Highlands seeks 10th straight against arch-rivals

G. Michael Graham Photo. Highlands defenders Joey Cochran (24) and Bo Hebel (55) converge on Paducah Tilghman running back D.J. Sherrill (25) in Saturday's game in Paducah. The Bluebirds travel to Park Hills on Saturday to face the Covington Catholic Colonels at 1 p.m.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

It was a nice, clear summer day in early August.

The Highlands Bluebirds senior captains led warm-ups before a practice. During that time, they shouted the familiar “Beat Colonels” phrase.

That’s how much that annual game against Class 4A, District 7 arch-rival Covington Catholic means to the Bluebirds. Highlands faces its longtime rival Saturday in Park Hills at 1 p.m.

The two Northern Kentucky powers have battled for state championships since the 1980s. Highlands is tied with Louisville Trinity for the most state championships with 22 and CovCath owns six.

“It isn’t all that intense,” said Dale Mueller, Highlands Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator. “We spend more time and focus on CovCath. Most weeks in practice are primarily geared to improving as a team. This week, it’s about CovCath.”

Highlands has won nine in a row in the series dating back to 2006 during their run of a state-record six consecutive state championships and 92-3 mark since the start of 2007. The Colonels are the last team to beat Highlands in the playoffs on their way to their last state championship in 2006.

Highlands is 43-17 in the all-time series against Covington Catholic. That includes wins in both the regular season and playoffs in its title runs in 2007, 2011 and last year. Last year, Highlands beat CovCath twice in Fort Thomas – 35-21 in the regular-season and 28-13 in the regional championship.

“We’re going through our normal routines practicing everything and during the game, I bet everything will get emotional,” said Evan Allen, Highlands senior wide receiver. “When the game starts, our nerves will get going. But we have mature guys and we know what to do in a big game.”

Highlands comes into the game undefeated at 5-0 while the Colonels are 3-1. They had a bye week last week after beating Henderson County, 18-0. CovCath’s lone loss came to Cincinnati Moeller, 45-7 on Sept. 7. Moeller won Ohio’s largest Division I state championship last year and is the alma mater of CovCath Head Coach Dave Wirth.

“We spent very little time last week on Highlands,” Wirth said. “We just worked on fundamentals and healing up as much as we could. Having two weeks or two days, it’s all the same preparing for (Highland). It comes down to making plays on game day, not turning the ball over, forcing turnovers. We know them. They know us.”

The Colonels have endured their fair share of injuries. Senior running back Luke Bir is out for the season with junior quarterback Adam Wagner and senior linebacker Sam Burchell also missing games because of injuries. Burchell has yet to play.

The Colonel defense has still been strong as they have outscored the opposition, 94-58. The Colonels shut out Boone County and Henderson County. Senior defensive backs Adam Fischer and Matthew Way lead the Colonels with 27 tackles. Way also has five interceptions.

CovCath may return several three-year starters and a four-year one. But the Highlands spread attack makes teams defend the entire field. Highlands has outscored the opposition, 234-120 and outgained opponents, 2,147-1,761 in total offense.

Senior quarterback Drew Houliston continues to put up impressive numbers for the Bluebirds. Houliston has completed 90-of-131 passes for 1,547 yards, 21 touchdowns and just one interception.

The Bluebird offensive line has blocked well for most of the year. Houliston was sacked six times in the recent road win at Paducah Tilghman. But the Bluebirds did not allow any in the second half making adjustments to Tilghman’s delayed blitzes.

Highlands has seen 12 different wide receivers catch passes. Junior Jensen Feggins leads the way with 20 catches for 299 yards and five touchdowns. Senior Brandon Hergott is third on the team with 10 receptions for 156 yards and five touchdowns.

The Bluebirds rested senior running back Zach Harris against Tilghman. But he has 362 yards rushing on 47 attempts with eight touchdowns and 14 receptions for 233 yards and five touchdowns.

Highlands showed its depth in that game at Tilghman. Fellow senior running back Jaylen Hayes rushed for 154 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns. His season total is 232 yards rushing on 37 carries and three scores.

Highlands may have the mental advantage coming into the game. But Wirth never seems concerned about that.

“We have lots of rivals, not just one,” Wirth said. “So, when it comes to each one, we don’t care about last year or even next year. That’s fodder for pre-game parties and press. We only care about this game this week. So we handle it as we would any other game – just keep fighting, make a stop, make a play, etc. Our players don’t sign up at CovCath for the sake of one game. There are several games that get their blood pumping a little faster. Obviously, Highlands is one of them.”

The injuries have forced the Colonels to play at lot of sophomores, especially at the skill position spots in their Spread offense. Sophomore Ben Dressman has stepped in for Adam Wagner and with classmates Ben Darlington and Ryan McGinness stepping forward at running back and wide receiver respectively.

“We just have to line up right and take good angles at the ball hoping they don’t get behind us,” said Griffin Urlage, Highlands junior defensive back. “We want to keep them in front of us on the screens and play fast and aggressive.”

Ben Dressman has completed 21-of-34 passes for 268 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Sam Dressman leads the Colonel rushing attack with 197 yards on 28 carries and two touchdowns and senior Sam Hatter leads CovCath with eight catches for 120 yards and two touchdowns.

“We are all excited about being involved in such a tremendous rivalry game,” said Brian Weinrich, Highlands Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator. “As always, we will continue to improve each day at everything we do. It should be a fun atmosphere on Saturday.”

