The Lions Couldn't Stop the Trojans Attack;

Hillsboro's Coasts to a 35-7 Victory at Buller Field

by Dennis Gonzales

September 29, 2008

One worry Lyons head football coach Matt Sandbo had entering Friday’s game against Hillsboro was running back Ishmael Morris. Sandbo’s worry wasn’t for nothing. Morris rushed for 146 yards in Hillsboro’s 35-7 victory.

“We were out-played and out-coached,” he said. “It was a very disappointing game to say the least. I feel we took some steps back mentally and, obviously, could have played and executed better than we did.

“Their players made more plays then our players and, upfront, they really controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.”

The Lions were coming off a 41-35 victory over Haven. Morris collected his 144 yards on 22 carries. He also scored on first-half runs of 1, 13 and 22 yards. His performance did not overshadow the 116 yards rushing output of Lyons' quarterback Jake Craig. Craig also threw for 104 yards. His production accounted for 227 of the Lions’ 248 total yards.

Hillsboro built an insurmountable 28-0 half-time lead. “They took advantage of a couple of short fields in the first half, and we didn’t execute offensively like we need to in the red zone,” said Sandbo. Hillsboro led 35-0 untill Brandon Harmony’s five-yard touchdown run erased their shut-out bid with 2:15 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Now 3-1, Hillsboro accumulated 413 total yards on 61 plays. Through the air, they racked up 166.
Lyons’ Nick Meyer and Carlos Landeros were busy on defense, collecting 12 and 11 tackles, respectively.

Coach Sandbo will now prepare his Lions for the week ahead. “The nice thing about it is we get a chance to prepare and play again this week and evaluate ourselves again against another good team,” he said.

It is 2008 Homecoming when the 1-3 Lions welcome Southeast of Saline to Buller Field October 3. Southeast is 2-2. They opened 2008 with a 38-14 loss to Beloit then defeated Russell (30-6) and Minneapolis (32-11).

Friday, they dropped a 26-11 decision to Sacred Heart. “Southeast always seems to play very hard and will have a very good run/pass threat at quarterback,” said Sandbo. “They run to the ball and tackle defensively as well as any team we’ve seen and return virtually everyone from last year.”

Good Luck Lions!!
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In KSHSAA 3A District 13, Ellsworth is 4-0 and Hoisington 3-1. Lyons and Ellinwood are 1-3.Wichita Collegiate sits atop the MCAA at 4-0 and is ranked No. 3 in the September 28 Wichita Eagle 3A poll. Garden Plain is No. 1 and Silver Lake No. 2. Conway Springs holds down No. 4 and Beloit enters at No. 5. Ellsworth and Hoisington are on the outside looking in.