JEROMESVILLE − Hillsdale senior quarterback Kael Lewis stated it finest throughout his postgame interview.
"It's been a monkey on my again these previous 4 years."
That "monkey on my again" Lewis was referring to is the 11-game dropping streak Hillsdale had suffered towards Norwayne heading into Friday evening's contest. Lewis and his senior class was part of the final three losses, together with two because the beginning quarterback.
That streak is now formally over, because the Falcons (8-1, 5-1) handed it to Norwayne (5-4, 5-1) fairly handily 33-3 at residence and beat the one crew that has been a relentless thorn within the aspect of the two-time Division VII state title runners-up.
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"This is without doubt one of the best emotions in soccer I've had," stated Lewis, proudly after lastly getting one towards Norwayne. "We take a look at it as a rivalry however clearly they don't. That's my first time beating Norwayne in soccer. I’ve in different sports activities however not in soccer. I didn't have my finest video games towards them however I assumed I performed fairly first rate tonight and we received the job carried out."
Hillsdale head coach Trevor Cline alluded to beating an at all times sturdy Norwayne crew as a objective that this system has been looking for for someday now.
"We have now labored for this for a few years and the blokes who got here earlier than this group gave themselves a possibility to beat Norwayne however for no matter cause it didn't occur."
One of many explanation why Hillsdale was in a position to take down Norwayne this 12 months was the play of the two-time All Ohioan Lewis and what he did outdoors the pocket. Routinely extending the offensive play when strain got here or when there was no out there receiver open, Lewis took it upon himself to zip by defenders and get upfield, whether or not for first downs or getting within the endzone.
Lewis rushed for 4 touchdowns and 95 yards on the bottom, whereas tossing one landing cross for 223 yards within the air.
"I believe our cross blocking has slowly progressed all through the season. Early within the season, we struggled working the ball," stated Cline. "Tonight we had been in a position to run the soccer effectively. Additionally, a few of the performs Kael made and the performs the place he simply took off is the rationale why he's been one among our key gamers."
"We knew their outdoors linebackers had been blitzing and our huge receivers had been blocking like no different," Lewis stated, on what helped him achieve success as a scrambler. "That opened up the run from there."
The Falcons secondary of Lewis, Porter Boreman, Davis Radcliffe, Ayden Salyer (one INT) and Kyle Turk (one INT) additionally did their speaking on this recreation, as Hillsdale's cross protection had been very efficient in defending towards Norwayne's go and wheel routes.
"That sophomore quarterback [Bradley Lanz] is nice. He's gonna be good," stated Lewis. "We made positive to not let anybody get behind us. For our protection to solely enable them to attain three factors towards Norwayne is remarkable right here."
"One of many issues we challenged them to all through the week was that we have to win the 1-on-1 battles, if we're going to win this recreation," stated Cline. "It was superior watching these guys and the variety of 1-on-1 battles that went our method."
Now in a three-way tie for first place within the Wayne County Athletic League with Smithville and Norwayne and another common season recreation left, Hillsdale will purpose to clinch a minimum of a share of the title for the primary time since 2014, in the event that they defeat Chippewa in Week 10. But, earlier than that, Cline talked about simply how a lot of a aid it was to get one over Norwayne.
"It's been robust as a result of it's a type of issues that we haven't been in a position to obtain and recover from that hump with Norwayne. Final 12 months was a intestine punch. We left that recreation feeling like we must always have gotten a win. Additionally, we did it in assertion trend. With the ability to put a working clock on a high quality crew."
jamessimpson@gannett.com
Twitter/X: @JamesSimpsonII
This text initially appeared on The Each day Document: s