“Offensively, we were led by QB Thomas Zwiers,” said Head Coach Derrick Clark.  “He led our team in rushing and was a very efficient 11-18 throwing the ball.  Ben Christenson started his first game at running back and I thought he did a great job of settling in during the second half and really ran the ball well.”

Ortonville traveled 63 yards in seven plays after receiving the opening kick-off, taking the lead when Peter Treinen scored on a 14 yard run with 8:08 to play in the first quarter.  Hillcrest then march the ball from their own 35 to the Trojans 24 in fifteen plays before they were stopped on downs.  Ortonville covered 76 yards in six plays with Jason Radermacher going 24 yards for a touchdown just 18 seconds into quarter number two.  After a Hillcrest punt Treinen broke loose for a 65 yard TD run on the first snap and then connected with Deaven Boots for the two-point conversion to give Ortonville a 20-0 lead.  An 11 play, 61 yard scoring drive was capped by a one yard run by Treinen at 4:37 of the second and Boots scored the final TD of the first half on a 7 yard run with 1:42 remaining.

Hillcrest received the second half kick-off and navigated the field from their own 22 yard line all the way down to the Ortonville one before fumbling the football.  The Trojans responded by scoring on another Treinen run, this one covering just two yards.  The Treinen to Boots conversion pass made it a 42-0 Ortonville lead with 5:18 left in the third quarter.  Hillcrest finally got on the board when they covered 70 yards in 9 plays with Zwiers scoring on a one yard run with 1:10 left in the quarter.  The Comets added a second touchdown after Micah Bermel recovered a fumble at the Ortonville 41 yard line and the offense took the ball into the end zone on a Ben Christenson 2 yard run on the sixth play of the possession.  Zwiers then connected with Kaleb Swenson for the two-point conversion pass for the final points of the game, making the final 42-14.

Hillcrest had 295 yards of total offense with 200 yards coming on the ground.  Zwiers ran the ball 14 times for 75 yards and a score.  He also completed 11-of-18 passes for 95 yards.  Christensen added 56 yards on 15 attempts and one touchdown.  Top receivers for the Comets were Kaleb Swenson (5 catches, 50 yards) and Caden Fischer (4 catches, 28 yards).

“Defensively, we were led by Gavin Knutson and Simon Strommen,” acknowledged Clark.  “Gavin did a great job pursuing down the line and making some plays.  Simon is an excellent run filler and made some great plays.  Freshman Micah Bermel also had a great first game with a sack and a fumble recovery.”  

On defense the Comets were led by Knutson (6 tackles, 1 sack), Strommen (6 tackles), Caden Fischer (6 tackles), Zwiers (4 tackles), Bermel (4 tackles, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery).  Christenson added 1 sack and 1 fumble recovery.

Ortonville quarterback Peter Treinen had a huge game, completing11-of-14 passes for 188 yards and rushing for 156 yards on 14 carries, while scoring three rushing touchdowns.  Jason Radermacher had five catches for 65 yards and Nathaniel Miska came up with 4 catches for 86 yards.  Deaven Boots added 79 yards on 3 receptions.  The Trojans had 230 rushing yards on just 29 attempts and passed for another 239 yards on the night, giving them 269 yards of total offense.

Hillcrest will travel to Verndale for their next contest on Friday, September 6.