Highlands obliterates Mason County, 61-3

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matter Sports Reporter

Everyone associated with the Highlands Bluebirds football team knew this was bound to happen.

The Bluebirds had been playing good, but not great football by their standards. So they had an intense week of practice and ended up thrashing the visiting Mason County Royals, 61-3 at David Cecil Memorial Stadium on Friday for Homecoming.

“We’re really pleased with what we did in all aspects of the game,” said Dale Mueller, Highlands head coach. “We really feel we have a number of All-State caliber players and we hadn’t been doing that yet.”

Class 4A’s top-ranked Bluebirds moved to 4-0 overall for its 24th consecutive win and 42nd straight home win improving to 77-2 since the start of 2007. Mason County dropped to 1-4. They Royals are 3-12 since the start of 2011 after two straight seasons losing in the second round of the Class 3A playoffs.

Highlands came into the game with an average margin of victory of 24 points and also averaged 54.3 points and 512.3 yards per contest. The Bluebirds obliterated the first average and ended up topping the other two outgaining the Royals, 571-128 in total offense.

The Bluebird defense played its best game of the year coming out and hitting hard. The first three opponents averaged 30.3 points and 264.3 yards per contest rushing. Highlands held Mason County to 51 yards rushing on 25 carries for an average of just more than two yards a touch.

The Bluebirds keyed on Mason County standout tailback Rashon Nelson holding him to 45 yards on 13 carries. Nelson ran for 191 yards on 35 carries and two touchdowns in Mason County’s 37-22 win over Harrison County last week.

“We really worked on what we messed up against Louisville Western,” said Austin Peterson, Highlands senior defensive lineman. “We stayed closer to the line (of scrimmage), stayed lower and made sure we kept our gaps and played fast.”

The Bluebirds moved the ball up and down the field at will against the Royals mostly through the air and did not punt in the contest. Senior quarterback Donovan McCoy completed 33-of-44 passes for 75 percent. His completions to 11 different receivers netted an even 400 yards of total offense with six touchdowns.

Sophomore backup quarterback Beau Hoge completed Highlands’other pass attempt. It was a 16-yarder to Ryan Donovan in the fourth quarter.

Highlands opened up its passing game more against Louisville Western after dominating Boyle County and Scott County on the ground to open the season. McCoy completed 25-of-54 passes for 456 yards and four touchdowns in the previous three contests.

Nick True led Highlands with seven catches for 83 yards and two touchdowns and Jac Collinsworth had five receptions for 54 yards and a touchdown. Jensen Feggins, Ryan Greene and Luke Turner had one touchdown reception each for the Bluebirds.

“We knew we had to get our passing game going,” Collinsworth said. “We’d had our running game going for a while now. We wanted to work on our routes, get Donovan some throws and really get our guys going. We really took our biggest step up as far as our passing game.”

Highlands only ran the ball 11 times in the contest. Most of the runs came in the second half with the game out of reach. Donovan led the Bluebirds with 125 yards rushing on eight carries with two touchdowns. McCoy had the other three carries for 30 yards and his ninth rushing touchdown of the year.

Highlands opened the game with an oneside kick and recovered it. The Bluebirds drove down the field and scored when McCoy zigged and zagged through the Mason County defense for a 7-yard score to put the Bluebirds up for good at 6-0.

Highlands scored two more touchdowns in the first quarter to go up 20-0. Feggins hauled in a 6-yard pass and Collinsworth hauled in his first touchdown pass of the year from a yard out.

Mason County put together its longest drive to start the second quarter completing some short passes. The Royals hit a 30-yard field goal to cut the margin to 20-3. But Highlands responded with 14 in the quarter to go up 34-3 at halftime when Greene caught an 8-yard touchdown pass and Turner hauled one in from 47 out.

“We just started playing (the short passes) better,” Mueller said. “Sometimes, you can get a play on our defense once. But it’s hard to come back and get it a second time because once we’ve seen it, we’re pretty much ready for it.”

