Weekend Sports Briefs

Highlands soccer, JV football, middle school golf teams win over weekend

PHOTO: Allen Ramsey, DWCPhoto.com. Highlands senior Ethan Mills (16) heads the ball in a recent win over Newport Central Catholic. Mills recorded his sixth assist of the season in a 3-0 win over Covington Holy Cross on Saturday. The Bluebirds have won nine in a row.

Both Highlands soccer teams sought their 12th wins of the season Saturday in 9th Region play against 35th District opponents and did just that Saturday.

The Bluebirds took down the Covington Holy Cross Indians, 3-0 for their ninth straight win at Eva G. Farris Park. They moved to 12-1-2 on the season and 8-0-1 in region action with their 11th shut-out of the season. Highlands has outscored the opposition, 50-11 on the year. Holy Cross fell to 4-7-1

"We got the job done. It wasn't our best," said Matthew Winkler, Highlands Head Coach. "We know these are the things we have to iron out before postseason. (On) any given day, a team can beat another. We have to prepare for each one like it's our last and play that hard as well."

Nick Gish, Colton Dolezal and Brandon Zachary had the goals for the Bluebirds. That marked the seventh goal of the season for Gish and the fifth ones of the year for both Dolezal and Zachary. Zachary scored off his left foot to the right post.

Tommy Browe, Ethan Mills and Alan Ford had the assists for Highlands. That marked the sixth assist on the year for Mills, the second for Browe and the first one for Ford.

The Bluebirds put up 27 shots including 13 on goal compared to just two shots on goal for Holy Cross. Holy Cross junior goalkeeper Zack Combs had 10 saves for the Indians with Paul Tully making two in the first half for Highlands. Senior goalkeeper Simon Frink did not have to make any in the second half for the Bluebirds.

"(Combs) is a really big guy and he's a really tactical goalie," Zachary said. "That just made it harder to get shots by him. (My goal) was the luck of the hit. It was a ball he couldn't really get to."

Highlands travels to Montgomery County (6-9) on Tuesday. Game time is 6 p.m.

Soccer, Girls:
Highlands 8, Beechwood 0:

Just a few hours later, the Ladybirds (12-1-1 overall) recorded their 12th shutout of the season holding Beechwood (8-7) to one shot on goal that junior goalkeeper Olivia McQueary picked up.

Highlands moved to 6-0 in 9th Region action recording 26 shots including 14 on goal. Beechwood senior Jamie Schilling recorded six saves.

"We put some new things in practice and we just looked for the girls to work on those things," said Brian Wiefering, Highlands Head Coach. "I felt like the girls knew they should come out and win. That's kind of tough. It was a hot day. I felt like they played fine. I don't feel like they played their best soccer. But we felt the second team that went in was trying to prove playing time. If you look, a lot of our stats came from our subs. They went in and played with 100 percent."

Highlands freshman Maria Broering led the way with four points recording her first goal and first two saves on varsity this season. Sophomore Gwen Gorman had her fourth goal and first assist of the year for three points. Sophomore Lindsey Meyer scored her seventh goal of the season with senior cousins Annalee Brewer and Claudia Hils scoring their third goals of the season respectively.

Freshman Lauren Deckert added her fourth goal of the year and junior Molly Wiefering scored her first of the season and assisted junior Kylie Stava's second goal of the season. Senior Sydney Ossege recorded her seventh assist of the season and freshman Ali Gessner had her fifth assist with junior Kaitlyn Meyer recording her first assist this season. Gessner has a team-high 25 points this year.

"The girls older and younger get along great," Deckert said. "The stronger we are friends outside of the patch, the better we get along on the soccer field. I know the seniors have been very welcoming to us freshmen throughout the year as well as our juniors and sophomores. The impact of togetherness influences our game highly. We go onto the field as a team and off the field as a team no matter what."

Football, Junior Varsity:
Highlands 18, Simon Kenton 14:

The Bluebirds (5-1 overall) took on a Pioneer squad that had not lost in a few years.

But Highlands built an 18-6 lead at halftime and held on for the win in Independence. The two squads face off again to finish the season on Oct. 29 in Fort Thomas. Highlands saw sophomore quarterback Grady Cramer, sophomore Aubrey Posey and sophomore running back Cooper Schwalbach score touchdowns.

Highlands takes on Dixie Heights in two weeks in Fort Thomas. Game time is 10 a.m.

Golf, Middle School:
Bluebirds going to state:

The Bluebirds took home the Northern Kentucky section to qualify for the state tournament on Sunday in Florence with a score of 165.

Eighth-grader Justin Gabbard won the medalist honors with a 34 and Luke Muller shot a 39. The two will also play at the 8th Region Tournament at the high school level on Tuesday in Maysville.

Joel Craft followed with a 45 and Isaiah Lampkin had a 47. Jack Schneider shot a 51 to round out the Highlands scoring. The top four scores make up the team score.