JEROMESVILLE — Kael Lewis and Knox Lewis have been connecting on football fields almost their entire lives.
Friday night, the senior Hillsdale brothers and fraternal twins turned that connection into three touchdowns.
Kael found Knox for three scores as the Falcons opened the 2026 season with a 34-20 victory over Black River, beginning their quest of a return to the state championship game for a third consecutive year.
“We’ve had that chemistry literally since we were born,” Knox said. “It’s a really beneficial thing when you have a receiver and a quarterback that have been playing together for 18 years.
“I know all of his tendencies, and he knows all of mine.”
Kael finished with 231 yards passing and four touchdowns, while Knox had 93 yards receiving and caught three touchdowns, including the Falcons’ opening score on a fourth-down play.
“That’s been brewing for a long time, since flag football,” Kael said. “I didn’t expect that tonight, but he balled out.”
Hillsdale led just 7-0 deep into the second quarter after an interception, penalties and other early mistakes slowed the offense.
But the Falcons struck twice in the final few minutes of the half, including a 23-yard touchdown pass from Kael Lewis to junior Ayden Salyer and another Lewis-to-Lewis touchdown, to open a 21-0 bulge at halftime.
“It was a sloppy game,” Hillsdale coach Trevor Cline said. “Anyone that was here understands that’s not the standard that we as a football program are going to play to.”
The Falcons extended the advantage after halftime when a blocked punt set up a short touchdown run by Mason Sloan, the younger brother of former Hillsdale standout Owen Sloan.
Mason finished with 55 yards on the ground and a touchdown in his first game taking on a larger role in the Falcons’ offense.
“He obviously has some pretty big shoes to fill,” Cline said. “But Mason’s one of those kids that he’s not going to live in his brother’s shadow. He’s going to write his own story, and I’m looking forward to seeing how that story plays out.”
Still, Black River refused to go quietly.
Senior Jaxson Brewer caught two touchdown passes from sophomore QB Dominic Bell as the Pirates cut the deficit to 34-20 with about four minutes remaining.
Bell finished with 176 yards passing and three total touchdowns, two in the air and one rushing touchdown.
Hillsdale was without junior linebacker Deacon Boreman, the Falcons’ leading returning tackler after recording 71 stops last season. Cline said that Boreman will miss the remainder of the season with an injury.
“It’s disappointing, because you hate to see a kid lose a season of high school,” Cline said. “But he’s on his way to getting back healthy, and we look forward to having him back next year.”
Hillsdale graduated 15 seniors from the most successful class in program history, leaving just five seniors on this year’s roster.
“We’re trying to play a big part and lead this group,” Kael said. “We know there’s a bunch of underclassmen, and that’s what they need.”
The Falcons, state runner-up in Division VII each of the past two seasons before moving to Division VI this fall, travel to Lucas in Week 2.
Hillsdale vs Black River photos
Photos by Zac Hiser
