DALTON — From their very first offensive drive of the game, Hillsdale didn’t waste any time establishing the pecking order in this important league game against rival Dalton.
The Falcons smoothly stormed down the field and punched the ball in the endzone behind a touchdown pass from quarterback Kael Lewis to tight end Knox Lewis to open the game up.
They then proceeded to stake their claim even more as last season’s Division VII state runners-up outclassed a very good Dalton (3-2) squad 35-6 on the road that moved them to 5-0 on the season. Hillsdale vs. Dalton has typcially been a big game in the Northeast Ohio area and in the Wayne County Athletic League the past decade. However, the Falcons showed up and just did a number on the Bulldogs behind a well-rounded display.
“We talked about how this would be a statement win for us. We need to get off to a great start against this team,” Hillsdale head coach Trevor Cline said. “We went down on that first drive, scored and proceeded to do that on the next couple of drives. We might have had a punt here and there, but for the most part, we were able to move the ball when we wanted to.”
Even without All-Ohio wide receiver Hayden McFadden on offense, Hillsdale were plainly a well-oiled machine. They outgained Dalton 393 total yards to 255, with Lewis having another highly-productive game (151 passing yards, 2 TD passes, 0 INTs, 37 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD), running back Owen Sloan (178 rushing yards, 2 rushing TDs, including a 79-yard TD run in the 2nd quarter) being a continued force, wideout Kyle Turk (48 receving yards) and Knox Lewis (79 receiving yards, 2 TD catches) pitching in, as the Falcons offensive line played rock solid.
Saying all that, it was Hillsdale’s defensive group that took over the game. Coming into Friday night, the Falcons already had two shutouts to their name. They almost pulled off another one until a score by the Bulldogs late in the fourth quarter. Against Dalton quarterback Carter Hignight, Hillsdale’s defensive unit stayed discipline reading his QB designed runs, kept him in the pocket when he got on the move to throw and really didn’t let Dalton’s offense get into any rhythm throughout.
“We didn’t want him to string the play out and didn’t want him to create havoc, so that he had time to get where he wanted,” said Hillsdale defensive end Carston Stephens, who did a swell job pushing Hignight to the outside in the pocket and closing down on him on scrambles. “That was the gameplan and discussion at practice.”
Hillsdale were even able to snuff out the few screen plays Dalton ran.
“We prepared for that,” noted Stephens, who said the defense got even more comfortable as the offense increased the lead. “Our offense runs screens too, so we were able to go against that in practice.”
“Our defense has been playing extremely well. Coach Barr and Coach Mack are doing a great job on that side of the ball,” Cline said. “For us, we knew if we could limit his amount of plays where he extended the play, got out the pocket and buy time for his receivers, we would be fine against these guys. That’s what we were able to do tonight because he is one of the best players in our league.”
Dalton head coach Reid Geibel talked about the uphill challenge his team faced being down 21-0 at halftime.
“Go back to the first half. We put together some good drives. We were two missed assignments from keeping things going, that we hoped to capitalize into touchdowns,” Geibel said. “We felt we left 14 points on the field in the first half. We told them at the half, we’re not a young football team anymore. It’s Week 5. We’ll get better. We did a lot of good things tonight. We just didn’t do enough against a well-coached and very strong team.”
If playing against Dalton wasn’t motivation enough, Hillsdale had a little extra. Two years ago, Hillsdale traveled to Dalton and loss 50-7, as the Bulldogs went all the way to the Division VI state championship game. Let’s just say, for the Falcons players who played in that game in 2023, they had it on their mind on Friday.
“Yes, that was a discussion during practice,” Stephens said, who was in eighth grade two years ago. “We wanted to come out, compete and get the win.”
“We were a very young team a couple of years ago,” said Cline. “A lot of guys who played tonight played in that game. You’re always going to keep that in the back of your mind and use it as motivation. Our guys were able to really flip the script this year.”
jamessimpson@gannett.com
Twitter/X: @JamesSimpsonII
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Undefeated Hillsdale outclass rival Dalton, await WCAL showdown with Smithville
Reporting by James Simpson II, Wooster Daily Record / The Daily Record
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