Hillsboro Wins CKL Battle at Smoky Valley

LINDSBORG, Kan. – After going through tough district schedules, the Hillsboro Trojans and Smoky Valley Vikings met in a non-district game Friday night to wrap their regular season schedules. Hillsboro jumped out to a 14-0 lead after one quarter and finished with a 23-point win in the end, 37-14.

The Trojans took their first drive 57 yards in eight plays, finishing with a 14-yard touchdown run by Jesiah Gooch to take a 7-0 lead. The ensuing kickoff went off of Smoky Valley’s front line and was recovered by Nate Oelke of Hillsboro. Eight plays later, Gooch was in the end zone again on a 1-yard touchdown as the Trojans held a 14-0 lead before the Smoky Valley offense touched the ball.

The Vikings finally got on the board in the second quarter on a two-yard run by Jack Opat. Each team had opportunities in the final minute of the first half, but Smoky Valley’s offense turned the ball over in the final minute, while their defense stopped Hillsboro quarterback Zayne Haslett a yard short of a touchdown on the final play of the first half.

However, in the second half, Haslett was not to be contained. He had touchdown runs of 29 and 69 yards in the third quarter to put Hillsboro up 28-8 after three quarters and he tacked on a two-yard score early in the fourth to extend the lead to 35-8. The Vikings got their final score on a 53-yard touchdown pass from Ty Heitschmidt to Tanner Lohrey. Hillsboro had another opportunity to score late, but Smoky Valley stopped them at the two-yard line. The next play saw a fumble recovered in the end zone by the Vikings for a Hillsboro safety to cap the scoring at 37-14.

Hillsboro racked up 580 yards of offense as Haslett led the way with 225 yards on 21 carries and three touchdowns while also going 12-16 passing for 137 yards. Gooch needed 130 yards to surpass the 1,000 yard rushing mark and he tallied 22 carries for 175 yards and two scores on the night. The Trojans had 443 rushing yards in the win. Smoky Valley had 274 yards of total offense with 141 on the ground. Heitschmidt threw for 133 yards and a touchdown.

Hillsboro is now 5-3, guaranteeing a winning season for the sixth time in eight years. They will have a home game in the first round of the 2A playoffs this week. Smoky Valley is 3-5 and will be on the road for round one of the 3A playoffs.

Score by Quarters