Highlands conquered Campbell County High 44-13 in Friday night’s gridiron rivalry, but there was speculation that news of an investigation may have impacted Campbell’s performance.
Hours before kickoff, news broke that Campbell County Schools and local law enforcement are investigating an alleged incident that occurred on a football team bus returning from a recent away game. Parents familiar with the incident have told LINK nky a member of the football team was forced to the back of the bus by another football player, who removed the alleged victim’s clothes and began assaulting him. Campbell County parents familiar with the incident said the event was recorded by teammates. Highlands students told media before the game they knew about and had seen the widely-distributed video.
Superintendent Shelli Wilson released a statement on the incident, saying action “may involve student discipline” but Wilson did not offer further details on who was involved or what disciplinary action has been taken.
Despite the circumstances of the investigation, the Camel athletic complex offered a crowd of 4,000 for the heated matchup.
After Highlands’ much-needed 44-13 win, its first in a season after two tough games to start, Campbell County hung in there early. They were down 14-13 halfway through the second quarter.
Campbell County coach Brian Weinrich was the head man at Highlands for nearly seven years from 2014 through 2020. So Weinrich had plenty to talk about with his old Highlands players.
“Nice seeing you,” said Bluebird offensive star Charlie Noon and defensive leader Sam Robinson, who got their high school football start under Weinrich and finished off the night with a little hug and handshake.
“Hey stranger,” said several of the former football staffers from his time in Fort Thomas that saw Weinrich step in his first year with a state championship but maybe not be able to beat Covington Catholic enough in 5A District play. And now he’s out Alexandria way.
And now former top Georgia coach Bob Sphire is working at building back the Bluebirds.
“We played great out there,” he told his team after a dominant offensive performance. “You’re being built back up. Does anyone think we can’t win?”
“No sir,” they answered.
Not if they can put up 488 yards of offense – 177 on the ground, 311 passing – while running 81 plays and posting 28 first downs. The Camels, meanwhile, led by run-pass quarterback Nathan Smith’s 265 yards, put up 300 yards in all with 11 first downs on 57 plays.
Campbell County, with two plays totaling 108 of their first 130 yards, was hanging in there thanks to Smith’s arm, and sophomore speedster Jaiden Combs.
But the arm of Highlands’ 6-foot-5 quarterback Brody Benke, who hit on 21 of 31 passes for 290 yards and a TD, made the big difference Friday night. Noon, lining up mostly as a slot receiver, caught eight passes for 111 yards and a TD, carried it eight times for 70 yards and added two punt returns for 33 yards and a kickoff return for 16. Add it all up and that’s 230 total yards for Noon.
Tailback Cameron Giesler ran for two TD while the Birds’ other tailback, Dawson Hosea, ran it 12 times for 53 yards.
For Campbell County, Smith hit on 12 of 28 passing for 190 yards and a TD. He also ran it 13 times for 75 yards and a TD. Combs’ lone catch was a 39-yard TD while Joseph Amato slipped out of the backfield for a wide-open 69-yard catch that set up the Camels’ first score.
But the longer the game went on, the tougher it was for Campbell County to keep up. With Highlands’ strong-legged Davis Burleigh kicking field goals from 29 and 46 yards out, the Birds couldn’t punch it in.
Highlands hosts Class A Raceland next Friday while Campbell County, after falling to 1-2, is home to Cooper.
BOX SCORE
Highlands 7 20 7 10 44
Campbell County 7 6 0 0 13
HH: Geisler 2 run (Burleigh kick)
CC: Smith 1 run (Rose kick)
HH: Giesler 3 run (Burleigh kick)
CC: Combs 39 reception (kick blocked)
HH: Burleigh 29 FG
HH: Benke 1 run (Burleigh kick)
HH: Noon 4 reception (Burleigh kick)
HH: Burleigh 46 FG
HH: Arnold 6 reception (Burleigh kick)