The stadium lights suddenly went out minutes before the kickoff of the Nov. 17 Class 4 state football quarterfinal clash between Hillsboro and host Pacific.
The power outage looked like a bad omen for one of the two squads fighting to stay alive and play after Thanksgiving. But the lights flicked back on after a short delay and the Indians and Hawks proceeded to electrify their fans with big plays that left the outcome uncertain until senior defensive back Dalton Ross intercepted a late pass by Pacific sophomore quarterback Seth Stack in the Hillsboro end zone, sealing a 48-35 Hawk triumph.
The victory earned Hillsboro (11-1) a berth in the Class 4 semifinals at 1 p.m. Saturday at home against Lutheran North (11-1) of north St. Louis County. The Crusaders, six-time state champions, outgunned Hannibal (11-2) 70-61 in their quarterfinal game. This is Hillsboro’s first trip to the state semifinals since 1991.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Hills-boro head coach Bill Sucharski said. “I was a kid sitting in the stands at Gateway Tech in 1991 when we played Sumner. To get a Saturday home game for our fans and community is really special. Hillsboro is my home and where I grew up and graduated from, so being able to get that definitely means a lot.”
A year ago, the Hawks lost in the quarterfinals to eventual state champion St. Mary’s, and when program stalwarts Jaxin Patterson and Austin Romaine graduated, Sucharski kept getting asked the same question.
“‘How are you going to replace this guy or that guy?’ And I’d say, ‘I’m just going to coach our kids,’” he said. “We’re going to love on them and hopefully put them in position to have success.” Sucharski’s assistant coaches include Bobby Anderson, Don Brown (father of the standout tandem Payton and Preston), Derek Collins, Justin Horn (quarterback of the Hawks’ 2011 district champions), Zach Lynn, Jason Reese, Brandon Saffel, Mike Wattle and Zach Welper.
“Dalton Ross played outside linebacker last year, but we lost our safety and he learned a whole new position,” Sucharski said. “He’s a smart kid who makes all of our checks back there.”
Ross’s pick ended a see-saw game in which the postseason script was flipped on Hillsboro. The Hawks trailed Festus 21-0 midway through the first quarter before storming back to beat the Tigers 29-28 in the Class 4 District 1 championship game Nov. 10.
This time Hillsboro led Pacific 21-0 by the end of the first quarter, but the Indians tied the game 28-28 when Stack scored a touchdown on a 10-yard run with 2:25 left in the third.
Senior Payton Brown received the ensuing kickoff, split the Indian kick coverage unit in two and raced 86 yards for a TD, and after senior kicker Nick Marchetti’s extra point, the Hawks reclaimed a 35-28 advantage.
“We start every practice with special teams and that’s our fourth or fifth return for a touchdown this year,” Sucharski said. “(Payton) is a dangerous weapon back there. He and Cohen (Linderer) are electric. We put the scheme in and once they learn it, they make big plays.”
Two minutes into the fourth quarter, it was junior Preston Brown’s turn to jolt Pacific and dim its prospects of a second consecutive upset – the Indians beat No. 1-seeded Sullivan 21-20 in the District 2 final – on a 62-yard scoring run and suddenly Hillsboro was ahead by two scores again, 42-28.
But when Stack completed a five-yard TD pass to senior wide receiver Joseph Avilez with 5:22 left to play, that made it a one-possession game. It was time for Payton Brown to deliver one more time, as he has all season. He dashed 36 yards to score his fifth touchdown on the night with 1:33 left to seal the victory.
Brown finished with 247 yards on 20 carries and now has 1,380 yards for the season on 126 runs. That 11-yard average per carry ranks him among the best in the St. Louis area. His 196 points (32 touchdowns and two two-point conversions) rank No. 1.
Brown’s five touchdowns against Pacific are the most in a postseason game for Hillsboro since Micheal Keller scored seven against Sikeston in 2016. Sucharski said Pacific’s size along the front line was a concern, led by bruising senior Nathanial Knaff, who intercepted a Preston Brown pass at the end of the first half when Hillsboro was gunning for another score.
Opening the holes for the Hawk backs were seniors Wyatt Yaeger, Barrett Silhavy, Wyatt Phillips and Max Deranja, juniors Micah Bacher and Cole Lossman and sophomore Caden Romaine.
“If my line doesn’t make those blocks, I don’t find the gaps and make a guy miss,” Payton said.
“It’s all thanks to them and I love them.
“We have a tight bond here. We fought and stuck together. We knew we had the lead and had to keep it and we were going to do it.”
Pacific rushed for 224 yards, most of them by bullish senior running back Raidon Fowler. “(Fowler) gets yards against everybody,” Sucharski said. “Even in the games they lost earlier in the year. They do a good job of running the ball. Their quarterback (Stack) is a big kid and I think they threw for about 2,200 yards this year and ran for over (2,000 yards).
“It was a battle, but our kids made plays when they had to. We had to sub here and there to get better matchups.”
Not to be overlooked, all-conference kicker Marchetti made six of seven PATs, has drilled 55 this season and has 139 for his stellar career.
Hornets season comes to end
Crystal City (8-4) was tied 14-14 with top-seeded St. Vincent (9-3) in the second quarter, but the Indians scored the next 31 points to win 45-14 and claim the Class 1 District 2 title in Perryville Nov. 17. St. Vincent plays Marionville (12-0) in the state semifinals Saturday.
The Hornets beat Harrisburg 40-30 and Tipton 8-6 in the first two rounds of the district playoffs. Under head coach Dan Fox, Crystal is 16-6 the last two seasons. However, the Hornets will lose their top two running backs, seniors Caden Raftery and Kanden Bolton, to graduation.