Highlands gives valiant effort in loss to Holmes

Allen Ramsey Photo. Highlands senior Brandon Hergott (32) battles Holmes post Marcus Hill (23) in Friday's 9th Region Quaterfinal game at the Bank of Kentucky Center. Hergott scored nine points in the 60-41 Holmes win.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS – They may have hit their main goal playing on this floor.

But the Highlands Bluebirds basketball team hoped to take another step and upset a 9th Region contender in the quarterfinals at the Bank of Kentucky Center on the Northern Kentucky University campus. It was not meant to happen as the Holmes Bulldogs pulled away for a 60-41 victory Friday.

Bluebird Notebook: Highlands improves to 14-1 in semifinal games since 1994

G. Michael Graham. Highlands senior defensive back Jackson Bardo (3) escorts junior linebacker Brady Murray (with ball) downfield in the first quarter after Murray recovered a Lexington Catholic fumble. Highlands recovered two fumbles and intercepted one pass in Friday's 49-35 Class 4A semifinal win over the Knights.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

LEXINGTON – This one turned out to be the closest state semifinal win in a while.

During their state record 34-game playoff winning streak, no one had come within 21 points in the state semifinals. In their six consecutive state championship runs, no team had come within three touchdowns of the Highlands Bluebirds in the state semifinals. Highlands had won those six semifinal contests by an average of 29 points.

9th Region Volleyball Bracket Released; Houliston Update

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The 9th Region volleyball pairings were selected Saturday.

Both the Newport Central Catholic and Highlands volleyball teams drew tough quarterfinal opponents. NewCath (16-16) defeated Highlands (13-22) to win the 36th District crown Wednesday by a 3-0 count.

Highlands battles upstart Bryan Station

 

G. Michael Graham Photo. Highlands junior defensive back Griffin Urlage (20) returns an interception in Friday's win over Campbell County while teammates like Rocco Pangallo (17), Jake Parker (37), Tyler Robinson (50), Joey Kruse (14) and Michael Ayers (36) follow. The Bluebirds battle Bryan Station on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Fort Thomas.

 

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

This next opponent should ring a bell.

That’s because the Lexington Bryan Station Defenders (1-0 overall) are one of just two teams to come within 10 points of the Highlands Bluebirds football team during its 30-game playoff winning streak. Tony Guidugli threw a late touchdown pass to Austin Collinsworth as the Bluebirds escaped the Defenders, 28-22 in the first round of the 2008 Class 5A playoffs on their way to their second of six consecutive state championships.

The other team aside from arch-rival Covington Catholic to seriously challenge the Bluebirds during that impressive postseason run is Johnson Central. Highlands edged the Golden Eagles, 21-14 in the regional championship game in 2010 in Paintsville. The Bluebirds have otherwise outscored the competition by 1,001 points during the streak for an average of just more than 33 points per contest.

Highlands enters the game off a 50-8 thrashing of Campbell County. The 2-0 Bluebirds are 89-3 since the start of 2007 and have outscored their first two opponents, 97-25.

However, Highlands would love to start faster. None of those points have come in the first quarter. The Bluebirds and Camels were tied after the first quarter. Highlands trailed University Christian (Fla.), 10-0 at one point before reeling off 47 consecutive points.

“We need to come out with more intensity,” said Drew Houliston, Highlands senior quarterback. “A lot of that’s on me as the leader of the offense. Once we start playing some good teams, we might not come back from such a slow start.”

Injuries on the offensive line have played a role in the slow start. Highlands senior offensive linemen Kyle Thurston, Scott Turner and Kendall Kramer did not play against Campbell County. But the Bluebirds still rotated in 10 offensive linemen into the game and things clicked in the Highlands no-huddle, hurry-up offense in the second quarter.

“It’s a whole team thing,” said Dale Mueller, Highlands Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator. “I could call things a little more consistent. I’ve been trying to be a little too big play early on. That is something we’re really going to look at this next game.”

The Bluebirds have put up 917 yards of total offense and allowed 524. They’ve scored on all six possessions inside the Red Zone (area between 20-yard-line and goal line) and held opponents to 2-of-6 in the Red Zone.

Houliston has completed 39-of-55 passes for about 71 percent for 691 yards, eight touchdowns and just one interception. Junior Jensen Feggins leads the Bluebird receivers with eight catches for 113 yards. Senior running back Zach Harris has a team-high 187 yards rushing on 22 carries and five touchdowns for an average of 8.5 yards per carry to go with five catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns.

Both teams run a 3-4 defense. The leaders for the Defender defense are lineman Jamar Brooks, defensive back Glenn Spencer and linebacker Dallas Bruton.

The Highlands defense faces a Bryan Station Wing-T offense that put up huge offensive numbers in the season-opening win over the 2A Murray Tigers, 47-26 in the Roy Kidd Bowl at Madison Central.

