Highlands has been pretty close to offensive perfection in their last two games.
In last week’s victory over Campbell County, they scored on 9-of-10 possessions. In Friday night’s victory over Ryle, the Bluebirds scored on 8-of-9 possessions for a 52-20 thumping of the Raiders.
They’ve been clicking on all cylinders offensively and doing so with a wide array of weapons, including two quarterbacks.
“At this three-year juncture, I feel like this is the first time our program played a complete game,” Bluebirds coach Robert Sphire said.
Brody Benke pulled off the trifecta again for the second time this season, throwing for a touchdown, running for one and receiving one. He also did so in the season opener against Lexington Catholic. Benke tallied 246 all-purpose yards in the victory.
“It’s awesome experiencing every position and giving the defense different looks,” Benke said. “It’s nice knowing I can get the ball at any position. Our offense has been clicking and having two quarterbacks that can go out and sling it changes things so much.”
When Benke wasn’t slinging it, Rio Litmer was, the sophomore coming in to complete 18-of-25 passes for 197 yards and four touchdowns. He may not have quite the frame the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Benke does, but he brings a different dynamic to the Bluebirds offense.
His first of four touchdown throws came in a Bluebirds 29-point second quarter when they started to run away with things.
“They give us such a good skillset at various things they can do. It’s kind of like when Chris Leak was a senior and Tim Tebow was a young quarterback, just reversing styles,” Sphire said. “But we’re in Kentucky, so I’ll compare it to having two great point guards and you want to get them both in the game.”
Coming in to the game, it was one of the more highly anticipated games in Northern Kentucky, both with 2-1 records and Ryle coming off a big win over their rival Cooper.
But the Raiders win last week came at a cost, dealing with injury issues and it showed as they were outgained 469-246 and the Bluebirds putting up a running clock in the later stages of the fourth.
“We started eight sophomores tonight and up against 26 seniors that’s pretty tough,” Raiders coach Mike Engler said. “We were down six seniors that normally play. Zero seniors played on defense and we got beat by a really good football team tonight.”
The biggest injury concern comes at quarterback, Logan Verax unable to re-enter the game after halftime.
“We’ll evaluate him and go from there,” Engler said.
Verax hit Dylan Lee for a 42-yard touchdown strike on the Raiders opening drive of the game, but it was all Bluebirds from there as they rattled off 38 unanswered, starting with a two-yard Benke touchdown run.
The scoring run continued with a Benke 15-yard pass to Luke Schneider followed by a Adam Surrey five-yard touchdown run to make it 21-7. Litmer connected on a 17-yard touchdown pass to Benke and hit Surrey for an eight-yard score to get the Bluebirds a 35-7 lead at the break.
The offensive dominance continued for Highlands out of the half, even getting a 42-yard field goal from the leg of Jack Haggard.
Litmer followed with two more touchdown strikes, one to Cameron Giesler and the other to Hayden Haas to enforce the running clock with 3:29 to play.
“We’re just up there having fun, moving guys, opening holes,” Bluebirds offensive lineman Max Merz said. “We’re much stronger and bigger up front then we’ve been in previous years.”
Nathan Verax gave the Raiders a glimpse of the future as he filled in for his older brother Logan in the second half. Nathan finished with 88 yards passing, hitting on 9-of-14 passes and added a 28-yard touchdown run in the closing seconds, the sophomore’s first two touchdowns of his varsity career.
“Our future looks pretty good. All these guys are sophomores and we’ve got to grow up a little bit,” Engler said.
The Raiders will have to get back to the drawing board quickly, taking on the No. 1 team in class 3A next week when Christian Academy-Louisville visits Union. No. 1 in 6A follows the week after when the Raiders host St. Xavier.
“We’ve already played No. 2 in a class, No. 4 in a class, No. 6 in a class. If it doesn’t make us any better, then so be it,” Engler said.
Highlands heads east to take on Raceland, who just took down reigning 1A champ Pikeville.
“They’ll come in with a ton of momentum and that place will be rocking. I’d say just about everybody in Northeast Kentucky is going to come check out that game. They’ll be looking for the birds. Great opportunity for us to go on the road in a playoff environment,” Sphire said.
BLUEBIRDS 52, RAIDERS 20
RYLE — 7-0-6-7 — 20
HIGHLANDS — 6-29-3-14 — 52
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(R) L. Verax 42-yard pass to Lee (9:11) Line kick
(H) Benke 2-yard run (3:41) Pass failed
2nd Quarter
(H) Benke 15-yard pass to Schneider (11:49) Schneider run
(H) Surrey 5-yard run (7:00) Nickelman kick
(H) Litmer 17-yard pass to Benke (4:40) Schneider run
(H) Litmer 8-yard pass to Surrey (:34) Pass failed
3rd Quarter
(H) Haggard 42-yard FG (6:30
(R) N. Verax 18-yard pass to Lorms (3:29) Pass failed
4th Quarter
(H) Litmer 28-yard pass to Giesler (10:36) Nickelman kick
(H) Litmer 8-yard pass to Haas (3:29) Nickelman kick
(R) N. Verax 28-yard run (:43) Line kick
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Ryle 191 (N. Verax 9/14, L. Verax 9/10), Highlands 346 (Litmer 18/25, Benke 13/20)
Rushing Yards: Ryle 55 (N. Verax 4-31, L. Verax 8-17, Hayes 4-8, Lee 1-(-)1) Highlands 123 (Benke 11-59, Schneider 2-21, James 7-16, Paolucci 3-10, Giesler 4-8, Surrey 1-5, Litmer 1-4)
Receiving: Ryle (Lee 4-82, Lorms 7-62, Reynolds 3-25, Hayes 3-14, N. Verax 1-8) Highlands (Class 8-106, Surrey 7-57, Matteoli 4-52, Giesler 4-47, Benke 3-38, Haas 2-22, Schneider 1-15, Hinegardner 1-8,White 1-1)
Turnovers: Ryle 1, Highlands 2
Penalties: Ryle 5-40, Highlands 3-15
Records: Ryle 2-2, Highlands 3-1