Hilliard survives game, Westland
Two goal-line stands preserve a 24-19 victory for Wildcats
By Steve Blackledge
Dispatch Sports Reporter
In a high school football game full of big plays and non-stop thrills, the deciding factor may well have been a broken chinstrap.
Hilliard stopped visiting Westland three straight times inside the 1-yard line during the warning moments and escaped with a 24-19 victory.
“What happened? Did somebody line up offsides down there?”, Hilliard coach John Sines asked.
Actually, with Westland facing fourth-and-goal at the 6-inch line and only 1:30 remaining, Cougars quarterback Chad Riggs was assessed a 5-yard penalty for an equipment violation.
“When I lined up over center, the referee blew the whistle and said my equipment was improper,” Riggs said. “My mouthpiece was kind of half out because my teammates couldn’t hear me with all the noise. He said it was my chinstrap. I told him it was broken and wouldn’t snap. The referee said if I had told him that beforehand, he wouldn’t have called it.”
On the final play, Riggs overthrew has intended receiver in the end zone.
“Those things happen,” Westland coach Tom Greer said. “That’s part of the discipline of the game. We came a couple inches short a few times.”
Midway through the second quarter, it appeared Riggs had hit Doug Carper on a comeback route in the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown pass.
The officials, however, ruled Carper did not cross the plan of the goal line and instead spotted the ball at the 2.
On fourth down, Hilliard answered the call with another great defensive stand, stuffing Chris Coleman a yard short.
“Those two goal-line stands decided the game,” Sines said. ‘I’ll tell you, the breaks went our way. I’m not gonna complain. Sometimes you’ve got to be lucky, too. Truthfully, that wasn’t a game either team lost.”
The Wildcats also caught a break when Jason Green kicked a field goal with less than a second left in the first half- three points that proved vital.
Quarterback, Steve Baird rushed 17 times for 95 yards and touchdowns of 1, 2 and 46 yards to spark Hilliard (3-0), which led 24-6 midway through the third quarter.
Coleman answered with an 85-yard kickoff return, and Riggs hit Carper with a 54-yard bomb to revive the Cougars (2-1). Riggs completed 11 of 26 passes for 238 yards, with Carper hauling in seven for 206 yards and two long TD’s.
Baird credited the victory to the Wildcats’ defense, led by linebackers Willie Easterday and Matt Cotrell.
“They may have put up some numbers and connected on some big plays,” Baird said, “but we took it to them on defense. I think that was the difference. We stopped them when it mattered.”
By Steve Blackledge
Dispatch Sports Reporter
In a high school football game full of big plays and non-stop thrills, the deciding factor may well have been a broken chinstrap.
Hilliard stopped visiting Westland three straight times inside the 1-yard line during the warning moments and escaped with a 24-19 victory.
“What happened? Did somebody line up offsides down there?”, Hilliard coach John Sines asked.
Actually, with Westland facing fourth-and-goal at the 6-inch line and only 1:30 remaining, Cougars quarterback Chad Riggs was assessed a 5-yard penalty for an equipment violation.
“When I lined up over center, the referee blew the whistle and said my equipment was improper,” Riggs said. “My mouthpiece was kind of half out because my teammates couldn’t hear me with all the noise. He said it was my chinstrap. I told him it was broken and wouldn’t snap. The referee said if I had told him that beforehand, he wouldn’t have called it.”
On the final play, Riggs overthrew has intended receiver in the end zone.
“Those things happen,” Westland coach Tom Greer said. “That’s part of the discipline of the game. We came a couple inches short a few times.”
Midway through the second quarter, it appeared Riggs had hit Doug Carper on a comeback route in the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown pass.
The officials, however, ruled Carper did not cross the plan of the goal line and instead spotted the ball at the 2.
On fourth down, Hilliard answered the call with another great defensive stand, stuffing Chris Coleman a yard short.
“Those two goal-line stands decided the game,” Sines said. ‘I’ll tell you, the breaks went our way. I’m not gonna complain. Sometimes you’ve got to be lucky, too. Truthfully, that wasn’t a game either team lost.”
The Wildcats also caught a break when Jason Green kicked a field goal with less than a second left in the first half- three points that proved vital.
Quarterback, Steve Baird rushed 17 times for 95 yards and touchdowns of 1, 2 and 46 yards to spark Hilliard (3-0), which led 24-6 midway through the third quarter.
Coleman answered with an 85-yard kickoff return, and Riggs hit Carper with a 54-yard bomb to revive the Cougars (2-1). Riggs completed 11 of 26 passes for 238 yards, with Carper hauling in seven for 206 yards and two long TD’s.
Baird credited the victory to the Wildcats’ defense, led by linebackers Willie Easterday and Matt Cotrell.
“They may have put up some numbers and connected on some big plays,” Baird said, “but we took it to them on defense. I think that was the difference. We stopped them when it mattered.”