The Highlands Bluebirds traversed east and came back with a convincing 40-0 win over the defending Class 1A runner-up Raceland Rams.
On the first play from scrimmage, Highlands scored when Adam Surrey threw a 63-yard touchdown pass to Jackson Arnold. The Bluebirds led 26-0 at halftime.
“I’m very proud of how our guys took a very mature, professional approach. They had a great crowd, a great atmosphere,” said Bob Sphire, Highlands Head Coach. “Our guys made it like a business trip and just played really solid football.”
Highlands outgained Raceland, 428-104 in total offense. The Bluebirds defense recorded six sacks for 44 yards lost. Carson Class had the game’s lone turnover returning an interception 12 yards. Hollon Schweitzer, Diego Race and Evan Johnson had one sack each.
“I think we were just the more physical team,” said Carson Shelton, Highlands defensive end. “We hit the line of scrimmage fast and made the plays. You just have to trust your teammates to do their job.”
The Highlands quarterback tandem of Rio Litmer and Brody Benke threw for 142 and 115 yards respectively with Litmer tossing two touchdown passes and Benke one. Benke and Cam Giesler added rushing touchdowns.
“I didn’t think we were super crisp offensively,” said Hayden Sphire, Highlands Offensive Coordinator. “We ran a double-pass trick play on the first play. It kind of took the air out of the stadium scoring on the first play. It set the tone.”
Matteo Matteoli led Highlands with four catches for 134 yards. His two touchdowns went for 70 on a screen pass and a 44-yarder. Arnold added three catches for 88 yards and two touchdowns.
“The offense is executing great,” Matteoli said. “Over the summer, we really worked on our screens and our screen blocking. We have a dedicated screen time at practice now and it has really, really worked out. We unfortunately dropped a snap so my blocks were already set up perfectly.”
Highlands plays at Cooper (4-1) in a crucial Class 5A, District 6 game on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Lloyd Memorial 53, Bishop Brossart 7
The Juggernauts stayed undefeated with a convincing win on the road at the Mustang Athletic Complex.
Lloyd Memorial (5-0) outgained Brossart (2-3), 424-141, including a 363-113 advantage on the ground. Yurii Collins-Comer led the Juggernauts with 15 carries for 190 yards and three touchdowns as nine different players had carries. Dominic Larkin had two rushing touchdowns and Isaiah Sebastian had another one.
“We played pretty well. There’s no doubt about that,” said Kyle Niederman, Lloyd Memorial head coach. “Give credit to our guys and our coaches.”
Sebastian also completed 6-of-7 passes for 61 yards. Elijah Collins had a team-high three catches for 31 yards.
“We just came in there confident,” Sebastian said. “We executed what we’re supposed to do. It helps us that we trust one other. We know if everyone does his job, everything’s going to be alright.”
The Lloyd defense wanted to contain Brossart’s leading rusher Cameron Mandel, who came into the game with 441 yards rushing on 64 carries and five touchdowns. The Juggernauts held him to 34 yards on eight carries. The Mustang passing game struggled with just 28 yards.
Tripp Wilson scored Brossart’s lone touchdown on a 71-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Lloyd Memorial plays host to Newport (4-1) on Friday at 7 p.m. Brossart has its bye week on Friday before going to Paris (5-0) on Sept. 29 for a 7:30 p.m. game.
Cooper 40, Great Crossing 0
The Cooper Jaguars (4-1) traversed from the plains high off Longbranch in Union, down I-75 South, to the hardscrabble courts of Georgetown, for an encounter with the Great Crossing Warhawks (1-4).
The kelly green and navy blue WarHawks, aptly nicknamed after the famous Kentuckian Henry Clay’s moniker, had acquitted themselves quite well with a quick rise in the 5A class, in just four short years of the school’s existence.
The Jaguars defense was the story of the game, holding the WarHawks to just 58 yards of offense, 19 passing and 39 yards on the ground.
