Coming in off a full off-season with Head Coach Bob Sphire and staff, the Highlands Bluebirds football team took the ball at its 16 and had a nice play called.
Junior wide receiver Matteo Matteoli had some steps on his defender and sophomore quarterback Hayden Haas threw the ball where it needed to go. But with all the green turf and a potential touchdown in front of him, Matteoli could not hold onto the ball and things took a dive from that point into the second half.
The defending Class 5A state champion South Warren Spartans wound up blocking a Highlands punt taking over at the Bluebird 25 and cashing in on short field position and a number of Highlands mistakes in a 49-14 win in the Rafferty’s Bowl at Western Kentucky University.
“My thoughts are I have a football team’s that’s really hurting right now,” Sphire said. “They had high expectations coming into this game. It’s up to me to make sure that we’re better prepared and more than anything, that we go back to work because that’s the only way you can fix the mistakes that we made. It’s a collective thing and so if that’s the case, I have to get them ready better.”
South Warren scored 27 points off the Highlands turnovers including two pick-sixes and a fumble return for a score. The Spartans cashed in on the blocked punt in the first quarter when sophomore quarterback Bryce Button found junior wide receiver Bailey Shoemaker for the 25-yard touchdown and junior kicker Eli McIntosh hit the point after touchdown with 10:48 left in the first quarter.
Button finished the game completing 10 of 17 passes for 178 yards, two touchdowns and ran for another. Highlands held South Warren to 48 yards rushing on nine carries equaling 226 yards of offense.
On the other side, Highlands put up 122 yards of total offense with 51 rushing on 22 carries and 71 passing. Down 49-0 and with a running clock, junior 6-foot-6-inch Brody Benke took over at quarterback and led the Bluebirds on two scoring drives. He hit junior wide receiver Carson Class for a 38-yard touchdown in the third quarter then hit senior Charline Noon for a 7-yard score in the fourth quarter.
Benke completed 5 of 11 passes for 57 yards. Noon had three catches for 36 yards and Class finished with two catches for 50 yards.
Highlands Offensive Coordinator Hayden Sphire said over the summer, he talked to Benke, and Benke wanted to focus on tight end so Sphire told him to do that as opposed to being half-out, half-in on one position. But the staff may look to him to take over at quarterback. Benke started in last year’s 21-18 Rafferty’s Bowl win over Bowling Green.
“We’re going to move forward,” Hayden Sphire said. “We know that’s not who we are. When we look back, are we going to be glad all this stuff got exposed? I hope so. Guys are going to come in Monday. We’re going to get in the weight room. I like the guys we got. If we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot, who knows how that game turns out? These players work so hard. They deserve to be successful.”
South Warren led 15-0 after the first quarter then had a fumble recovery and pick-six to go up 29-0. Then following a Highlands fumble at their own 2-yard-line, Button scored from two yards out to put the Spartans up 35-0 at halftime. At halftime, South Warren outgained Highlands, 155-40 in total offense.
“I was really pleased with our first-timers (on varsity) out there,” said Brandon Smith, South Warren Head Coach. “They played like it was the first game. But the guys that were returning starters did a really nice job picking up the slack for those guys making plays and kind of filling the role of being the guy. That makes everything easier when you get defensive touchdowns and short fields.”
The Spartans hit the running clock when Button threw another touchdown pass shortly into the second half. Minutes later, South Warren finished the scoring with a pick-six.
The Highlands schedule does not get any easier when the Simon Kenton Pioneers (1-0) come to Fort Thomas for the home opener on Friday at 7 p.m. The Pioneers opened the season with a convincing 56-16 win at Oldham County.