Sometime, a player not named Jaxin Patterson or Austin Romaine will need to make a big play that wins a game for the 2022 Hillsboro football team.
If the Hawks are to win their first district championship since 2017, one of the other experienced seniors, or perhaps a younger player, must make a key catch, run or tackle. Last year senior defensive back Harrison Voyles made such a play, recovering a fumble after Romaine stripped the ball away against Festus. That sealed the Hawks’ Mississippi Area Football Conference Red Division win over the Tigers, part of an eight-game winning streak.
The good times ended when North County figured out how to contain Patterson and Romaine in the running game and shut out Hillsboro 24-0 in the Class 4 District 1 championship. The Hawks had beaten the Raiders in the regular season to win the MAFC Red. North County went on to the state semifinals.
Hillsboro head coach Bill Sucharski knows better than to make any season a “district championship or bust” type of campaign. But he understands the importance of this year’s group of seniors to a program that is sound from top to bottom, not unlike the school’s wrestling program that churns out state qualifiers and wins team trophies year after year.
“We try to preach one game at a time,” Sucharski said. “We expect to play and compete for conference and district championships. There’s always luck involved when it comes to injuries. You want to set those goals at a minimum.”
Romaine, a first-team all-state linebacker and MAFC Red most valuable player a year ago, has verbally committed to play for Kansas State University. Patterson, also a running back/linebacker, hasn’t made a commitment yet, but is sure to draw plenty of interest from NCAA Division I and II schools.
Both have been exceptionally durable. In three seasons, Patterson has rushed 625 times for 4,060 yards and scored 48 touchdowns. Romaine (244 carries for 2,118 yards and 26 TDs) is the thunder to Patterson’s lightning, but makes his biggest impact on defense.
“We get into games and you see teams trying to take one or the other away,” Sucharski said. “When they do that, the other has a big game. At times, they’ve had big games at the same time.”
Limiting the hits in practices and games is vital to keeping Patterson and Romaine healthy.
“During the offseason we review what to get better at,” Sucharski said. “We’ve made a concerted effort even at the beginning of the year to keep our players healthy with how we train the kids and the amount of reps they get in practice.
“I know what Jaxin and Austin can do with the ball in their hands; they don’t need to carry the ball 30 times in practice because that adds up over time. Even on days when we’re at ‘thud’ tempo, when they’re not getting hit in the legs, it’s wear and tear on the body.”
Complementing the senior duo will be young running backs, receivers and a new quarterback behind an almost completely rebuilt offensive line. Juniors Payton Brown and Cohen Linderer, senior Kaden Brown and sophomore Chris Duncan are at running back. Brown’s best game in 2021 was eight carries for 140 yards and two touchdowns against Windsor.
“We’ve got backs with size and wiggle and we’ll try to mix them in to the best of our advantage,” Sucharski said.
At quarterback, junior A.J. Heuszel and sophomore Preston Brown are making Sucharski think hard about who the starter will be after both showed promise on the junior varsity last year.
“(Heuszel) was thrown into that position last year on our JV and stepped up and did a good job,” the coach said. “Preston shared reps on the JV. Both are great kids who work really hard and they’ve been getting even reps in practice.”
The Hawks have experienced outside receivers in senior Blake Larson and junior Chase Sucharski, the coach’s son. Sophomore wideout Keiten Pipkins adds depth and junior Dalton Ross and senior Canyon Stout play the hybrid back-receiver “Z” position. Senior Nick Doerner and junior Gavin Hite are the tight ends.
Whoever plays quarterback, the Hawks will need to throw the ball to keep defenses honest. “We have to improve in the passing game and take the pressure off our offensive line, instead of seeing eight- or nine-man boxes,” Sucharski said.
Junior offensive lineman Wyatt Yaeger is a three-year starter and the only returner up front. Senior Xavier Brown is the center and junior Max Deranja is at guard and backs up Brown.
Senior Alex Medina might see action on the O-line, but Sucharski said he’d prefer to keep him fresh on the defensive front, where he excelled as an all-conference first teamer with four sacks and 52 tackles. Seniors Hunter Reed and Connor Boyster bolster the D-line. The secondary is in good hands with senior Griffin Ray, Larson and Voyles.
Opposing ball carriers don’t make it far with the wide-ranging Romaine hunting them down.
“He’s one of, if not the best player I’ve ever coached, especially at (linebacker),” Sucharski said. “He’s a really smart, instinctive player. He comes off the field and informs the coaches how a front is trying to pick up what we’re doing on defense.”
Returning at kicker is junior Nick Marchetti, who booted 27 extra points and earned first-team MAFC Red honors last season.
The Hawks open Friday at Sikeston, a team they haven’t met since beating the Bulldogs 23-6 in the 2019 district playoffs. Hillsboro begins its home schedule against Cape Girardeau Central on Sept. 2.
“I don’t like playing (the same) out-of-conference teams five or six years in a row,” Sucharski said.
A late opening in the schedule enabled Hillsboro to invite Cardinal Ritter of St. Louis for its homecoming on Oct. 14. The Lions finished 7-7 last year but made it all the way to the state Class 3 semifinals before losing 21-20 to St. Pius X of Kansas City.
“I like having that game right before districts because we know we’re going to see a good team that will be a challenge for us,” Sucharski said.