G. Michael Graham Photo. Highlands rising juniors Jacob Noe (left) and Daniel Kremer (right) do leg exercises in a recent workout. The Bluebirds just concluded spring practice on March 27 and continue to prepare for the upcoming season.
By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
March saw a
lot of cold temperatures, particularly in the 20s and 30s.
While many
high school football teams schedule practice later in the spring to avoid them,
the Highlands Bluebirds took advantage of them. Their last spring practice took
place March 27.
“We have an artificial turf field and we love to (have
spring practice) when it’s cold because the games we’re trying to win are those
playoff games,” said Dale Mueller,
Highlands Co-Head Football Coach. “It
turns cold for your most important games.”
Highlands
has won plenty of those games lately with a Kentucky record six consecutive state
championships. The Bluebirds took down Lexington Catholic on a cold night the
day after Thanksgiving in the state semifinals before beating Collins for the
Class 4A crown last season. The state championship game was not bad unlike
previous years.
Aside from
that, Highlands worked on developing its depth. Nearly 100 players are expected
to grace the sidelines this fall. This marks the third year that junior varsity
and varsity players have played on just offense or defense. The staff lets
players go both ways as freshmen before deciding which direction they go as
sophomores.
“The guys have seen the other guys before them and
they’re fired up about it,” Mueller
said. “You take someone from another
school, who has played offensive half the time and defense half the time, they
only got half the practices. It goes up exponentially when all the guys on the
team have benefitted from that.”
The
majority of those players participated in spring practice. The ones that didn’t
are playing other sports like baseball and track and field.
The depth
gives Highlands more time to prepare for specific opponents. The Bluebirds will
need that this fall. They face nine teams that had winning records last year.
“It’s a great help. When we go against a team that
runs the Wing-T, our defense is practicing against the Wing-T all practice
long,” Mueller said. “When we go against a unique defense like a
6-2 man, we’re going against that defense all practice long as opposed to
practicing against the defense half the time then telling those same guys to
quit thinking about that and go think about this. It gives the guys more time
to develop their particular skills.”
Even though
spring practice is done, many of those players continue to lift and work out
for the season. The first mandatory practice is allowed to be July 15.
Highlands
returns a lot from last year’s 14-1 team. That includes rising senior running
backs Zach Harris and Jaylen Hayes. Harris run for 1,001 yards and 20
touchdowns with Hayes going for 602 yards and 10 touchdowns.
“It’s a blessing to have so many guys here that are
self-motivated,” Harris said. “We could run practice ourselves. The
coaches are there to make sure everyone is doing what they’re supposed to be
doing. We come to work every day and work hard for what we get.”
The Highlands
defense benefits from facing players like Harris and Hayes among other good
linemen and skill players. The defenders play at a high intensity level in
practice all week and it carries over into games. They often face better
players in practice than the players they face in games.
“That’s good practice for the regular season and
playoffs,” said Jackson Bardo,
Highlands rising junior defensive back. “Zach
has gotten faster over the years so he’s hard to take down so is Jalen.”
The coaches
notice that dedication. Unlike other coaching staffs, this staff does not have to
spend a lot of time motivating the players to do what it takes to be
successful.
“We have such a determined group of guys,” Mueller said. “They
just want to do well. It might be one of the worst places in the world to
exercise, but they don’t care. They wait for us to tell them what we’re going
to do then they go do it as hard as they can. They could go out in the woods,
pick up some rocks and run around with them to work out.”
It helps
that the Highlands football staff has had continuity for a while. This fall
marks Mueller’s 20th season on the sidelines.
“When you’re young, like a second-grader, you go
through Junior Football League and have Coach Mueller talking to you,” Bardo said. “It’s
exciting when you finally get to play for him.”
Many people
think freshmen have a difficult time adjusting to high school football. But
Mueller said the staff pays close attention to the sophomores for a big reason.
That’s why a lot of them play on the junior varsity as opposed to varsity right
away.
“Your whole life, you’ve played against guys your same
age or a year older. That’s the way leagues are formed,” Mueller said. “When
you’re a sophomore, you play against seniors. A lot of teams lose a lot of
sophomores because they’re afraid to play against seniors. We really try to
gear the guys that are ready to go against seniors and the guys that are not
ready to go against appropriate competition.”
Highlands
had contributions from many sophomores last year like wide receiver Justin
Weyer, running back Josh Watson, defensive back Andrew Abner, linebacker Brady
Murray and defensive back Griffin Urlage. Urlage had the team’s lone defensive
touchdown last year returning an interception back about 60 yards on the final
play of the regular season against Ryle.
Highlands
faces six new opponents this fall. The Bluebirds open the season against
defending Florida Class 2A champion University Christian of Jacksonville on
either Aug. 23 or 24. Class 2A is the second-smallest of eight classes in the
Sunshine State.
“It gives us something to look forward to trying to
win a national championship. I’m honestly glad we got them,” Harris said. “We
set up to have the hardest schedule we possibly could to be the best Highlands
football team ever.”
Highlands
also has its annual scrimmage against defending 6A champion Louisville Trinity
a week before that. The game takes place in Shamrock territory this year on
Aug. 16 at 7:30 p.m.