HILLSBORO - Grandview: Hillsboro beat the Russellville Indians 62-0 during nonconference football action Saturday in Hillsboro.
The Eagles offense was able to garner 11 yards per carry on 38 attempts, totaling 418 yards on the ground to rush past the Indians, while the Grandview:Hillsboro defense held the Indians to 3.3 yards per carry on 41 attempts for 135 yards.
"There are going to be guys who are bigger than you," Russellville coach Tim Rulo said of the size mismatch his team faced at the line of scrimmage. "You need to be as technical as possible so you can be physical, and I thought we took a good step in that direction compared to last week."
The Eagles' defensive line kept Russellville's offense hurried all day with four sacks, a fumble recovery and three interceptions. The mismatch showed on the opening drive when the Eagles' defense backed the Indians up to their own 1 with two sacks and two false start penalties, forcing a punt out of the back of the Russellville end zone, then the offense went to work.
Clayton Riddle and Cameron Hagan split option carries to rack up 33 yards on four attempts, capped with a Riddle score from the Indians' 1 to go up with 8:20 left in the first quarter. Eric O'Brien hit his first of eight extra points, making him perfect on the day.
The ensuing kickoff led to a two-play drive for the Indians, ending on a fumbled snap, which Brandon Volner recovered for the Eagles.
Riddle ended a three-play 37-yard drive with an 8-yard keeper for his second touchdown with 7:03 left in the first quarter to put the Eagles up 14-0 after O'Brien's kick.
The Indians used tough running from Josiah Herman and a long pass from Jesse Daniel to Landen Waggoner, which bounced off the hands of two colliding Eagle defensive backs, to move the ball into Grandview: Hillsboro territory for the first time. But Ryan Ruble was able to undercut a deep pass for an interception and give the Eagles possession once again.
After two run plays put the Eagles' at their own 43, Grandview: Hillsboro dialed up its first pass of the game. Following a play-action fake, Riddle rolled out to his left and connected with Chase Wilson on the left seem for a 57-yard touchdown with 3:09 left in the opening quarter.
Riddle ended the next Russellville drive with an interception at the Indians' 35 and returned it seven yards to set up a four-play 58-yard drive that Hagan ended with a 17-yard dash to the end zone with 10:34 left before halftime. The score put the Eagles ahead 28-0.
The Indians put together their best drive of the day to answer.
Chris Seaver started the drive with a 9-yard carry up the middle, then Herman picked up a fumbled snap and got a first down before Alex Oligschlaeger took two carries for 24 yards to put the Indians at the Eages' 29. Herman then powered through defenders for 11 yards, but a false start penalty got the Indians off schedule and caused an eventual fourth down at the 14. Daniel targeted Alex Oligschlaeger in the endzone, but Grandview: Hillsboro defensive back Quinton Hopper was able to knock it down and return possession to the Eagles.
Hagan broke the next play for 70 yards, streaking down the home sideline and only stopped by a Drake Armes hustle tackle at the 13, before Riddle took another option keeper through the middle for a score.
The Indians then recovered an onside kick, after attempting them on the previous three kickoffs, and scored again after two running plays from O'Brien and Riddle. Riddle scored for his fourth rushing and fifth touchdown overall of the first half.
The Indians drove again, this time using 10 plays to reach the Eagles' 26. Russellville's rushing combo of Herman and Alex Oligschlaeger gained 19 yards on the first five plays, then a pass interfearance set Russellville up with attempts at the Eagles' 35. Three rushes and a wide receiver screen later, another turnover on downs returned possession to Grandview: Hillsboro, which knealed to end the half.
"There were moments where we showed a lot of physicality up front," Rulo said of the Indians' improved rushing performance. "I think they did a good job moving some people. I thought the offensive line might have played their best game so far."
The Eagles scored three times in a second half, which had a full running clock.
Riddle pocketed his second interception, this one at his own 40, and returned it for a touchdown with 3:40 left in the third quarter. Hopper scored on a 25-yard carry to end a two-play drive with 34.1 seconds left in the third quarter, then Ryan Yokely finished the game with an 8-yard dive with 12.8 seconds remaining.
The Indians seamed to favor Seaver rushing in the second half after he took a sweep to the right early in the third quarter for 29 yards, powering and spinning through the Eagles' defense on an effort-filled run. Seaver got four carries in the second half to rack up 37 of his 49 total rushing yards.
"Very realistically, I would say, we struggled. You can chalk it up to a lot of things, but those would all be excuses and we don't want to make excuses," Rulo said. "We just didn't play all that well. Coaches can coach better, we need to put the players in a better position to succeed. Players need to play better. We just all need to do better."
Daniel completed three passes for 49 yards, two to Waggoner for 24 yards and one to Alex Oligschlaeger for 25.
Herman led the Indians with 16 carries for 65 yards.
Hagan led the Eagles' offense with 10 carries for 162 yards, while O'Brien had 4 rushes for 82 yards.
"I thought we finished well and I was happy with that," Rulo said. "I thought we caused them some frustration, you could see that in their timeouts. We got a big stop on their first drive of the second half when they were coming down. I thought there were some good things there, we just cant wait till the second half to do that."
Russellville (1-2) will look to rebound when it plays host to Hogan Prep at 7 p.m. Friday.