North County knocks off Hillsboro for football district title on KJFF

(Hillsboro) The North County Raiders can wreck even the best of football teams.

That’s because they’ve proven that they are one of the state’s best.

North County knocked off the seventh-ranked Hillsboro Hawks 24-0 in the Class 4 District 1 championship game Friday night on KJFF.

The night actually started auspiciously for North County.

Fortunately, the Raiders got it right back.

The fumble recovery was the start of a dominant defensive night.

Pinning Hillsboro back against its own end zone late in the first quarter lead to a short punt and prime field position.

Star junior running back Jobe Smith ripped off a key 23-yard run on third down to set up the first points of the night.

Hillsboro’s defense would hold strong and keep their deficit to a score for most of the first half.

But the Raiders came up with the biggest offensive play of the night late in the second quarter.

The Hawks trailed 14-0 at halftime but were getting the ball to start the second half.

At least, that’s what they thought, until North County made a special-team play to start the third quarter.

And, even when Hillsboro got a stop, the Raiders got another friendly bounce.

Junior kicker Grant Mullins rounded out a sterling sequence for North County’s special teams unit.

But the story of the night was the Raider defense.

North County limited Hillsboro to less than 115 total yards of offense.

Smith made the play on defense that put the icing on the cake.

North County wins its eighth straight to reach 11-1.

Raiders head coach Brian Jones said his team always had their eyes on the prize.

While Hillsboro ends the season with a record of 9-2, North County wins its first district championship in football in at least 15 year.

The Raiders move to the Class 4 state quarterfinals to battle Vashon.

Full Game Broadcast

North County Coach Interview