Face off against Carlinville Friday

Michael Henderson barely gets the pass off in time. Henderson passed for 233 yards Friday evening.
The crowds on both sides of the football field were painted in black and orange, decked out in orange and black gear, and were cheering throughout the entire game. Neither team led by more than 7 points throughout the entire game as the Miners faced off against the Hillsboro Hilltoppers on Homecoming Friday, September 21.
It was a see-saw game during the course of all four quarters. The Hilltoppers posted the first points on the board with 2 minutes left on the clock in the first quarter, but the Miners came right back and had tied the game as the buzzer sounded to halt the first quarter.

Jason Whitlock rushes the ball toward midfield. Whitlock led the team in rushing yards with 124.
Jason Whitlock scored first for the Miners on a 30 yard touchdown and after Aaron Semplowski’s extra point, the game was knotted at 7. Back and forth it continued in the second quarter. Hillsboro scored within 2 minutes of the second quarter to lead by 7, 7-14. But seven points was a piece of cake as Michael Henderson and Derrick Tiburzi teamed up for a 37 yard touchdown reception to even the game out at 14.
After the first series in the second quarter only lasted 1 minute and 39 seconds, the second series was a bit lengthier enduring nearly 4 minutes. Nonetheless, it was the same result and the same player, in fact. Derrick Tiburzi, again, posted his second touchdown of the game on a one yard touchdown rush and put the Miners up by 8 points after the snap to Michael Henderson was fumbled. Failing to get the extra point kick off, Henderson was able to run the ball around the corner to get the conversion the hard way.
Hillsboro fought right back downfield with less than 3 minutes on the clock before halftime. It was enough time though and they posted another touchdown with just 37.9 seconds on the clock. The Toppers opted to kick the extra point and after it was successful, they still trailed by a point: 22-21.
Leading at halftime 22-21, the Miners had 24 minutes left before they could achieve a Homecoming victory. It felt like the forever as the ball changed possessions nearly 10 times in the second half. It didn’t take long for the Hilltoppers to regain the lead in the third quarter. After the Miners turned over ball on their opening possession, the Toppers were fighting to get back into the end zone.
They reached in with 8:03 minutes left on the clock in the third quarter. Their extra point attempt was no good, but they still led by 5 points: 22-27. The Miners then used most of the third quarter after the Topper touchdown to regain the lead, but came up short and were forced to turn the ball over on downs once more.
Hillsboro finished out the third quarter with the ball and opened the fourth quarter with it as well. Their 5 point lead, 22-27, from the third quarter stood for almost all of the fourth quarter. The Miners opened their first possession in the fourth quarter on the 49 yard line and were just 14 yards away from pounding it in the end zone until Michael Henderson and Derrick Tiburzi fumbled the handoff to leave Hillsboro with the ball and in charge of the click with almost 6 minutes left in the game.

The crowd was on their feet the entire night despite a cold wind. Over 200 Gillespie fans/alumni were in attendance for the Homecoming game.
But with the strong Miner defense, the Toppers did not have the ball for long. Not even two minutes, in fact. The Miners regained possession of the ball with 3:29 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Not only were they still trailing by 5 points, but they also had 90 yards of field to cover to reach the end zone to regain the lead.
It seemed like a daunting assignment, but it only took about 2 minutes with Chris Halpin as a receiver. After rushing the ball for 9 yards and Jason Whitlock being sacked in the backfield for a loss of 4 yards, the Miners were faced with a fourth down and 5 yards to go. This was the do-or-die scenario of the game for the black and orange squad.
With four receivers out wide, it was recognizable this play has been practiced before. Michael Henderson’s pass went Chris Halpin and Halpin not only caught it, but ran for nearly 75 yards after the reception. The reception cashed in for 6 points for the Miners after the 85 yard touchdown pass. The two point conversion was unsuccessful, but the Miners still led 28-26 with less than 2 minutes on the clock.
As most Miner fans left the field in full faith of a victory, the Toppers battled back once more. Hand off after hand off, the Toppers were within 20 yards of the end zone with 20 seconds on the game clock. The Toppers lined up for their last play of the game with 18.4 seconds on the clock, four yards to go on third down, and 19 yards away from the end zone.
All it took was one play and the Toppers scored for their fifth touchdown of the game. The 19 yard rushing touchdown took 7 seconds off the game clock. Hillsboro’s extra point conversion was unsuccessful after a series of penalties, so they led 33-28 with 11.2 seconds on the clock.
The Miners had one last shot at the endzone. After the kickoff reception was caught, the Miners were nearly 60 yards out of reach. Henderson back pedaled to pass to start the series. Tiburzi caught it and ran out of bounds for a gain of 9 yards, but only 3.9 seconds remained on the clock. Henderson was then sacked for the second play to result in a 28-33 loss for the Miner squad on Homecoming.
Chris Halpin led the team with his speed and hot hands as he received for 176 yards Friday evening. Michael Henderson passed for 233 yards and rushed for 24 while Jason Whitlock took majority of the snaps for the team and tallied 124 yards on the ground. Derrick Tiburzi and Jason Whitlock did equally well on the defensive end as each recorded 9 tackles a piece. Logan Cooper and Brady Anderson logged 5 tackles each.
The Miners now hold a 2-3 record. They take the field next when they travel to Carlinville for a South Central game on Friday, September 28 at 7 o’clock. The Cavaliers are coming off a 58-37 win over Staunton while their record stands at 4-1.
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