Playoff Outlook for Highlands

Bluebirds Hit Road to Open Playoffs

PHOTO: Ed Harber. Highlands senior defensive lineman Brennan White (99) puts pressure on Cooper quarterback Drew Warth (5).

The Highlands Bluebirds football team (6-4 overall) will travel to face the Conner Cougars (7-2) in the opening round of the Class 5A playoffs in two weeks.

Conner came to Fort Thomas on Oct. 4 and won 20-17 on a touchdown pass in the final minutes. Highlands set up the rematch with a 14-7 win at Cooper combined with Conner's 45-7 loss to Covington Catholic up the road in Hebron. Cooper will travel to undefeated Covington Catholic.

Highlands Freshman Football Loses First

The Highlands Bluebirds freshman football team (8-1) lost 10-3 at Ryle on Thursday for the first loss of the season.

Highlands travels to Beechwood on Thursday. Game time is 6 p.m.

JV Football Loses to CovCath

Bluebirds Unable to Solve Colonels

PHOTO: Ed Harber. Highlands junior quarterback Jake Fahlbusch looks for running room in a recent varsity game.

The Highlands Bluebirds junior varsity football team (4-4) lost to Covington Catholic in Park Hills by a 14-0 score on Saturday.

Highlands concludes the season at home against Cooper on Saturday. Game time is 10 a.m.

Highlands Thursday Results

Bluebirds Complete Regular Season with Dominating Win

Twitter Photo. Five Highlands volleyball seniors and one manager celebrated Senior Night on Thursday. They are, from left, Ava Hockney, Rylee Kirschenbaum, manager Navaeh Votel, Audrey graves, Casey Dunn and Brooke Biltz.

The five Highlands seniors had one last show at the home gym in the final regular season game of the year.

The Bluebirds (26-7 overall) took care of business like usual with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-19) win over the Conner Lady Cougars. Highlands has won all three meetings against Conner this year and moved to 13-5 against 9th Region opponents.

"(We just) wanted to get more into a rhythm," said Katelyn Sallee, Highlands Head Coach. "Coming out of our Louisville weekend, we just felt out of sync. At Cake (Classic), we got kind of back in rhythm. Then this week, even more so. We just wanted to build some confidence off the things we've done well the majority of the season making sure we're keying on those things."

Highlands Volleyball Records 25th Victory

One Game Left in Regular Season for Bluebirds

PHOTO: G. Michael Graham, Fort Thomas Matters. Highlands sophomore CC Shick goes through a drill earlier in the season.

The Highlands Bluebirds volleyball team (25-7 overall) had a chance to equal the win totals from the previous two years and took care of business quickly Tuesday just down the road.

Highlands defeated Bellevue, 3-0 (25-3, 25-12, 25-11) to finish 4-0 in 36th District seed play. The Bluebirds finished 25-11 the previous two years winning two district titles.

Weekend Highlands Results

Region Pairings Set for Highlands Soccer Teams

PHOTO: G. Michael Graham, Fort Thomas Matters. The Highlands girls take on Beechwood on Monday in the 9th Region quarterfinals at 7 p.m. at Tower Park.

The Highlands soccer teams learned their next opponents Sunday.

The Highlands girls soccer team received a great draw with arch-rival Notre Dame and St. Henry getting paired on the other side of the bracket of the 9th Region Tournament. The 36th District champion Bluebirds (14-3-5 overall) face 35th District runner-up Beechwood (8-9-3) on Monday at 7 p.m.

Highlands Makes History with Win

Bluebirds Second Team in Country to Reach 900 Program Wins

PHOTO: Ed Harber. Highlands senior Brycen Huddleston (1) sets up for a block in the 49-0 win at Boone County on Friday. That marked the 900th victory for the program.

Coming into the season, three teams in Kentucky had the chance to reach the 900-win plateau in school history.

The Highlands Bluebirds led that group needing just five wins while the Louisville Male Bulldogs and Mayfield Cardinals needed eight and 13 respectively. Highlands has 23 state championships in school history with Mayfield and Male recording 12 and eight respectively.

People wondered if Highlands would get there first after the two-game losing streak. But the Bluebirds earned it first with the 49-0 win over the Boone County Rebels on Friday in Florence. The Bluebirds are 900-243-46 dating back to the first season in 1915.

The Bluebirds are second in the country for the most all-time wins. The Valdosta Wildcats from south Georgia lead the country at 931-234-34.