Cam O’Hara threw for 272 yards and six touchdowns, Isaiah Johnson his top yard-getter with eight receptions, 115 yards and three touchdowns. Austin Alexander shagged down 10 balls for 71 yards and a touchdown, Keegan Maher with 40 yards and two scores, his second giving the Jaguars a 21-0 lead with 8:13 left in the first half.
O’Hara hit Alexander in the waning seconds of the half for a touchdown to make it 28-0 at the break.
The second half of the game saw the Jags defense continue to stymie the WarHawk offense and O’Hara found Johnson two more times to close the scoring for the evening and subsequently a running clock with 9:24 left in the game. The O’Hara to Johnson scoring strikes were negotiated from 21 and 45 yards out.
Next week The Prowl will host Highlands to open up, in what should be, an interesting district matchup.
Christian Academy-Louisville 34, Ryle 22
Ryle took a 22-12 third quarter lead after a Dillon Smith pick six, but the Centurions closed it out with 22 unanswered points from there.
The Raiders drop to 2-3 and host No. 1 in Class 6A St. Xavier next week.
Other Football Scores
Paul Laurence Dunbar 36, Boone County 7
Sayre 41, Dayton 16
Walton-Verona 41, Holmes 0
Volleyball
All “A” State Tournament Pool Play
The St. Henry Crusaders and Bishop Brossart Mustangs met in Pool B with the Crusaders winning 2-0 (25-13, 25-21). St. Henry also beat Williamsburg, 2-0 (25-3, 25-10) and Brossart bested Raceland, 2-0 (25-22, 25-21). Walton-Verona lost both Pool D matches to Sayre, 2-0 (25-14, 25-20) and Whitesville Trinity, 2-0 (25-23, 25-14).
All three continue pool play on Saturday. St. Henry (17-7) takes on Raceland (11-4) at 8:30 a.m. at Court 3 in the Rec Center at Eastern Kentucky University and Brossart (15-6) faces Williamsburg (10-11) at the same time at Court 4 in the Rec Center. Walton-Verona (13-10) finishes Pool D play against Kentucky Country Day (8-5) at 9:15 a.m. at Rec Center Court 4.
Simon Kenton wins twice in Cake Classic
The Pioneers bounced back from the loss at North Oldham with two Pool C wins at Highlands Middle School in the Cake Classic.
Simon Kenton (19-4) knocked off Holy Cross, 2-0 (25-18, 25-21) and South Oldham, 2-0 (25-20, 25-10). The Pioneers play Beechwood at 9 a.m. back at Highlands Middle School.
“I made a line-up change and it really meshed well,” said Amy Marx, Simon Kenton head coach. “We came out with a lot of energy.”
Against Holy Cross, the Pioneers had 21 kills, seven blocks, six aces, 16 assists and 32 digs. Jenna Kitchens had eight kills and five digs with Keira Hans recording seven kills, two aces and three digs. Sophie Spanier had nine digs, three kills and two blocks with Tori Chasteen recording eight digs. Sadie Rehkamp had 16 assists.
Against South Oldham, Simon Kenton had 22 assists. 23 kills, eight aces, 29 digs and four blocks. Rehkamp had 21 assists and four aces. Kitches had eight kills, two aces and six digs and Spanier had five kills and three digs. Chasteen had 10 digs with Hans and Alisha Hawkins recording four kills each.
Other Volleyball Scores
Cake Classic
Conner 2, Beechwood 0 (25-23, 25-22)
Conner 2, Henry County 0 (25-13, 25-18)
Great Crossing 2, Campbell County 0 (25-12, 25-21)
Great Crossing 2, Scott 0 (25-22, 25-12)
Border Battle
Ryle 2, Oakland (Tennessee) 1 (16-25, 25-22, 15-11)
Hoover (Alabama) 2, Ryle 1 (23-25, 25-21, 15-11)
Girls Soccer Score
Villa Madonna 9, Calvary Christian 1