Football Game Preview: Smoky Valley Vikings vs. Hillsboro Trojans

The Smoky Valley Vikings will challenge the Hillsboro Trojans at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

Having struggled with four losses in a row, Smoky Valley turned things around against Nickerson on Friday. They put the hurt on the Panthers with a sharp 29-7 victory.

Ty Heitschmidt

Passer Rating (Career)

10/17/25 vs Nickerson	115.2
10/04/24 @ Hesston	83.8
09/13/24 vs Belle Plaine	75.7
09/12/25 @ Belle Plaine	74.6
09/06/24 vs Larned	65

Smoky Valley got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Ty Heitschmidt out in front who rushed for 74 yards on only nine carries, and also threw for 93 yards and one touchdown. The dominant performance also gave Heitschmidt a new career-high in passer rating (115.2). Another rusher making a difference was Crew Elliott, who rushed for 68 yards and a pair of TDs.

They were just one part of a punishing run game: Smoky Valley was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 210 rushing yards. They are 2-1 when they've run for more than 200 yards.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Hillsboro, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Friday. They simply couldn't be stopped on Friday as they easily beat Lyons 48-21. The result was nothing new for the Trojans, who have now won three contests by 22 points or more so far this season.

Smoky Valley's victory bumped their record up to 3-4. As for Hillsboro, they now have a winning record of 4-3.

Smoky Valley came up short against Hillsboro when the teams last played back in October of 2024, falling 21-16. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of the Trojans' Zayne Haslett, who rushed for 105 yards and one score on only 14 carries. Now that the Vikings know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.