Ora “Bo” Johnson quarterbacks the Defenders. He completed 11-of-16 passes for 373 yards and six touchdowns against Murray. C.J. Walker and Tequan Claitt each snagged two touchdown passes with LaVelle Cloyd and K-Ci Carmichael nabbing one each.

Bryan Station trailed Murray, 13-6 at halftime. But Johnson completed 7-of-9 passes for 312 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Defender rally. Johnson completed 80 and 75-yard touchdown passes to Walker and a 78-yard score to Carmichael. Carmichael added a 46-yard touchdown scamper.

The Bluebirds have battled through injuries defensively, but have still held opponents to 12.5 points per game and 262 yards per contest. Junior defensive back Griffin Urlage has the only Highlands interception with Joey Kruse, Brady Murray and Braden Hicks recording two tackles for a loss each and Joey Cochran, Jake Parker and Matt Gall recovering one fumble each. Hicks and Tyler Robinson have one sack a piece.

Wing-T offenses generally do not phase the Bluebirds. They contained University Christian’s Wing-T attack after the first quarter. The Fighting Christians motioned guys one way and countered the opposite. But Highlands stayed home and contained it.

“You have to keep everything in front of you,” said Bo Hebel, Highlands sophomore defensive lineman. “They like to run a lot of comebacks and throw the ball a lot. You have to read your keys and not look in the backfield. You try to stay in your gaps no matter where the ball is at.”

Bryan Station has not played since beating Murray. The Defenders were scheduled to play two-time 5A champion Bowling Green on Saturday, but the game was cancelled because of lightning.

“They’re a good team,” Mueller said. “They play a lot of guys. They’re a team that’s really trying to be a 6A power. They’re a team that’s trying to compete with (Louisville) Trinity and St. X (Xavier).”

Bryan Station is playing a tough schedule to open the season. The Defenders also play host to Class 4A semifinalist Lexington Catholic on Sept. 13. They compete in Class 6A, District 7 with Paul Dunbar, Henry Clay and 2012 semfinalist Scott County.

Game time is 7:30 p.m. at David Cecil Memorial Stadium. This marks the last home game for Highlands in September. The Bluebirds hit the road for three straight Saturdays after this game.

Highlands offense hopes to keep lighting up scoreboards

 

G. Michael Graham Photo. The Highlands Bluebirds stretch during a recent practice. The six-time state champions averaged 52.1 points per game last year and are hoping to keep lighting up scoreboards this year.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

There is a prevailing question about the Highlands Bluebirds offense before every game.

How many touchdowns are they going to score today?

In recent years, the Bluebirds have been lighting up scoreboards like crazy. They scored 781 points last year for an average of just more than 52 points a game to go with 111 touchdowns on their way to a state-record sixth consecutive state championship.

The reason for that offensive efficiency is balance. Opponents never know if they’ll pass the ball like crazy, run it like crazy or throw in a balanced attack. Highlands ran for 4,019 yards and passed for another 3,405 for a grand total of 7,424 for an average of about 495 a contest. The Bluebirds put up more than 600 yards of total offense three times last year in its Shotgun Spread offense. Two of those games came against state semifinalists Scott County and Lexington Catholic.

“It is nice to be able to do a variety of things offensively,” said Dale Mueller, Highlands Co-Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator. “The more diverse you are, the more things you can do really well and the tougher it is to defend. If you’re a defensive coordinator, you can say, ‘They like to do this.’ You can gear to stop it. If they do this, they do this and they do this, then it’s a lot harder.”

Highlands showed its offensive efficiency in the Red Zone (inside the opposing 20-yard-line). The Bluebirds scored on 75-of-83 trips there for 90 percent including 71 touchdowns for 86 percent.

Quarterbacks like Donovan McCoy and Patrick Towles have done an excellent job guiding the offense in recent years. Senior Drew Houliston will take on that role this year. He completed 33-of-58 passes for 610 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions backing up McCoy last year. Junior backup Beau Hoge also saw some time at quarterback last year and could make an impact at wide receiver.

“I’m just a different kind of quarterback than Pat (Towles) and Donovan (McCoy) were,” Houliston said. “Pat had a great arms and Donovan was really good at running. I feel like I can put both those together. I’m not trying to be like them. I’m just trying to lead like they did. They both led the (previous) teams to state championship.”

McCoy was the leading rusher and passer last year completing 169-of-267 passes for 2,769 yards, 32 touchdowns and 13 interceptions and rushing for 1144 yards on 163 carries and 22 touhdowns. Highlands also graduated speedster Colin Seidl, Ryan Donovan as well as leading receiver Luke Turner (42 catches for 843 yards and eight touchdowns) and receiver Jac Collinsworth. But Houliston will have plenty of help around him.

Three of the top six rushers from last year return led by seniors Zach Harris and Jaylen Hayes. Harris topped the 1,000-yard pleateau with 1,001 yards rushing on 144 carries and 20 touchdowns and Hayes ran for 602 yards on 58 carries and 10 touchdowns. Hayes bulldozed through three defenders on his way to the end zone in Highlands’ first-round win over Boyd County last year. Juniors Josh Watson and James Grau will back them up.

