CLEVELAND — After struggling their way through much of the first half, the Cleveland Browns sustained a drive and capped it off with a touchdown late in the second quarter of the preseason finale against the Detroit Lions at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland Thursday night.
On first-and-goal from the Detroit seven-yard line, Browns quarterback Garrett Gilbert took the snap in the shotgun formation and slipped a pass to running back Dontrell Hilliard in the left flat. After catching the pass, Hilliard turned his shoulders toward the line of scrimmage and hustled his way across the goal line for the touchdown.
Hilliard’s touchdown reception, and the ensuing extra point from rookie kicker Austin Seibert, gave the Browns a 10-2 lead over the Lions with 21 seconds remaining in the first half.
The Browns took that eight-point edge into the locker room at halftime.
Hilliard rushed for 65 yards, including a long of 22 yards, on 12 carries in the first half. Additionally, Hilliard caught two passes for 13 yards with the one touchdown.
Gilbert entered the preseason finale having completed 27 of his 41 attempts (65.9 percent) for 286 yards with two touchdowns against no turnovers.
During the first half against the Lions, Gilbert completed 13 of his 24 attempts for 117 yards and the one touchdown, good enough for an 81.4 quarterback rating.
Gilbert came to the Browns after a successful stint in the Alliance of American Football.
Gilbert completed 60.6 percent of his throws for 2,152 yards and 13 touchdowns with six successful two-point conversion tries, as well as 79 yards and one touchdown with a two-point score on 24 rushes out of the backfield with the Orlando Apollos.