Highlands put the game away in the third to force the running clock. True hauled in 5 and 8-yard touchdown receptions and Donovan scored from two yards out in the third and four in the fourth for their touchdowns.

The Bluebirds return home Friday to face Blake Bir and the arch-rival Covington Catholic Colonels (4-1) back at David Cecil at 7 p.m.

 

 

Highlands heads to Louisville for first road game Friday



By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
The deep talent pool does not just help Class 4A's top-ranked Highlands Bluebirds football team physically.
It also helps the Bluebirds' mental approach in games they're supposed to win handily. If a player goes in thinking, "They're no good, so we can take the night off," that player will come out. But generally, Highlands has not had this issue over the years.
"Our guys work at football year-round," said Dale Mueller, Highlands head coach. "We have maybe 200 practices a year and we only have 15 games so when they get a chance to play a game, they're looking forward to that game. So we never have a problem overlooking anybody."
The 2-0 Bluebirds hit the road for the first time to take on the Louisville Western Warriors of District 4. Western is also in Class 4A with Highlands. The Warriors finished 7-6 last year losing 13-12 in the regional title game to Collins, including a 56-0 loss in Fort Thomas.
Western is 0-2 in two home games so far this year under new head coach Torrey Shinholster. The Warriors fell 20-6 to Louisville Ballard on Aug. 17 before losing 28-0 to Louisville Male.
Male happens to be the second-winningest program in Kentucky with 818 wins all-time behind Highlands' 830. Highlands and Male rank second and third in the country behind Valdosta (Ga.) with 870 wins.
The Warriors have struggled finding an offensive identity in the first two games. They've tried a number of formations like the Power-I and the Spread.
"They have some good players on (offense)," Mueller said. "When they find what they're good at, they're going to be dangerous."
Highlands will counter with its 3-4 defense. The Bluebirds have allowed 815 yards of total offense, including 514 on the ground. Scott County ran for 253 yards as a team, but most of that came in the second half with the Bluebirds up comfortably.
The Bluebirds constantly disrupted the Scott County Traditional Wing-T attack in the first half. The Cardinals had to take to the air down big and Blake Schutte and Ben Streeter picked off passes to set up Highlands scores. Schutte also recovered a Cardinal fumble. The Bluebirds have a plus-4 turnover margin and have scored 39 points off those turnovers to none off two turnovers for opponents.
"(Pressure on quarterbacks) definitely helps because the quarterback has to make a quick decision," Streeter said. "Many times, he ends up throwing it to the wrong guy so you get interceptions. If it is a run, defensive penetration helps linebackers because the running back will bounce outside or cut in (to the other defenders)."
The Highlands offense will face a Western 5-3 defense that likes to stunt a lot. Male quarterback Tyler Erny threw for more than 300 yards and three touchdowns in Male's win Friday.
"They're difficult to block," Mueller said. "They're really looking to disrupt your game because they'll bring eight different guys. They put you in bad field position. They've made a lot of teams go three-and-out regularly."
The Bluebirds will bring their prolific spread offense to Western. They average eight touchdowns, 535 yards and 56 points per game.
Highlands has averaged 399 yards per contest rushing the ball. Zach Harris leads the Bluebirds with 36 carries for 234 yards with Jaylen Hayes going for 208 yards on 17 carries and quarterback Donovan McCoy running for 202 yards on 21 touches. McCoy has six touchdowns with Harris and Jayes running for four each.
Highlands' offensive line has done a good job opening up holes. The linemen constantly push defensive linemen upfield. But their job does not stop when the runner gets 20 yards or more up the field.
"We are conditioned to run down the field and follow the ball because anything can happen," said Scott Turner, Highlands offensive lineman. "Balls can pop out or helmets get on the ball and the ball goes flying. You just have to be there to get the ball."
The Bluebirds can throw the ball if necessary. McCoy also has completed 9-of-19 passes for 200 yards and a 33-yard touchdown pass to Luke Turner. Senior wide receiver Jac Collinsworth said he hopes to make his season debut after sitting out the first two games with a hamstring injury.
Game time is 7:30 p.m. in Louisville.