026 HHS graduate Owen Sloan – who ran for more than 5,000 yards, scored 450 points and had 218 career tackles – Mason has wasted zero time standing out under Friday night lights.
His 116 tackles are a program record for a freshman (Ty Williams had the previous top mark at 114), and Sloan also tied a school record when he had 24 tackles against Rittman.
A year ago at this time, he was in eighth grade. Now, he’s one of six team captains – perhaps the first Hillsdale freshman ever to carry that honor.
“I’m a little surprised (by the quick success),” Sloan said, “but just working in the offseason with my dad and my brother, my expectation at home is to always do your best, and if I do my fundamentals, I’ll play good.
“It also helps when you have a defensive line that basically blocks for you to make tackles.”
With the young guys, one of the really good things about them is they love to hit, they love to attack, they love to be physical.
Hillsdale defensive coordinator josh barr
Sloan has been the top running back for the Falcons this season, too. His 470 yards and four touchdowns on 81 carries nearly mirror his older brother’s freshman production at the position (77-523-3).
Knox Lewis has spent much of his career helping set the table for his teammates’ stats as a three-year starter on both sides of the ball. He said Sloan’s arrival was highly anticipated.
“From the first day he was in the weight room, he was lifting more than our juniors and some of our seniors,” Lewis said. “It was like, ‘OK, great middle school player, but can he keep up with the speed of the varsity game? Can he keep up with the strength of the varsity game?’ He showed us that he could.”
Also at linebacker, Daugherty has stepped in and collected double-digit tackles in five games this season. He had 17 total as a freshman a year ago.
Porter Boreman, meanwhile, had 51 tackles and three interceptions a year ago as a freshman and he’s continued his climb.
Balanced defensive skill
If there’s a defensive player on this year’s team who has proven what a heavy focus on fundamentals can mean, it might be Stephens.
The 6-1, 195-pound junior went from not even being a junior varsity starter his freshman season to starting in the state championship game that same year.
Stephens had 93 tackles last year and needs four more for 200 in his career.
Mack said the junior end honed his craft while putting in a ton of early work on the scout team.
“I’ve grown a lot since my freshman year and I’ve got a lot of good teammates surrounding me,” Stephens said. “We play well together.”
There are nine different Falcons who have pulled in an interception this season. Junior safety Ayden Salyer (41 tackles, 5 INTs) leads that group in his first year as a starter, while Kael Lewis and junior linebacker Trevor Raubenolt both have three.
Junior linebacker Reed Mager (64 tackles, team-high 7 tackles for loss) also has a pick for Hillsdale, which forced 2.3 turnovers per game in the regular season.
Junior defensive back and captain Davis Radcliffe – who surpassed 100 career tackles last week and has 38 this season – said the Hillsdale secondary has been focused on shutting down big plays all year.
That Falcon group was especially critical in Week 9 against the pass-first offense of Norwayne.
That night, Bobcats quarterback Bradley Lanz completed just 8-of-21 passes for 75 yards after entering the game with more than 2,000 yards through the air.
Salyer had an interception, as did senior captain Kyle Turk, who has returned from an ACL injury to give Hillsdale a spark on both sides of the ball after collecting 42 tackles and two picks last season.
The eye-opening 33-3 win over Norwayne was the Falcons’ first against the Bobcats in 12 years and helped them grab a share of the WCAL crown for the first time since 2014.
“As a DB, you have to know what your skills are and our DBs know we can be tough, we can be fast,” Radcliffe said. “We play as a group and we like to say it’s a ‘No Fly Zone,’ because you’re not gonna be able to throw the ball much on us.”
He said the secondary knew the Norwayne game would be on its shoulders.
“I appreciate our DBs,” Stephens said. “When we can’t get a good pass rush, they’re usually there to cover the guy for 5-6 seconds – however long it takes.”
Evolution of talent
Barr said Hillsdale’s starting defense has allowed just 68 points this season, nearly matching last year’s starting unit (61).
The defensive coordinator was a sophomore starter when another one of the best Falcon defenses came through in 2009. That team allowed just 97 points in the regular season (75 by the starters) and featured the program’s first-ever first-team All-Ohioan in nose guard Ryan Brewer.
Barr still remembers the many talented players on that squad, but said it’s hard to compare that era with the one Hillsdale is in now.
“The game has changed so much,” Barr said. “The way these guys prepare and get ready for games and even the way they work out is like a night-and-day difference from back then.
“I would say they’re way more athletic and faster. The game has evolved and these guys have evolved to a better level than even we were at back then.”
Knox Lewis said the “bigger-faster-stronger” aspect of the program has only been deepened during the team’s runs to the state championship game the last two years.
The senior has been one of the true faces of hard work during his time as a Falcon. For his career, Lewis has nearly 800 receiving yards, 76 points scored, 122 tackles and 8 sacks, despite spending much of his time as a blocker on both sides.
He said the Falcons’ work ethic now is unmatched and the competition in the weight room can get downright intense.
“When you have guys who know it’s a possibility to be on the field in a state championship game,” Lewis said, “they’re gonna work for it more than ever.”
When you have guys who know it’s a possibility to be on the field in a state championship game, they’re gonna work for it more than ever.
hillsdale senior knox lewis
He said the Falcons have been an overall selfless team in 2026, adding that no one points fingers. When mistakes are made, they’re fixed by the next play.
The trust in each other, Lewis said, has never been higher.
With more than two decades on the coaching staff at Hillsdale, Mack said it has been uplifting to watch.
“They’re a lunch-pail crew, where they just show up and they’re not worried about stats or anything like that,” he said. “They just want to shut people down and win the football game.
“Our leadership this year has said, ‘Hey, let’s just win. Don’t worry about anything else.’”
