Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
The date of
Nov. 11, 2006 seems like ages ago.
The
Highlands Bluebirds ventured to Covington Catholic and fell 25-15 in the second
round of the Class AAA playoffs. The Colonels won the state championship weeks
later in the final year before the Kentucky football playoffs expanded to six
classes.
But since
then, it has been all Blue and White. The Bluebirds have racked up seven
consecutive over their arch-rivals going 77-2 since that day just more than 70
months ago. This includes two victories last year, 42-39 at CovCath in the
regular season and 42-14 in Fort Thomas in the state quarterfinals en route to
a fifth straight state championship. Highlands increased its all-time record to
41-17 against CovCath with those two wins.
The
atmosphere at David Cecil Memorial Stadium should again be rocking Friday when
the two Northern Kentucky football powers meet again. The Bluebirds enter the
game with a perfect 4-0 mark and the Colonels come in at 4-1 in the Class 4A,
Region 4, District 7 opener for both squads.
Covington
Catholic’s lone loss came on Aug. 31, 27-11 at Cincinnati La Salle of the
Greater Catholic League South Division. The Lancers used stellar defense to win
the game and scored when senior defensive back Jaleel Hytchye intercepted
CovCath quarterback Blake Bir and returned it 66 yards for a touchdown.
La Salle
forced four Colonel turnovers in that game. Freshman running back Jeremy Larkin
returned a punt 65 yards and defensive back Lemuel Weyer picked up a fumble and
brought it back another 10 yards for two more Lancer touchdowns.
Playing in
big games is nothing new for either squad. During the 77-2 run, Highlands also
has huge wins over Greater Catholic League South powers Cincinnati Elder and
Cincinnati St. Xavier. The Bluebirds opened the year with huge wins over Boyle
County and Scott County. Since losing 60-37 in Fort Thomas on Aug. 24, Scott
County has won three in a row over Harrison County (61-6), Madison Central
(41-16) and Tates Creek (71-13) to move to 4-1 overall.
“We purposely try to play in big games to get ready
for the big games,” said Dale
Mueller, Highlands head coach. “So many
guys on our team have been playing sports for so long. They’ve been good
athletes and have played in championship games so they’re used to playing in
big games.”
The best
news for Highlands is the Bluebirds come in after playing their most complete
game of the year in a 61-3 Homecoming domination of Mason County. Highlands
increased its season averages to eight touchdowns, 56 points and 529 yards of
offense per contest and also increased its average margin of victory to 32.5
points.
The
Bluebirds hope to use their depth to win another big contest. Out of their
spread offense, the Bluebirds have run for 1,164 yards and passed for another
952. Quarterback Donovan McCoy leads the balanced attack with 326 yards rushing
on 35 carries with nine touchdowns for an average of just more than 9.3 a
carry. He’s also completed 58-of-98 passes for 864 yards and 10 touchdowns.
The
Bluebirds fine-tuned their passing game against the Royals. McCoy completed
33-of-44 passes for 400 yards and six touchdowns. Highlands did not run the
ball much until late in the game. The offensive line gave McCoy plenty of time
to throw.
Fourteen
different receives have catches for the Bluebirds. Luke Turner leads the way with
10 catches for 193 yards and Colin Seidl has nine for 136. Turner, Ryan Greene
and Nick True have two touchdown receptions each.
“It throws (defenses) off a lot because they have to
worry about the run and the pass,”
said Brandon Hergott, Highlands junior wide receiver. “When we’re running up the middle, it makes teams tighten up their
defense so we can throw the ball over the top. We go as hard as we can every
play. That makes us so successful.”
Highlands
ran the ball well against Boyle County and Scott County before reverting to a balanced
attack against Louisville Western. The Bluebirds have four guys with more than
200 yards rushing. After McCoy, they are Zach Harris with 320 yards rushing on
50 carries with six touchdowns for an average of 6.4 per touch; Ryan Donovan,
217 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns for just more than 12 yards a
carry; and Jaylen Hayes, 208 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns for an
average of just more than 12.2 a carry.
Highlands
will face a stingy Covington Catholic 3-3 stack defense. The Colonels have
blanked three opponents allowing just 33 points this year for an average of 6.6
a contest. Sophomore linebacker Sam Burchell leads the Colonels with 41 tackles
and senior defensive lineman Dan Hellman has 32. The Colonels have picked off
four passes and recovered two fumbles.
“I’ve been real impressed with how they’ve played,” Mueller said. “Each
guy is quick on the field and has been doing his job. They’re playing a great
as a team. You can see football means a lot to them.”
The
Bluebird 3-4 defense squares off against a prolific CovCath spread offense led
by Bir. Bir is being recruited by Northwestern University, Duke Univeristy,
Indiana University and Mississippi State. Bir has completed 82-of-144 passes for
1,315 yards and 17 touchdowns.
“We just have to keep our depth and keep everything in
front of us,” said Griffin Urlage,
Highlands sophomore defensive back. “Their
receivers are very good and (Bir) is really good. (Bir) has a really good arm
and he’s really accurate. We have to know who we’re covering and know our keys.”
Eleven different
receivers have catches for CovCath. Junior Evan Braun leads the way with 19
catches for 328 yards with three touchdowns and senior Ethan Egbers has five
catches for 305 yards and three touchdowns.
Bir is also
dangerous on the ground. He ran some quarterback draws against Campbell County.
He has 120 yards rushing on 25 carries for an average of 4.8 per carry.
“It’s difficult when you’re playing a quarterback who
can do so many things,” Mueller said.
“He throws it short and deep well. He
also runs it well so you have to play great team defense.”
The
Colonels thought Sam Dressman would emerge as a solid running threat in place
of the graduated Gabe Gray. Dressman has just 40 yards on 13 carries with two
touchdowns. Bir’s younger brother Luke and Bobby Beatrice have carried the load
so far running the ball. Beatrice has 214 yards on 42 rushes and a touchdown
averaging just more than five per attempt and Luke Bir has 208 yards on 29
carries for an average of just more than 7.1 per attempt. Beatrice and Luke Bir
have one rushing touchdown a piece.
The
Highlands defense has done a good job recording turnovers all season. The
offense constantly turns the turnovers into points. The Bluebirds scored a
combined 39 points off turnovers against Boyle County and Scott County.
Blake
Schutte leads Highlands with two interceptions. Urlage had one against Mason
County last week.
Game time
is 7 p.m. in Fort Thomas.
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