Sports News

Hillsboro won its third straight football game last Friday, defeating Richland, 35-8, at Colfax.
Continuing to play better each week, the 3-0 Burros controlled both sides of the line of scrimmage in dominating the tradition-rich Colts.
The Burros on offense racked up 368 total yards. On defense, Hillsboro limited the Colts to just 126 yards.
“We did a nice job winning field position and controlling the clock,” said Mark Rerick, Hillsboro coach.
Overall, he said, the Burros played fairly well.
The Burros produced a “very stereotypical option game” on offense, offered Rerick, with each of the option backs finishing with similar numbers in carries and yards gained.
The defense, meanwhile, forced five fumbles and knocked down several passes.
Rerick stopped short in praising his team’s domination of the Richland Colts.
“We were sloppy on a couple of series here and there, but we executed much better than we did last week,” when the Burros ran over Central Valley, 50-14.
When Hillsboro wasn’t hereing and thereing on offense, the blue and white left the Colts black and blue, limiting Richland to eight first downs, 65 yards rushing and 61 yards passing.
The Colts threw the ball 18 times, completing eight passes.
“We did a good job covering the field, which forced Richland to throw the ball deeper more often they would like,” said Rerick.
The Burros countered with a three for four passing game. The fifth TD of the game, fourth by Hillsboro, came on a 36-yard perfect scoring strike from quarterback Aaron Meyer to end Jamie Horne.
That helped soften up the defense, suggested Rerick.
Other Burro TDs came from Brian Smelden, 3-yard run; Anthony VonRuden, 3-yard run; Jake McLean, 5-yard fumble recovery; and Andrew Grothmann, 7-yard run.
McLean, Rerick said, had another huge game for the Burros. The junior linebacker led the team in tackles.
Grabbing the loose football on the 5-yard line, McLean ran in untouched for the Burros’ third score, giving Hillsboro a 22-0 lead at halftime.
Andrew Grothmann had 103 yards on 12 carries, an 8.6 average. Meyer was credited with 91 yards on 12 carries while Smelden rushed for 75 yards on 14 carries.
Sophomore Zack Grothmann, who had 33 yards on seven carries, ran a punt back for 20 yards. Josh Mayo, another sophomore, had a 31-yard punt return.
The punt returns by Mayo and Grothmann were “exceptional,” said Rerick.
Zach Grothmann, the younger brother of junior Andrew Grothmann, had a good night on defense, too, finishing with seven unassisted tackles.
Hillsboro forced Richland to punt six times. The Burros, however, fumbled the ball away twice and were penalized four times for 37 yards.
With the Region 2 win, the Burros improved to 2-0 in league play, 3-0 overall. Richland fell to 1-1 and 1-2.