"That means a lot to me personally growing up and wanting to be a part of Highlands football," said Joe Buten, Highlands junior running back. "It's cool to accomplish something like that."

Highlands Thursday Results

Bluebirds Go for 21st Win of Season Friday

PHOTO: G. Michael Graham, Fort Thomas Matters. The Highlands volleyball team lost at home to Cooper on Thursday.

The Highlands Bluebirds volleyball team (20-6 overall) dropped a 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-18) 9th Region decision at home to the Cooper Lady Jaguars (19-8).

Highlands fell to 10-4 in region play. The Bluebirds dropped both region games this week.

Tuesday Highlands Results

Bluebirds Lose in Three to Pandas

PHOTO: G. Michael Graham, Fort Thomas Matters. The Highlands volleyball team lost at Notre Dame on Tuesday.

The gap between the Highlands Bluebirds volleyball team (20-5 overall) and the two teams that form what Head Coach Katelyn Sallee calls 'the wall' in the 9th Region has closed in recent years.

Highlands Dominates Dayton

Bluebirds Play for District Title on Wednesday

PHOTO: G. Michael Graham. Highlands knocked off Dayton, 11-0 on Monday to move on in the 36th District Tournament.

The Highlands Bluebirds girls soccer team (13-3-5 overall) dominated the Dayton Lady Devils, 11-0 in the semifinals of the 36th District Tournament at Tower Park on Monday.

Saturday Highlands Results

Highlands Soccer Wins on Road

PHOTO: G. Michael Graham, Fort Thomas Matters. Highlands junior Austin Frazier and the Bluebirds won the final game of the regular season, 1-0 on Saturday.

The final warm-up for the Highlands Bluebirds boys soccer team (12-5-4 overall) ended in victory on the road Saturday, 1-0 over Cincinnati (Ohio) Indian Hill.

Highlands-Conner Football Sidebar

Highlands Faced Conner for First Time Since 2006

PHOTO: Ed Harber. Family members of the late Highlands quarterback Jared Lorenzen stand at midfield before the Highlands-Conner football game. In the middle wearing number 22 jerseys are Lorenzen's son Tayden (white jersey) and his daughter Taylar (blue jersey).

The Highlands Bluebirds and Conner Cougars had not met since 2006.

It ended up being the third Cougar win all-time against the Bluebirds. Conner last defeated Highlands, 29-26 in the second round of the playoffs in 1993.

Thursday Highlands Results

Highlands Boys Soccer Earns Much-Needed Win 

PHOTO: G. Michael Graham, Fort Thomas Matters. The Highlands Bluebirds boys soccer team knocked off Cincinnati (Ohio) Madeira on Thursday, 3-0.

The Highlands Bluebirds boys soccer team (11-5-4 overall) came together for a 3-0 non-region win in the final home game of the regular season over the Madeira (Ohio) Mustangs.

Highlands Head Coach Chad Niedert said the Bluebirds built off the second half of the 3-2 loss at Loveland (Ohio) on Tuesday. Highlands won the half, 1-0 despite being two players down because of two red cards.

Highlands Volleyball Victorious in District Play

Bluebirds Take Care of Business at Dayton

PHOTO: G. Michael Graham, Fort Thomas Matters. The Highlands volleyball team knocked off Dayton on Wednesday to move to 3-0 in 36th District play,

The Highlands Bluebirds volleyball team is playing three straight days and won the most important of the three Wednesday in 36th District play.

Highlands (17-2 overall) ventured to Dayton and defeated the Lady Devils, 2-0 (25-6. 25-20) in a best-of-three match. The Bluebirds have won seven in a row. They are 3-0 in district play and 8-1 against 9th Region opponents.

Tuesday Highlands Results

Highlands Golf Finishes Third at Region

Twitter Photo. Highlands juniors Luke Muller (left) and Justin Gabbard (right) qualified for the state tournament Tuesday.

Entering the season, the Highlands Bluebirds boys golf team knew repeating as region champs would be tough.

Highlands placed third at the 8th Region Tournament on Tuesday at Eagle Creek Golf Course in Dry Ridge shooting a 322 as a team. The Grant County Braves won the region to qualify for state as a team and the Henry County Wildcats took second with 321. Only the region champ advances to state as a team unlike previous years when the region champ and runner-up advanced to state.