Six of the top seven pass-catchers return from last year. Senior wide receiver Luke Brockett leads the way after catching 23 passes for 391 yards and four touchdown last year. Senior tight end Nick True along with wide receivers Brandon Hergott, Ryan Greene and junior Justin Weyer all return along with Hayes. True has verbally committed to Western Kentucky University.

“In the past couple of years, Drew (Houliston) has always been able to throw it to us,” Hergott said. “In terms of chemistry, there are no problems with the receivers and quarterbacks. It’s coming along nice.”

But things for the Highlands offense start in the trenches. Richie Whitford, Jason Thome, Jack Grimm and Mitch Dee graduated. But seniors Matt Farney, Sam Little, Kyle Thurston, Scott Turner, Bryan Saunders, Tyler Schweitzer and Kendall Kramer return to protect the skill position players.

Turner said the offseason conditioning program really helps the offensive lineman. Near the goal line, Highlands likes to line offensive linemen in the full-house backfield to create room for the skill position players to score.

“During practice, you get so out of breathe that when you get into a game, it’s just like second nature,” Turner said. “You don’t think about how tired you are because you’re more tired in practices.”

The high-octane Highlands offense returns to action Aug. 24 at 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU against the University Christian Fighting Christians of Jacksonville (Fla.). University Christian is the defending Class 2A Florida champion. That’s the second-smallest of eight classes in the Sunshine State.

Highlands pulls away from Lloyd, 41-30

G. Michael Graham Photo. Highlands guard Drew Houliston (right) looks to make a move in Friday's game at Lloyd Memorial. The Bluebirds downed the Juggernauts, 41-30 to snap a nine-game losing streak to 9th Region opponents.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

ERLANGER – The odds may be against them making the 9th Region Tournament this season.
 

But that does not mean the Highlands Bluebirds boys basketball team won’t try. They’re trying to find some positive things to build on as tournament time approaches.

Highlands found some things to build on Friday with a 41-30 win over the host Lloyd Memorial Juggernauts. The win snapped a nine-game losing streak against 9th Region opponents and let the Bluebirds avenge a season-ending 42-39 loss to the defending 34th District champions in last year’s region quarterfinals at the Bank of Kentucky Center at Northern Kentucky University. Highlands improved to 10-15 overall and 4-10 in region play and Lloyd Memorial fell to 6-15.

“Our word for (Friday) was hope,” said Mike Flynn, Highlands head coach. “When you have hope you have everything. When you have no hope, you have nothing. That’s what we need to hang our hat on.”

Both teams slowed the pace and tried to work the ball around for good shots. Highlands shot the ball better making 14-of-32 shots for 44 percent compared to 10-of-39 for Lloyd for 26 percent. The Juggernauts made just 3-of-19 three-point attempts for 16 percent while the Bluebirds missed all four three-point shots.

Highlands tried to take advantage of its size down low with Jake Gronotte and 6-foot-6-inch Nick True. The duo scored eight points each to follow Luke Turner’s game-high 12 points. True also grabbed seven rebounds.

“We’re practicing hard every day trying to get our fundamentals up,” True said. “All we’ve been doing is shooting in practice. It’s starting to help a little bit and will get better down the road.”

Lloyd won the rebounding battle, 26-25. But Highlands recorded 10 second-chance points to two for the Juggernauts.

Jarice Ewell led the Juggernauts with 10 points. He recorded two three-point plays in the second quarter. But the Bluebirds switched to a mixture of 3-2 and 2-1-2 zones to take away the Lloyd penetration after that.

“That slowed (the Juggernauts) down and kept them away from the rim,” Flynn said. “They’re a very quick team. They cut very hard probably better than anyone in the region. They were hurting us with that.”

The Bluebirds made their free throws when the Juggernauts fouled in the fourth quarter. They hit 13-of-19 attempts for 68 percent compared to 7-of-10 for 70 percent for Lloyd.

Highlands used a 6-0 run to go up 10-6 after the first quarter. Gronotte and Drew Houliston made two free throws each before True rejected a Lloyd shot then hit a jumper with 45 seconds remaining.

Lloyd tied the game at 14 before Highlands went on a 5-0 run. Bailey Witte hit a free throw before Turner scored four points. The Bluebirds led 21-18 at halftime.

The Juggernauts tied the game at 25 with 3:10 left in the third before the Bluebirds used a 6-0 run to go ahead for good. Turner hit a jumper and two free throws in that run and Gronotte hit another jumper.

Highlands then pulled away in the fourth. The Bluebirds hit 6-of-9 free throws in the game’s final 2:26 to pull away.

“You just have to take care of the ball and slow it down a bit,” Houliston said. “They were going to keep coming at us and trap us. We had to make smart decisions. I felt we did a good job of that.”

Highlands has two games left in the regular season. The Bluebirds play host to the Scott Eagles (13-11) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.