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Perhaps, Lakota underestimated the Burros.
They shouldn’t have, if they did.
And if they did, they learned early it was a mistake.
Running on adrenaline and a sore ankle, Hillsboro’s horse in the backfield, Andrew Grothmann, burst through the line on two first quarter plays, pushed aside Lakota’s linebackers and rumbled untouched for 36 and 76 yards and the Burros were ahead to stay 14-0.
Junior quarterback Aaron Meyer would add two more touchdowns in Hillsboro’s 35-6 win over Lakota Saturday in the second round of the state’s 9-man football playoff.
It was the undefeated Burros’ 10th straight win.
Hillsboro shut down Lakota’s high-powered running game and running back Lance Johansen, who came into the playoff game with eight straight 100-yard-plus games. He was credited with 151 yards Saturday, but they didn’t come easy. He scored the Raider’s lone TD in the third quarter, but the game was already decided by then with Hillsboro leading 21-0.
The Raiders, whose season ended at 7-3, came into the game averaging 49 points a game. It was the first game this season Lakota had been held to under 38 points.
Hillsboro’s defense has been credited with the victory.
“That’s the best defense we’ve played against, by far,” Lakota coach Joe Harder told the region’s two daily newspapers.
Hillsboro coach Mark Rerick had a game plan to stop Johansen and the Raiders.
“We knew that slowing down their running back (Johansen) would be the key. We felt we did a good job keeping him contained.”
In keeping Johansen contained, the Burros kept the Raiders at bay and far from the goal line.
“We were able to keep them from breaking a big running play, which has been a huge part of their offense this season,” said Rerick.
The Burro coach credited his players up front with controlling the line of scrimmage.
“We did a nice job of setting the tone early. We came out hitting hard and played some very physical, intense football.”
Simply said, Rerick added, “That was a very, very physical game.”
But, you could see Lakota was frustrated, added the coach.
“You could see it in their eyes. We just took away every opportunity they had to bust a big play.”
The Raiders, Rerick has no doubt, are a well-coached, hard-nosed football team.
But so are his Burros.
Andrew Grothmann finished with 174 yards on 10 carries, averaging 17.4 yards a carry. With the Raider defense keying on the Burro fullback, Meyer handed the ball off to the fullback’s brother. Sophomore Zack Grothmann, playing in place of the injured Brian Smelden, ran for 129 yards on 18 carries. Anthony Von Ruden added another 50 yards on just four carries. Keeping the ball in the Burro’s veer offense, Meyer ran for 76 yards on 15 attempts.
The Burros pounded out 429 yards on the ground. For the game, they had 538 total offensive yards. Lakota countered with 174 yards on the ground and 288 total yards.
The Burros had 17 first downs, Lakota 11.
Zach Grothmann, Jake Olsen and Jamie Horne each had two receptions. Meyer was six of 10 passing for 109 yards.
Kicker Matt Schmitt added all five of Hillsboro’s extra points.
Josh Mayo, Andrew Grothmann and Jake McLean were the Burros’ top defensive players.
Hillsboro, Region 2 champions with a 7-0 record, will take its 10-0 overall record to Napoleon tomorrow (Saturday) in the quarterfinal round of the state playoffs.
Napoleon has eliminated the Burros from the postseason the last two years. The top-ranked Imperials are the defending 9-man champions.
Hillsboro, 18-1 in its last 19 games, is one of six undefeated 9-man teams still playing. Unbeaten and still in the chase, in addition to Hillsboro, are Napoleon, Mott-Regent, Divide County, St. John and North Border.
In the final statewide power poll released last week, Napoleon was ranked first, Mott-Regent second, Divide County third, and Hillsboro fourth. Edgeley-Kulm, beaten last week by once-beaten Dakota Prairie, was the No. 5 team in the final poll.