jjohnson@heraldsun.com; 419-6667
DURHAM -- Hillside set the tone early with a game-opening touchdown drive, then settled into a rhythm that kept Jordan off balance on both sides of the ball the rest of the night.
The Hornets (5-3, 2-1 PAC-6) shut out Jordan 21-0 to win their second straight conference game since dropping their opener to Southern. The Falcons (5-4, 2-2) have lost two straight since opening conference play with a pair of wins.
"Our defense was outstanding," Hillside coach Antonio King said. "I was real happy with the way we played. We knew we had the rest of the conference season to play after the Southern game, and we're getting better."
Hillside was happy to take the ball first after Jordan won the toss and deferred the decision until the second half. King said he knew Jordan had given up a lot of scoring drives to start games, so he was ready to put his offense on the field first if given the chance.
The Hornets put together a methodical drive that ate up almost half of the first quarter. It culminated with a 5-yard run by Brandon China, who finished with 131 yards on 22 carries.
With the lead, Hillside made Jordan work hard to come back even though the Falcons were down only by a touchdown.
It proved to be the start of a frustrating night for Jordan. The Falcons' first two possessions ended with punts, the second of which had the Hornets backed up to their 14-yard line.
Hillside put together a drive that included a 19-yard pass play from Vad Lee to Mike Brown and a 49-yard run by Jamal Williams that got to the Jordan 20. Three more runs by Williams got the ball to the 7, and on second-and-goal, Lee faked to Williams and ran around the right end for a touchdown.
Lee finished with 59 yards on the ground and 128 though the air on 9-of-18 passing.
Jordan appeared to right itself on the ensuing possession, as it shook off a illegal-block penalty that brought back a long catch-and-run by T.J. Thorpe. The Falcons still marched down the field, but a fumble by Josh Williams ended the drive at the Hillside 23 midway through the second period.
The Falcons shook off that mistake and held Hillside on successive possessions, then finally got a break when Thorpe intercepted Lee and returned it deep into the Hillside territory with under a minute left before halftime.
Jordan benefitted from a pair of Hillside penalties to get to the 7 before quarterback J.J. Chambers found Darren Bulluck in the end zone for an apparent touchdown reception. The score was called back because Chambers had crossed the line of scrimmage when he threw the pass.
"That was huge for us," Jordan coach Mike Briggs said. "I hate it when we stopped ourselves because of dumb penalties."
Chambers finished 17-of-29 for 193 yards but was intercepted twice. Most of his passing yards went to Thorpe, who hauled in eight receptions for 114 yards.
Penalties weren't the only mistakes that killed Jordan drives. The Falcons had numerous drives stall because they got into third-and-long situations and weren't able to convert.
Meanwhile, down and distance did not seem to matter to the Hornets, as they were able to keep the ball and the clock moving in the second half.
"We executed better tonight than we have been," King said. "It was a great week of practice and it carried over."
Hillside 21, Jordan 0
Hillside 7 7 0 7--21
Jordan 0 0 0 0-- 0
SCORING SUMMARY
H--Brandon China 1 run (Grant Wilson kick)
H--Vad Lee 6 run (Wilson kick)
H--Jerone Holman 1 run (Wilson kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Hillside, Vad Lee 7-59; Brandon China 22-131; Jamal Williams 11-46; Jerone Holman 4-17; Khris Francis 2-4. Jordan, Julian Belton 4-8; Charles Williams 5-12; J.J. Chambers 9-22; T.J. Thorpe 2-3; Afam Nwogalanya 2-(minus-3); Josh Williams 2-5.
PASSING--Hillside, Lee 9-18-128-1; Jordan, Chambers 17-29-193-2.
RECEIVING--Hillside, Mike Brown 4-64; Brandon Watkins 2-25; Donovan Edwards 1-16; Christian Jones 1-10; Devondray Watson 1-3. Jordan, Brad Sherrod 3-25; Thorpe 8-114; Nate Morgan 1-13; Darren Bullock 2-15; Christian Hinton 1-3; Nwogalanya 1-6.
Records--Hillside Jordan 5-4, 2-2.
