By Todd Jorgenson
If Hillcrest is going to secure its first playoff win in two decades, the Panthers need more of what they showed on Thursday night.
Hillcrest will enter postseason play with solid momentum after a 52-12 drubbing of Thomas Jefferson in the regular-season finale at Loos Stadium.
The Panthers (8-2, 6-2) earned the runner-up spot in District 5-5A Div. II, meaning they will host an opponent to be determined in the bi-district round next week, looking to snap a seven-game playoff skid that dates to 2006.
K.B. Fox threw four first-half touchdown passes, including three to Khari Bass, as part of a big-play attack against an overmanned TJ defense.
Aaron Oliva rushed for 167 yards in his final game for the Patriots (3-7, 2-6), including a 64-yard touchdown on the opening drive of the game. But the lead lasted just 12 seconds, as Fox connected with Bass for a 63-yard score on Hillcrest’s first play from scrimmage.
Fox and Bass hooked up on a 52-yard touchdown late in the first quarter and a 22-yarder early in the second. Hillcrest reached the end zone on five straight possessions to open up a 42-12 halftime advantage.
Jayden Harris, who led the Panthers with 79 rushing yards on seven carries, scored after an errant punt snap by TJ inside its own 10-yard line.
Moments later, a 22-yard Wilford Finley Jr. touchdown scamper immediately followed a Zion King fumble recovery. Dash Davis extended the margin with a 29-yard scoring reception on a fourth-down play with 36 seconds left before the break.
The Panthers averaged 12.3 yards on their 28 offensive plays. Four of Fox’s six completions went for touchdowns, and he added a 25-yard rushing score in the third quarter.
“It was a really physical football game. Coming into an East Texas first round [matchup], this helped us cut our teeth from a physicality standpoint,” said Hillcrest head coach Adrian Madise. “I just like to see us doing things fundamentally the way we should.”
TJ controlled time of possession with its deliberately paced ground game. The Patriots attempted only one pass and ran it 43 times.
More than half of those attempts went to Oliva, the senior workhorse who finished the season with almost 1,700 yards and 14 scores. He accounted for more than 86 percent of TJ’s total offense on Thursday.
“He got a little banged up early and gutted through it,” said TJ head coach Bobby Estes. “He’s a special kid. Every accolade he gets, he’s earned. He’ll be tough to replace.”
The Patriots briefly trimmed the deficit to 14-12 with a 75-yard drive that included two fourth-down conversions and was capped by an 11-yard touchdown run by Yovani Vail.
However, TJ could not contain a balanced Hillcrest offense that has averaged 49.3 points during its current three-game winning streak.
“This group worked hard. I’m proud of them,” Estes said. “On the edges, we’re not fast and they are, and that showed up. But in the trenches, we did a good job.”
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