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By TIM IRVING
Playing “Hilton Football” really isn’t complicated.
Dominate in the trenches and run the ball.
And run the ball, and run the ball.
After an ugly first half with turnovers and penalties galore, the Cadets pulled away from Pittsford to win and claim their first victory of the year.
Even with the one scoring play of the first half, Hilton got away from what they usually do and passed for a touchdown, Tyler Letcher went 46 yards to Carter Clark and the Cadets converted the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.
The reason they went for two, kicker Luca Dodge was still making his way to Sutherland from the Hilton varsity soccer game in Fairport.
The Panthers worked the two-minute drill well but with time running out in the half, defensive lineman Will Salamone intercepted a pass at the goal line.
“The guys up front, led by Karl Khuns and Carter Clark, just fought, didn’t give up. We’re gonna run, everybody knows it, we’re gonna keeping on doing it, see how far it carries us,” Hilton coach Rich Lipani said.
At halftime, he challenged his team to put up a strong final 24 minutes and they did.
Letcher started finding holes behind his offensive line and set up his brother, Tyler for a quarterback keeper with 4:39 to play in the third for a 15-0 lead.
Pittsford got the offense going and with under 30 seconds to play, Nick Sanko ran right on fourth down from the eight yard line and got the Panthers on the board, 15-6.
The Hilton lines bore down and Letcher blasted up the middle for 32 yards down to the Pittsford one. After backing up and a fumbled snap, Letcher scored from four yards out on fourth down with eight minutes left, Dodge kicking the PAT, for a 22-6 lead.
Letcher finished with 151 yards on 27 carries as the traditional workhorse back in the Cadets ground and pound philosophy.
The defense, led by Letcher from the linebacker position with six tackles and Khuns, the junior, with three of his five tackles going for sacks, locked it down.
“They’re offensive line is kinda big but a little slow off the ball so, I knew if I shot the gap and made the right move, I’d get through pretty fast and disrupt the backfield,” Khuns said.
The Cadets earned the first victory of the season after a dispiriting three-point loss to Fairport last week. They feel this win gives them some momentum.
“I told them, get us one win and we’d be back in the thick of things and we got it tonight and hopefully this will carry us throughout, “ Lipani said.
“We can build momentum off this win, they were 2-1 coming in and a good team and now, go into Monroe next week and play the same way, “ Khuns added.
The Cadets host the Red Jackets Friday at 7.
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