PR Sports

The Hillcrest Knights might have ran off an 11-1 record on their way to winning the 4A state championship last year, but the Knights left one box unchecked: a season opening loss to the Madison Bobcats.

Hillcrest took care of that bit of business, this time around by claiming a 51-19 season-opening win over Madison at Viking Stadium at BYU-Idaho.

Hillcrest senior Brent Johnson said the Knights used last season’s loss as motivation.

“Oh my gosh. That’s all we thought about,” Johnson said. “It was bad blood. We wanted them bad.”

Madison didn’t exactly stymie the powerful Hillcrest running game early, but Madison kept pace. Madison took a 13-8 lead in the second quarter when junior quarterback Tom Morley found senior Sherm Nielson for a 33-yard touchdown pass.

The lead was short-lived, as Johnson ran back the ensuing kickoff 76 yards for a touchdown.

Madison coach Dale Anderson said Johnson’s run-back was a back breaker.

“We get a nice touchdown play, and they turn around and run the kickoff back,” Anderson said. “That’s such a momentum swing.”

The tide continued to reverse. Early in the third quarter, Hillcrest senior Jordan Speirs punched in a 1-yard touchdown run. On Madison’s first play from scrimmage, Jordan Lewis picked off a pass from Morley. The next play after that, Speirs scampered in for a 25-yard score. With two conversions, a nine-point deficit turned into a 38-13 morass in 14 seconds.

Hillcrest senior Droghei enjoyed a monster season last year, rushing for 36 touchdowns. However, the loss to Madison was rough for him. A backup thrust into a feature role, Droghei fumbled three times and felt responsible for the loss.

Droghei was the workhorse for Hillcrest this time around, rushing 24 times for 172 yards and two touchdowns out of the double wing offense.

“It feels great to redeem myself,” Droghei said. “I was just sick after the game (last year). I felt like it was all my fault. We battled and took it to them.”

Spiers chipped in 102 yards and two touchdowns, and Johnson ran for a 14-yard score late in the game. In his first game as varsity quarterback for Hillcrest, senior Johnny Griffiths threw just two passes, one of which senior Tyson Oswald ran in for a 54-yard touchdown.

Morley threw two interceptions, but Anderson liked what he saw out of his first-year starter. Throwing mostly on the run out of the shotgun, Morley picked at the Hillcrest secondary, completing 18-of-31 passes for 249 yards and three scores. Nielson was his favorite target, catching 10 balls for 127 yards, including two bobbling catches off of deflections that went for 33 and 41 yards.

Hillcrest 51, Madison 19
Hillcrest            8          14        23        6          -           51
Madison           6          7          0          6          -           19
First Quarter
HC – Devi Droghei 30 run (run good)
MD – Sherm Nielson 1 pass from Tim Morley (pass failed).
Second Quarter
MD – Nielson 33 pass from Morley (Brady Bagley kick)
HC – Brent Johnson 74 kickoff return (run failed)
HC – Tyson Oswald 54 pass from Johnny Griffiths (Jordan Spiers run)
Third Quarter
HC – Spiers 1 (Droghei run)
HC – Spiers 25 (Droghei run)
HC – Droghei 4 (Justin Fitch kick)
Fourth Quarter
MD – Nielson 41 pass from Morley (kick failed)
HC – Brent Johnson 14 (kick failed)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING – Hillcrest: Devin Droghei 24-172, 3TD, Jordan Spiers 15-1-2, 2 TD, Jake Belnap 9-72, Johnny Griffiths 4-16, Brent Johnson 4-25, TD, Schyler Odum 2-10.
Madison: Brady Bagley 5-7, Ben Orchard 4-5, Tim Morley 15- -26 yards.
PASSING – Hillcrest: Johnny Griffiths 1-2, 54 yards, TD. Madison: Tim Morley 18-31, 249 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT.
RECEIVING – Hillcrest: Tyson Oswald 1-54, TD. Madison: Sherm Nielson 10-127, 3 TD, Bryton Ricks 5-92, Nathan Brodie 2-26, Brady Bagley 1-2.