It took awhile, but Hilliard finally corralled Buirley
By Ray Stein
Dispatch Sports Reporter
There seemed to be some questions as to what exactly was wrong with the Hilliard defense throughout much of its Division I regional final against Mount Vernon last night.
But there was no question the Wildcats got a lot better when they needed to.
Hilliard, pummeled for three quarters by Mount Vernon running back Matt Buirley, came up big in the fourth quarter to help the Wildcats pull out a 27-19 win over the Yellow Jackets at Dublin High School.
Buirley, the Central District’s co-offensive player of the year this season, shredded Hilliard for 260 yards in 25 carries and three touchdowns but was limited to 24 yards on 5 carries in the fourth quarter.
“When it got down to the end it became like a personal challenge,” said Hilliard linebacker Willie Easterday, who had 17 tackles. “The whole fourt quarter, we were pumped up to stop him.”
The Wildcats (11-1) didn’t have the same approach at the start.
Buirley, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound punished Hilliard for 122 yards on 12 carries in the first half to help the Yellow Jackets to a 13-0 lead, then took his first carry of the third quarter 64 yards for a score to give Mount Vernon (9-3) a 19-14 lead.
“We threw everything but the kitchen sink at him, but it wasn’t working,” Hilliard coach John Sines said. “I think Buirley just overpowered us. We were hitting him, but he wasn’t going down. We definitely had a problem and it was tackling him.”
Why Hilliard had such problems, Sines and his players weren’t certain.
“He ran all over us in the first half because we were too psyched out,” Easterday said. “I think we were all nervous.”
Defensive tackle Erich Hopkins said, “I think we were a little too confident. When we came on the field, we didn’t think we were going to go down. They came out and shocked us. No one’s done that to us all year.”
Sines said the Wildcats’ problems likely were a combination of underestimation of the talents of Buirley and his line and poor execution by the defense.
“He’s better than we thought and we came in thinking he was really good,” Sines said. “They did a good job isolating him, getting him in one-on-one situations. If that kid doesn’t tackle him, you’re dead meat.”
Eventually though, the Hilliard defense came through, especially with the game on the line in the final minutes. Trailing 27-19, Mount Vernon faced fourth-and-5 from the Hilliard 18, but Buirley was stopped by Easterday and Shawn McCurdy after a gain of a yard.
“Before the play, I pointed to (Buirley) and said, ‘You and me, man, you and me,’” Easterday said. He ran at us and we got it done.”
By that time, Buirley said, he had noticed a difference in the Wildcats.
“When the game started they thought we’d be a breeze,” Buirley said. “But when they started coming around to thinking Mount Vernon might be pretty good, they got a lot better.”
“The last few times we had the ball, they put out some extra effort. They stuffed us real well when they had to.”
Dispatch Sports Reporter
There seemed to be some questions as to what exactly was wrong with the Hilliard defense throughout much of its Division I regional final against Mount Vernon last night.
But there was no question the Wildcats got a lot better when they needed to.
Hilliard, pummeled for three quarters by Mount Vernon running back Matt Buirley, came up big in the fourth quarter to help the Wildcats pull out a 27-19 win over the Yellow Jackets at Dublin High School.
Buirley, the Central District’s co-offensive player of the year this season, shredded Hilliard for 260 yards in 25 carries and three touchdowns but was limited to 24 yards on 5 carries in the fourth quarter.
“When it got down to the end it became like a personal challenge,” said Hilliard linebacker Willie Easterday, who had 17 tackles. “The whole fourt quarter, we were pumped up to stop him.”
The Wildcats (11-1) didn’t have the same approach at the start.
Buirley, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound punished Hilliard for 122 yards on 12 carries in the first half to help the Yellow Jackets to a 13-0 lead, then took his first carry of the third quarter 64 yards for a score to give Mount Vernon (9-3) a 19-14 lead.
“We threw everything but the kitchen sink at him, but it wasn’t working,” Hilliard coach John Sines said. “I think Buirley just overpowered us. We were hitting him, but he wasn’t going down. We definitely had a problem and it was tackling him.”
Why Hilliard had such problems, Sines and his players weren’t certain.
“He ran all over us in the first half because we were too psyched out,” Easterday said. “I think we were all nervous.”
Defensive tackle Erich Hopkins said, “I think we were a little too confident. When we came on the field, we didn’t think we were going to go down. They came out and shocked us. No one’s done that to us all year.”
Sines said the Wildcats’ problems likely were a combination of underestimation of the talents of Buirley and his line and poor execution by the defense.
“He’s better than we thought and we came in thinking he was really good,” Sines said. “They did a good job isolating him, getting him in one-on-one situations. If that kid doesn’t tackle him, you’re dead meat.”
Eventually though, the Hilliard defense came through, especially with the game on the line in the final minutes. Trailing 27-19, Mount Vernon faced fourth-and-5 from the Hilliard 18, but Buirley was stopped by Easterday and Shawn McCurdy after a gain of a yard.
“Before the play, I pointed to (Buirley) and said, ‘You and me, man, you and me,’” Easterday said. He ran at us and we got it done.”
By that time, Buirley said, he had noticed a difference in the Wildcats.
“When the game started they thought we’d be a breeze,” Buirley said. “But when they started coming around to thinking Mount Vernon might be pretty good, they got a lot better.”
“The last few times we had the ball, they put out some extra effort. They stuffed us real well when they had to.”