Making the drive to Tiffin, the Cadets of Hilltop went to foreign territory to go to war. Unfortunately, this was a battle they just couldn’t win.
Hilltop lost the game 63-7, with the Cadets not putting points on the board until the third quarter. Calvert did their scoring almost exclusively in the first half, taking a 56-0 lead into halftime.
Young quarterback Quinn Smith was able to connect with Taylor Trent for the lone Cadet touchdown of the game, a 40 yard pass down field. It was the only bright spot in a miserable day for the Sophomore, who went 6-20 for 62 yards on the night.
The Cadets were stuffed at the line as well, rushing for only 11 yards on 18 attempts. Overall Hilltop was limited to 73 yards of total offense, though it should be noted that they only ran 38 plays in the game, compared to Calvert’s 50.
Giving up 409 yards of offense themselves, the Hilltop defense struggled as well. 333 of those yards came from the ground game of Calvert, who only passed for 76 yards.
Calvert dominated time of possession, holding the ball for twice as long as the Cadets, something that limited the Hilltop offense’s scoring opportunities.
David Smith led the Cadets in rushing with 23 yards. Most of those yards were negated by Calvert sacks on Quinn Smith. The latter Smith felt the pressure, too, as he was forced into throwing 2 interceptions.
Jalen Towers was the only Hilltop defender to catch a Calvert player behind the line of scrimmage, making a tackle for loss.
This was a hard game for Hilltop,but the Cadets will need to put it behind them and prepare for Cardinal Stritch next week.