The Highlands defense has bent a couple times this year, but has come through in many clutch situations. Urlange and Rocco Pangallo lead the Bluebirds with one interception each. Seth Hope leads Highlands with four tackles for a loss with Thomas Wrobleski making 3.5 and Brady Murray and Joey Cochran recording three each. Braden Hicks, Bo Hebel and Hope have on sack each.

CovCath will become the fourth most common school opponent in school history after this game. The Bluebirds entered the season having played CovCath and Dayton 60 times in school history. They’ve only faced Covington Holmes (71), Dixie Heights (70) and Newport (66) more than CovCath and Dayton.

Highlands opens playoffs against familiar opponent

Photo by G. Michael Graham. The Highlands Bluebirds open the playoffs at 7:30 p.m. Friday against the Boyd County Lions at David Cecil Memorial Stadium.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The first-round opponent is the same as last year.

But the result may not change much based on the two football teams’ seedings and tradition. The Highlands Bluebirds overwhelmed the Boyd County Lions, 63-7 to open the Class 4A playoffs last year on their way to a fifth consecutive state championship.

Like last year, Highlands (9-1) won the District 7 championship for the second straight year and its 16th title in 17 years while Boyd County comes in with an identical 5-5 record. The Lions finished fourth in District 8 and have to travel about two hours and 39 minutes as a result for the 7:30 p.m. contest Friday.

“We feel good about the game,” said Dale Mueller, Highlands Co-Head Coach. “We’ve definitely had a better season than Boyd has. It is a game we’re looking first to win because it is one-and-out. But it is also a game where we’re looking to execute well and play as well as we can play and not just good enough to win.”

The Lions enter the game on a three-game winnings streak while Highlands pounded Ryle, 58-13 to end the season. But the Bluebirds own five wins over teams with winning records in Boyle County (6-4), Scott County (9-1), Mason County (6-4), Covington Catholic (7-3) and Covington Holmes (6-4). Their only loss came to Ohio High School Athletic Association Division I Cincinnati Elder (7-3).

The two recent wins for Boyd County came against winless Greenup County and West Carter. The Lions, under first-year head coach Ray Brooks, had to hold off the Comets, 14-7 on Friday.

Gaje Ayers ran the ball 17 times for 66 yards and Reid Dearfield had 64 yards on 20 attempts for the Lions. Boyd’s two touchdowns came on a Dearfield 10-yard run in the second quarter and a quarterback Billy McCoy 15-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Barnwell with 4:25 left in the third quarter.

Ayers and Dearfield lead the Lion rushing attack. Dearfield has 628 yards on 117 carries with four touchdowns for an average of 5.3 a carry and Ayers has 592 yards on 123 carries and five touchdowns for an average of 4.8 a touch.

Boyd County has not beaten a team with a winning record this year. The Lions’ other three wins came against Shelby Valley (3-7), East Carter (2-8) and Magoffin County (4-6).

Opponents have averaged 20.4 points, 192.1 yards rushing and 84.4 yards passing per game against the Bluebirds. Highlands scored its first defensive touchdown of the year when sophomore defensive back Griffin Urlage returned an interception back 70 yards on the last play of the game Friday.

“It actually felt really good,” Urlage said of the touchdown. “It was fun. The coaches were telling me to go down. I really didn’t hear them so I took it and ended up scoring. We just have to bring (the intensity) hard (Friday).”

The Bluebirds have 56 tackles for a loss, 16 sacks, 11 interceptions and nine fumble recoveries this year. Reid Schroder leads Highlands with 6.5 tackles for a loss totaling 12 yards and Thomas Wrobleski has 4.5 for 10 yards to go with six sacks for a total of 67 yards. Senior linebacker Joe Paolucci has 4.5 tackles for a loss and 3.5 sacks and senior defensive back Quentin Murray has four interceptions.

Conversely, the Bluebirds will bring out their quick-scoring offense. Highlands averages 53.7 points, 505.9 yards and 7.6 touchdowns a contest.

“(Balanced) is what we hope to be (offensively) every year,” Mueller said. “We are that team this year. We really try to execute the play that gets called. The guys are just great at it.”

Quarterback Donovan McCoy has completed 122-of-194 passes for 1,949 yards, 26 touchdowns and nine interceptions and rushed for 579 yards on 84 attempts and 11 touchdowns for an average of about 6.9 yards a carry.

Zach Harris leads Highlands with 736 yards on 89 carries and 13 touchdowns for an average of about 8.3 a carry. Jaylen Hayes, Ryan Donovan and Colin Seidl have rushed for at least 321 yards for the Bluebirds. Harris has been battling a bone bruise the last couple of weeks and may not play Friday unless it is close so the other running backs could get more carries.

“You have to be prepared for anything,” Donovan said. “If someone gets hurt, you pretty much have to go in and do what you have to do.”

Luke Turner leads a talented Highlands receiving corps with 26 catches for 515 yards and seven touchdowns. He had seven catches for 172 yards and four touchdowns against Ryle. Teammates Luke Brockett, Nick True, Justin Weyer, Brandon Hergott and Ryan Greene have at least 10 catches and two touchdowns.

This will mark just the second meeting between the two teams. The Bluebirds have never lost in the first round of the playoffs since Mueller came on staff in 1994.

Highlands prepares for another big game vs. CovCath

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

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.