(Coach Jack O'Roarke pictured below)
The Hillsboro Indians clinched a share of the Frontier Athletic Conference championship and locked in a trip to the post season with a resounding 68-7 win over Highland County rival McClain, 68-7.
Hillsboro (9-1, 4-1) put the game out of reach early with 4 first quarter touchdowns, 3 by senior running back Dion Burns and one by junior running back Mark Gallimore as the Indians raced to a 29-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Burns added his fourth touchdown of the night with 8:43 left in the second period to push the Indians lead to 36-0 and Gallimore added his second touchdown run to give the Indians an insurmountable 42-0 lead at the half.
Senior running back Josh Keets added a 53 yard touchdown jaunt early in the third quarter, and Logan Hester added a 42 yard touchdown run to extend the Indians lead to 54-0 at the end of the third quarter.
After McClain (2-8, 1-4) scored early in the 4th quarter to cut the lead to 54-7, Keets struck again for Hillsboro, returning the kickoff 65 yards to push the lead to 61-7. Senior running back James Coday scored on a 14 yard run on the Indians last possession to finish the scoring in the 68-7 victory.
Hillsboro won the Rotary Bowl - a traveling trophy sponsored by the Hillsboro and Greenfield Rotary Clubs - for the 21st time in 34 years and also clinched a share of the FAC championship with Jackson, a 20-7 winner at Chillicothe. The league championship is the first for Hillsboro since 1998 and the tenth overall in the history of Hillsboro football.
Hillsboro will continue the 2018 season in the OHSAA playoffs next week, the opponent and location will be determined later this weekend. This will be the Indians 7th trip to the playoffs, and their first since 2005.