SULLIVAN — Kael Lewis authored an electrifying start to the Hillsdale High School football season.
The Falcons’ new starting quarterback threw for 238 yards and a whopping six touchdowns to lead coach Trevor Cline’s club to a 44-12 beating of Black River on Friday night in an independent clash.
Lewis announced his presence with authority, less than a minute into the season. The gunslinging sophomore connected with Holland Young for a 40-yard touchdown pass and a 6-0 lead with 11:17 to play in the first period.
On the Falcons’ next possession, Lewis struck again, this time via a 32-yard strike to Brock Bower. Owen Sloan’s two-point conversion run made it 14-0 at the 8:30 mark.
When Hillsdale got the ball back, Lewis flipped a 61-yard shuttle pass to Hayden McFadden. Another Sloan conversion rush pushed the bulge to 22-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Lewis and Young connected again for a 25-yard score early in the second period and the rout was on at 29-0.
Lewis closed the half with two more touchdown passes to Bower, both from 9 yards, to expand the margin to 44-0 at halftime.
The second half began with a running clock.
Jayce Hopek found paydirt from four yards out with 39 seconds showing in the third quarter to slice the gap to 44-6.
Hunter Varney’s 3-yard TD dash finished the scoring with 1:59 to play.
The Falcons’ receivers all enjoyed big nights. Bower caught three TD passes, while Young had 102 yards receiving and two scores. McFadden added 90 more yards receiving and a touchdown.
Hillsdale returns to action next week at Lucas.
The Pirates will try to break into the win column on Friday night at Northwestern.