Third seed Hilton made their two-point halftime lead hold up with a pair of second half touchdowns as they defeated visiting Fairport 26-12 in the Section V football quarterfinals and earn a semi-final game at second seed Aquinas.
After the Red Raiders took the opening kickoff and scored five running plays later, but had their extra-point attempt blocked, Hilton ran off a six-play, 60-yard drive of their own highlighted by a Peter Reyes to Tah-jae Hill 37-yard reception and a Sean Meyers six-yard touchdown run. Jack Loomis’ extra point gave the Cadets a 7-6 lead.
On their next possession, Fairport was stopped on a fourth down attempt at midfield as senior Najier Daniels tackled the runner in the backfield on fourth down and Hilton capitalized with an eight-play, 48-yard scoring drive capped by a 12-yard touchdown pass to Hill to put Hilton up 14-6.
Fairport took just five plays to score on their next possession, but the two-point conversion was stopped at the goal-line by senior Collin Burns.
The Cadets opened the second half with great field position thanks to a 22- yard kickoff return by Loomis and scored eight plays later on a Reyes to Hill 18-yard touchdown pass after junior Jason Bedford accounted for 35 yards on the ground. The Loomis extra point made it 20-12 Hilton.
After forcing a punt on Fairport’s next possession, the Cadets ran off a 69-yard scoring drive helped by a pass interference penalty and capped by a Hill 22-yard reception in the end zone for a 26-12 lead.
Hilton’s defense stepped up as Burns registered a sack to end one Fairport drive and senior Jason Iorio made a third down stop to force a punt on another before Hill made two interceptions to end the last two Red Raider offensive possessions.
“I just ran my routes the best I could…and once I had the first step, he (the defense) was just biting on it every time and I thought they were going to bring their safety over, but our quarterback got the ball to me and made successful plays,” Hill said.
The senior finished with 146 yards receiving, three touchdowns, and two interceptions while Meyers, who left the game at halftime due to injury, had 16 carries for 77 yards and one touchdown. Bedford carried the ball in the second half 20 times for 103 yards and quarterback Reyes was 6-of-14 passing. Iorio led the defense with ten tackles.
