JEROMESVILLE – There were two early plays where it seemed like Mineral Ridge might give Hillsdale a game Friday night in their Division VI, Region 21 quarterfinal.
The Falcon defense broke down both plays – and eventually, the Rams – into dust.
Behind those two stops and an offense that operated with machine-like efficiency, fourth-seeded Hillsdale ripped through fifth-seeded Mineral Ridge like a freight train through a flower garden, 52-14.
It was the 20th playoff victory for the Falcons (10-1), who stretched their program-record home win streak to 15 games.
It also sends them into a road matchup next week against No. 3-ranked Division VI behemoth Kirtland (10-1), an eight-time state champion.
“I think (Mineral Ridge was) a quality football team, but it’s just, right from the get-go we sort of overwhelmed them,” Hillsdale coach Trevor Cline said. “Our guys came out ready to go.”
Photos by Doug Haidet
Mineral Ridge (10-2) entered the game after putting together one of the best seasons in its history. The Rams were a last-minute loss to McDonald away from what would have been their first undefeated regular season in 41 years.
The visitors looked to be up to the challenge Friday, traveling 57 yards on 14 plays on the game’s opening drive in a light rain.
But while Mineral Ridge chewed up more than 8 minutes of clock, Hillsdale stuffed the Rams on a fourth-and-2 run to take over possession.
Falcons senior quarterback Kael Lewis had a quick 10-yard completion to senior Kyle Turk, then ran for 16 yards on the next play and connected with junior Ayden Salyer for a 50-yard touchdown after that.
“I trust him so much to just throw up the ball to him and he’s gonna come down with it,” said Lewis of Salyer, who finished with 124 yards and two touchdowns on four catches.
Cameron Brown’s first PAT on a perfect 8-for-8 night of kicking made it 7-0.
The Rams, however, nearly answered on the ensuing drive.
On a third-and-21, senior quarterback Ethan Deley found senior Thomas Koniowsky III up the right side for a leaping catch. The receiver peeled away downfield for 66 yards and looked like he might have a game-tying touchdown, but Salyer caught up and punched out the ball, then Drew Daugherty recovered it on the Hillsdale 7-yard line.
After a 43-yard run by Mason Sloan and a 39-yard reception by Salyer, Lewis was set up for an 8-yard touchdown run just four plays later and it was 14-0.
Cline said the Salyer strip flipped the tone of the game. Salyer said it was the first varsity fumble he’s ever forced.
“I’ve always thought to myself just to hustle no matter what,” Salyer said. “Just hustle through the play, through the whistles and try my hardest.”
“I really was feeling it today and my confidence was through the roof,” he added. “… I feel like I played my best game yet this year.”
Facing a two-possession deficit against an offense that was clearly going to be tough to stop, the Rams went for it on fourth-and-1 from their own 28-yard line on the next possession.
Once again, Hillsdale stuffed it. And when Sloan ran in a 13-yard touchdown two plays later to make it 21-0, the game was all but over.
Second-year Mineral Ridge coach Andy Hake felt that second fourth-down try was a make-or-break moment for his team.
“It kinda snowballed away,” the 1998 MRHS graduate said. “It was 14-0 and we went for it on fourth down and didn’t get it, that really took the wind out of our sails. … We had to go for it there. It was hard stopping (Hillsdale).”
The rest of the first half was a blur. The Falcons somehow squeezed three more touchdowns onto the scoreboard in less than 4 minutes before halftime.
Lewis scored on a 16-yard run, then found Salyer for a 31-yard touchdown before hitting his brother, senior Knox Lewis, for a 5-yard strike.
It was 42-0 at halftime – 14 more points than the Rams had given up in any full game all season.
Hillsdale covered 300 yards and scored six touchdowns on just 19 plays in the first half (15.8 yards per play), committing just one penalty.
None of the Falcons’ six drives required more than four plays.
“We talked to them about how important it was to be efficient this week,” Cline said, “just because we knew that the game plan most likely for Mineral Ridge was gonna be to eat up as much clock as they could.”
Lewis shines once again
With a running clock rolling after halftime, Lewis put the finishing touches on yet another unstoppable night at quarterback. He blew through tacklers for a 40-yard touchdown that made it 49-0 halfway through the third quarter.
“(Lewis) is a first-team all-state quarterback (and) that’s a nice team, a veteran team,” Hake said. “… These guys have the athletes to play with (Kirtland and No. 5-ranked South Range in the region).”
Lewis was practically perfect in the game, completing 8-of-9 passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for 97 yards and three scores on just nine carries.
The senior has accounted for 8,800 yards and 114 touchdowns in his career on offense. He also hasn’t thrown an interception since Week 2.
Lewis said he couldn’t have asked for anything more in his final game at Hillsdale Community Stadium, where he was 19-1 as the team’s quarterback over three years.
“My first game here I had six touchdowns passing (as a sophomore), so to go out with six (more touchdowns Friday) is pretty special,” said Lewis, who has accounted for 2,828 yards and 40 total touchdowns as a senior. “It’s all credit to our guys and our line.”
“This senior class means so much to me and us,” he said. “We’ve made a lot of history in Hillsdale football the last few years and it’s just so special to go out like that (at home) against a team with 10 wins, to put a running clock on them.”
In the process, Lewis improved to 10-2 in the playoffs as a starting quarterback – easily the best postseason record for an Ashland-area signal-caller.
“Kael’s career in the postseason is what most kids would dream about growing up,” Cline said. “To be able to do what he’s done so far is really unbelievable.
“It seems like, when the games are the biggest, that’s when Kael steps up.”
Defensively on Friday, Sloan, Daugherty, Reed Mager and Knox Lewis all laid big hits at different junctures. Leading Rams running back Chandler Busse, who had 940 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground entering the game, was held to 25 yards on 11 carries.
The Hillsdale starting defense now has allowed just 10 points since the team’s Week 5 loss at Smithville.
Mineral Ridge scored a pair of touchdowns late on runs by Timothy Serensky (7 carries, 96 yards). But after their opening drive stalled, the visitors couldn’t keep up with the Falcons, who also got a 24-yard field goal from Brown.
“We knew that we had to go blow-for-blow with them in possessions and we weren’t able to do that,” Hake said.
Hillsdale’s senior class of the Lewis brothers, Turk, Mikey Shenberger and Colt McCoy now has a program-record 45 wins during its four seasons.
They have played in 13 playoff games and have been part of three straight double-digit-win seasons.
“The leadership that we’ve gotten out of (the seniors is) the reason why we’ve been able to achieve the success that a lot of people probably outside our locker room didn’t think that we would be able to do,” Cline said.
Kirtland awaits
Since losing to No. 2-ranked Division V team Perry (11-0) in Week 3, 31-10, Kirtland has won eight games in a row by a combined score of 373-17.
Five of the Hornets’ wins in that stretch were by shutout, including their 50-0 victory Friday over eighth-seeded Brookfield (8-4).
“We’ve been talking about (Kirtland) all offseason,” Lewis said. “They’ve won this region (and) when we walk into a region, we expect to win it. We know with them and (potentially) South Range that we’ve got a long way to go, but they’ve gotta beat us, too.”
Also on Friday in Region 21, No. 2 seed South Range (10-1) toppled No. 7 Smithville (9-3), 49-28, while No. 6 United (10-1) was a 21-14 upset winner over No. 3 Columbia (9-2).
While Hillsdale takes on Kirtland next week, United will travel to South Range.
“We understand what’s up next and this is something we’ve been working towards all year – getting to the point of playing one of these teams like this,” Cline said. “We understand it’s gonna take our best game to date, but our guys have also been exposed the last couple years to programs like this.”
