Dawson scored the first two touchdowns of the game, the first on a 15 yard pass from Braaten and the second on a 34 yard punt return.  Tim Blume ran in both two-point conversions to give the Warriors a 16-0 lead.  Clint Determan then hauled in a 15 yard pass from Braaten and Blume scored the two-point conversion and it was 24-0 after the first quarter.

In the second quarter Bryant Callenius caught a 19 yard TD pass from Braaten to increase the lead to 30-0.  A 35 yard punt return by Determan and a Blume two-point conversion run put the score at 38-0.  Blume then scored on a 6 yard run and Braaten connected with Determan for the two-point conversion to give Wheaton/Herman-Norcross a 46-0 lead.  Hillcrest scored on a 28 yard pass and kicked the extra point through the uprights to cut the lead to 46-7.  Andrew Walker then went 98 yards on the ensuing kickoff to give the Warriors a 52-7 halftime lead.

Hillcrest scored two third quarter TD’s on passes of 27 and 10 yards, and also added two PAT kicks to trim the Warriors lead to 52-21.  A 28 yard run by Brayden Hofer, followed by Hofer’s two-point conversion run made the final 60-21.

The Warriors recorded 8 sacks in the game, led by Jack Siegel with 3 and Joe Krenz with 2.  Walker had 7 tackles and Hunter Blume was in on 5 tackles, including a sack.

“The Comets struggled from the start,” commented Hillcrest Head Coach Korey Fry.  “Coming into the game we felt confident with the matchup with Wheaton.  They were able to jump out to a quick fourteen point lead in the first four minutes of the game and never looked back.  We gave up three special team scores and that hurt.”

Offensively, Caden Fischer completed 16-of-32 passes for 311 yards and 3 touchdowns.  Joel Bowman caught 8 passes for 178 yards and 2 scores, Cole Peterson caught 3 passes for 66 yards and Zayne Weinrich had 3 catches for 56 yards.  Leo Nordick hauled in a 10 yard TD pass and Evan Lindren carried the ball 11 times for 38 yards.

Defensive leaders were Micah Bermel (6 tackles, 1 assisted tackle), Nordick (6 tackles), Weinrich (5 tackles, 3 assisted tackles, interception, fumble recovery), Lindgren (5 tackles), Fischer (4 tackles) and Bowman (3 tackles, 2 assisted tackles, interception).

“We just struggled all around, we will have to get back to learning and working the basics,” added Coach Fry.  “We have the talent, we are just struggling in knowing our assignments and where we need to line up.  If we can get that handled we can still have a productive season.”

Hillcrest will travel for a game with Bertha-Hewitt on Friday night.