G. Michael Graham Photo. Highlands junior wide receiver Beau Hoge looks for running room in Saturday’s game at John Hardin. The Bluebirds meet Paducah Tilghman on Saturday for the first time since 1994 at 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time in Paducah.
By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
The next
opponent may not be familiar to the current football players.
But the
name brings back many memories of great games, especially during Tom Duffy’s
time as the Head Coach of the Highlands Bluebirds. The Bluebirds and Paducah
Tilghman Blue Tornado met five times between 1989 and 1994.
Highlands
claimed both Class 3A titles under Duffy against Tilghman at Louisville in
1989 (27-3) and 1992 (15-6). But what some people might forget is Highlands and
Tilghman also met during the regular season in both years. Tilghman beat
Highlands, 25-24 in the Hall of Fame Bowl at Hendersoun County in 1989 for its
lone win in the series in five games and the Bluebirds beat the Blue Tornado,
25-19 in the Thoroughbred Bowl at Lexington Takes Creek in 1992.
The two
schools met again in the Thoroughbred Bowl in the same location in current
Highlands Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator Dale Mueller’s first year in 1994.
The Bluebirds won 26-6 led by current Campbell County Head Coach Stephen Lickert
and Justin Frisk.
The two
will meet again for the first time on either home field on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Eastern Standard Time. The Bluebirds travel to the western part of the
state for the first time since winning 48-21 at Hopkinsville on Oct. 4, 2008.
The two
schools have a combined 25 state championships. Highlands has won six in a row
going 91-3 since the start of 2007 and Tilghman has three state championships
in 2009, 1985 and 1973. Tilghman competes in Class 3A, District 1 with Fort
Campbell, Trigg County and Webster County.
“Once I saw Highlands on film, I told my staff that
our kids need to learn to play the way they play,” said Randy Wyatt, Tilghman Head Coach. “They are a combination of the Army, Navy,
Air Force and the Marines. They take orders and carry them out 110 percent.
They were that way when we played them back in the last 1980s and nothing has
changed.”
Both teams that
sport blue and white want to right the ship in different ways. The Class 4A
top-ranked Bluebirds (4-0) hope to put away an opponent better than Saturday’s
33-26 win at John Hardin. It took senior Zach Harris recovering a Bulldog
onside kick with 43 seconds left to seal the win.
Highlands
averaged 53 points a game entering that contest and still averages 48.
Turnovers kept the Bluebirds from putting away the Bulldogs. The finished
minus-2 in that department losing three fumbles while recovering just John
Hardin mishap.
“We’ll have a greater emphasis on that (in practice),”
Mueller said. “We’ll do a good bit of center-quarterback-running back (exchanges). In
big games, ball security is the most important aspect of winning the game.”
Tilghman wants
to get back into the win column entering the game at 1-3 following three
straight losses to Evansville (Ind.) Reitz (28-16), Mayfield (28-21) and Graves
County (30-27) in overtime. The Blue Tornado opened with a 24-23 win over
newly-formed McCracken County High comprised of former Lone Oak, Reidland and
Heath students. Opponents are outscoring them about 27-22. Tilghman has had
problems scoring at key times in ballgames.
“We are still confident in our season,” Wyatt said. “After
this week, we will be entering the second half of our season, and I feel that
we are so close despite our 1-3 record. Everything we are doing is
self-inflicted. We are our own worst enemy.”
The
Highlands Spread offense is averaging 443 yards a contest. The Bluebirds have
scored 16 touchdowns in 18 drives into the Red Zone for 89 percent. Highlands
quarterback Drew Houliston has completed 74-of-105 passes for 1,281 yards, 18 touchdowns
and just one interception. Senior running back Zach Harris leads the Bluebirds
with 362 yards rushing on 47 carries with eight touchdowns and 14 receptions
for 233 yards and five touchdowns.
Twelve
different Bluebirds have catches this year. Junior Jensen Feggins follows Harris
with 13 catches for 191 yards and three touchdowns.
Some have
wondered about the rushing production of senior Jaylen Hayes. Hayes has 68
yards rushing on 15 carries with one touchdown. Mueller joked that he needs to
petition the Kentucky High School Athletic Association for three balls so he
can spread the wealth to more of the playmakers like Hayes. But Mueller said
Hayes’ time will come like it will with other talented skill position players.
The
Bluebird offensive line continues to block well. Highlands has allowed just
three sacks on the year and held John Hardin 6-foot-6-inch, 330-pound defensive
lineman Matt Elam, an NCAA Division I recruit, to just one tackle in the win
Saturday.
“The offseason gets us ready to go against pretty much
any competition we face,” said Kyler
Dalton, Highlands junior offensive lineman. “Going against Matt Elam, we knew he was a big guy. We had to block him
as well as we could. We ended up blocking him well as an offensive line,
especially Bryan Saunders and Tyler Schweitzer. They had a heck of a game.”
Tilghman
runs a stack 3-3 defense and does have players going both ways. The Blubirds
face another talented offensive and defensive lineman in Blue Tornado senior Derik
Overstreet. Overstreet led the team with 21 tackles after two games. Highlands
tends to wear down teams that have players going both directions.
“They play a multiple-front defense and give you
different coverages,” Mueller said. “They blitz a wide variety of guys so they
can really keep you guessing. You have to be prepared for multiple stunts. They’re
the kind of team that will come up with a new stunt specifically for you.”
The
Highlands 3-4 defense will also face a Tilghman Spread. Sophomore quarterback
Jessie Dunigan completed 26-of-48 passes for 342 yards, three touchdowns and an
interception in the first two games. Dunigan’s top targets were seniors Darrius
Spivey-Nunn with 11 catches for 155 yards and a touchdown and Michael Davis
with eight catches for 141 yards and two touchdowns. Junior Djuan Sherrill led
Tilghman after two games with 204 yards rushing on 32 carries and a touchdown.
“It sure doesn’t seem to me that they are struggling
to score,” said Brian Weinrich,
Highlands Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator. “We are fine and will continue to improve each day on everything we do.”
Opponents
have averaged 23.8 points a game and 361.8 yards a contest against the
Bluebirds. Brady Murray and Seth Hope lead the Highlands 3-4 defense with three
tackles for a loss and Braden Hicks has the team’s lone quarterback sack.
Griffin Urlage and Rocco Pangallo have one interception each for Highlands
while five different players own one fumble recovery each. Weinrich said the
team does not like to overanalyze opponents.
“(The defensive coaches) break (the game) down so
simple,” said Avery McDaniel,
Highlands senior defensive lineman. “Once
we go over it in film (sessions), we practice it out on the field. It gets
simpler and simpler. It’s about knowing the bases come game time.”
This marks
the final tune-up for Highlands before traveling to arch-rival Covington
Catholic on Sept. 28 at 1 p.m. The Colonels used their bye week to prepare for
the game.