Hi-Line falls in playoffs to Sutherland

EUSTIS - Things can change quite a bit in the span of six weeks.

In mid-September, Hi-Line hosted Sutherland and dropped the Sailors to 0-3 with a 44-24 victory in which they ran all over the Sailors in rolling away late to victory. Sutherland had not lost since that contest.

Fast forward to Thursday's Class D1 Playoff opener and the Sailors pulled an about-face, suffocating the Bulls' rushing attack while running away to a 52-22 victory to advance to the round of 16.

Hi-Line's season ended at 5-4.

The Sailors jumped on the Bulls early, holding Hi-Line out of the end zone in the first quarter, while taking a 14-0 lead after one.

Hi-Line found paydirt by going to the air in the second quarter as Colton Stubbs connected with Cooper Ray on a 7-yard touchdown pass, then found Cade Schmidt from 28 yards out a possession later to draw within 22-14.

But Sutherland kept scoring, churning out yards on the ground while building the lead back to two possessions, 30-14, at halftime.

The Bulls' second-quarter success on offense was shortlived as a turnover thwarted one possession in the third and another was turned away. Sutherland punched in two more scores and effectively blew the game open, claiming a 46-14 lead to the fourth quarter.

The Sailors would go up 52-14 before Ray scored on a touchdown run in the final minutes.

The Bulls' 121 yards rushing in the game were a season-low. Ray led the team with 69 yards on 13 carries and Stubbs ran for 39 yards. Ayden Moore ran for 3 yards.

Stubbs completed seven passes in 16 attempts for 141 yards and the two secondquarter touchdowns. Ray, Schmidt and Ryker Evans each had two catches in the game. Evans led the team with 54 yards receiving and Isaiah Bullis had a 38-yard reception.

The Bulls turned the ball over three times, each by interception.

On defense, Treyton Evans had a team-high 12 tackles and Ray had eight while Ryker Evans had seven. Moore collected six tackles as well.