By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
LEXINGTON –
The Highlands Bluebirds football team once again forced the running clock.
It may have
saved them in the end of a 49-35 Class 4A semifinal victory against the host
Lexington Catholic Knights on Friday. Highlands (13-1) won its state-record 34th
consecutive playoff game. The Bluebirds have outscored those opponents by 1,142
points for an average of about 33.6 points per game.
The
Bluebirds built a 42-7 mostly through their vaunted deep passing game. They
outgained the Knights (10-4), 398-204 in total offense in that half and
enforced the running clock with 8:09 left in the half.
But LexCath
did not quit and cut the lead to 42-35 with 3:45 left in the game. But
Highlands made the plays down the stretch to earn another Class 4A semifinal
win. LexCath ended up winning the statistical battle, 457-449.
“I think a lot of that was my fault. We were relaxing,” said Dale Mueller, Highlands Head Coach/Offensive
Coordinator. “We took Drew (Houliston)
and Zach (Harris) out. We went into halftime feeling good about ourselves.
Football is just not that kind of game. LexCath is an explosive team. You just
can’t relax against a team like that.”
But Highlands
did win the turnover battle, 3-2. Junior Griffin Urlage had an interception and
fumble recovery with Brady Murray recovering another fumble. Highlands followed
with two quick touchdowns after the fumble recoveries and Urlage’s interception
with 1:21 left in the game let the Bluebirds run out the clock.
“That interception felt really good,” Urlage said. “They
had some really good receivers. (Ryan) had a slinger on him. We unfortunately
weren’t keeping our guys in front.”
Brandon
Hergott returned an onside kick to the Lexington Catholic 12 with 3:45 left in
the game. Highlands lined up in its full-house backfield and Harris ran the
ball to the LexCath 1 before plunging in to make the final score.
“Before the play, everyone said to catch the ball and
get down,” Hergott said. “But I saw the opening. I just made sure I
didn’t fumble the ball. That’s just one big time play that everyone looks
forward to making.”
Hergott
scored on a touchdown against Warren Central in the season finale. LexCath recovered
an onside kick with about 6:30 left in the game.
“On a rule change on an onside kick, they’re not
allowed to hit you the first 10 yards,”
Mueller said. “Brandon Hergott is just
such a heads-up guy. He really attacked the ball. When they were roaring back,
that was the play of the game.”
Houliston
finished with 357 yards passing completing 14-of-17 passes with four touchdowns.
Jensen Feggins led the way with four catches for 127 yards and two touchdowns and
Alex Veneman had three for 150 with one touchdown.
“That was really key early on,” Veneman said. “They
had Jensen (Feggins) one-on-one and Jensen had a couple big catches. They put
more guys on him then I became open. They played some man on me, which is
pretty nice. (The deep pass) worked every time.”
The
Bluebirds have 60 touchdown passes on the year and Houliston has thrown 48 of
them. That breaks the school record for touchdown passes in a season of 59 set
back in 2000. Gino Guidugli set the individual record at 53 for touchdowns in a
season.
Houliston
completed 11-of-14 passes for 325 yards and all four touchdowns in the first
half. The Highlands offensive line kept the Knight defenders off the skill
position players.
“I think offensive lines are underrated just because
they’re not really seen as much on the field,” said Sam Little, Highlands senior offensive lineman. “The touchdowns are scored by the wide
receivers, running backs and quarterbacks. I don’t think we care (about the
attention) as much. We know we are respected by our skill players.”
Harris
scored three touchdowns rushing 10 times for 94 yards. The first one gave the
Bluebirds the lead for good on a 21-yard scamper just 1:24 into the game. He
now has 1,000 yards rushing on the year. Harris is just the third back in the
Mueller Era to record consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons. The other two
were Eamon Mueller and Justin Frisk in the mid-90s.
The
Bluebirds led 21-0 after two quarters following two Knight fumbles. Houliston
found Feggins over the middle with 4:38 left before Murray recovered a Knight
fumble and returned it to the LexCath 41. On the next play with 1:47 left in
the quarter, Feggins scored on a deep 41-yard route.
On
fourth-and-8 with 10:42 left in the second, Houliston found Beau Hoge in the
left corner to put Highlands up 28-0. About three minutes later, Veneman ran a
deep 86-yard play down the field and Harris scored the two-point conversion run
to enforce the running clock.
Highlands
responded to a Reese Ryan 44-yard touchdown pass to Noah Mitchell with another
score to make the halftime 42-7 advantage. Harris scored from a yard out.
Ryan
completed 22-of-31 passes for 369 yards. He had 145 in the first half. David
Bouvier led LexCath with seven catches for 142 yards and three touchdowns and
Sam Letton had 11 for 122.
“We were shutting them down in the first half,” Murray said. “We
got pressure on (Ryan) in the pocket. We play our best when (turnovers) happen.”
Highlands
will own the record to its lonesome on Saturday with a win. The Bluebirds and
Louisville Trinity are tied for the most state championships in Kentucky with
22 each.