Highlands aims for another big win at The Pit

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The annual football district matchup with the Covington Catholic Colonels may be the most circled game on the calendars of the Highlands Bluebirds players and coaches for a long time.

But this year, this Friday’s game at The Pit against the Cincinnati Elder Panthers (6-2) may have been circled almost, if not as many times for a big reason. The Panthers are one of just three teams to beat the undefeated 8-0 Bluebirds during a 95-3 run since the start of 2007. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

Bluebird defense conditions for numerous plays during game

 

G. Michael Graham Photo. The Highlands Bluebirds go through conditioning drills in a recent practice. The Bluebird defense allowed an average of just more than 18 points per game last year and hopes for similar results this year.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The offseason conditioning program benefits the Highlands Bluebirds defense in more ways than one.

The defenders find themselves on the field a lot more than most teams because the offense scores so quickly. But the Bluebirds still managed to hold their own on their way to a state-record sixth consecutive state championship last year. The Highlands defense stayed on the field for about 60-70 plays while most defenses stay on the field maybe 40-50.

Opponents scored just 272 points for an average of just more than 18 points a game while the Bluebird offense averaged just more than 52 points per game. Highlands yielded 2,651 yards rushing and 1,378 passing for a total of 4,029. That’s especially why the Bluebird defenders take pride in offseason conditioning workouts and also helps they only have to play one direction.

“We pride ourselves on being in great condition,” said Brian Weinrich, Highlands Co-Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator. “That’s our number one focus. We want to be physically ready for each game. We want to get the ball to our offense as quickly as we can. There’s a chance we’re going to be out there more. Our offense is not going to grind it out like another type of offense would. That means we’re going to have little more fun.”

The Bluebirds shut out Collins and Pendleton County last year in addition to holding Mason County without a touchdown. They held opponents to 27 percent (50-of-188) on third down and 33 percent (19-of-57) on fourth down. Highlands recorded 34 sacks resulting in 264 yards and 79 tackles for a loss for 208 yards lost.

“We’re just sticking together and working as a team,” said Joey Kruse, Highlands Senior Linebacker. “It’s a matter of continuing to do what we’ve been doing. The hard conditioning we do make the games easier.”

Highlands would like to score more defensive touchdowns this year after scoring just one last year. That came when junior defensive back Griffin Urlage returned an interception about 60 yards for a touchdown at Ryle on the last play of the regular season.

Highlands almost returned a fumble for a touchdown at Harrison County. But the Bluebirds spiked the ball at the 2-yard line out of the end zone giving the ball back to the Thorobreds.

“You have to channel your energy properly,” Weinrich said. “You have to focus on the job at hand. We as coaches don’t want to get too or too low in any situation. You don’t want to pull the reigns too tight. But you have to let the horses run. You want to keep them under control.”

Highlands will again run its vaunted 3-4 front. The Bluebirds graduated Gabe Schultz and Austin Peterson on the defensive line, but do return plenty of depth there led by seniors Seth Hope, Austin Greene and Nathan Merkle. Hope recently verbally committed to Cornell University. Hope led the Bluebirds with 11.5 sacks last year for 106 yards including five in the state championship win over Collins.

“As a defensive lineman, it’s all about footwork,” Merkle said. “You have to read offensive linemen, come off the ball strong and control your gap. It takes good balance to move your feet and make the tackle.”

Opponent had a difficult time running outside on the Bluebirds. Only Elder had a huge enough offensive line to pound the ball between the tackles. But the Bluebirds hope the extra weight-lifting will alleviate that this year.

Plenty of depth also returns in the linebacker spots led by seniors Thomas Wrobleski, Joey Cochran and junior Brady Murray. Wrobleski recorded 7.5 sacks resulting in 69 yards lost and Murray led the Bluebirds with two fumbles recovered.

The Highlands secondary often excelled in pass coverage allowing the linemen and linebackers to focus on stopping the run. The Bluebirds do a great job getting their hands up to knock away passes without making contact with wide receivers.

“You want to come in on the inside,” said Andrew Abner, Highlands junior defensive back. “Your whole body is still there in case you miss it.”

Blake Schutte, Ben Streeter, Quentin Murray, Jake Lester and Jake Heck graduated in the secondary. But in addition to Urlage and Abner, Highlands does return players like senior Jackson Bardo, Alex Shadle, Michael Ayers and junior Grayson Heck in the backfield.

Highlands picked off 14 passes and returned them 111 yards and recovered 15 opponent fumbles. The Bluebirds finished a plus-4 in the takeaway/giveaway turnover category.

Special Teams:

Highlands only had to punt 20 times last year and the Bluebirds hope to keep that statistic low. Sophomore Jared Dougherty kicked off most of last year. He’ll do that and handle the punting duties.

Senior Evan Allen returns to take on the extra-point kicking duties. The Bluebirds made 85-of-97 extra-point tries for 88 percent.

The Bluebirds open the season Aug. 24 at 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU against University Christian (Fla.) of Jacksonville. This will be the first time the Bluebirds have played a team outside Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana.

Highlands seeks history in 4A title game

Photo by G. Michael Graham/Fort Thomas Matters. The 2012 Highlands Bluebirds football team will be looking to add to the legacy on Friday against the Collins Titans. Game time is 8 p.m. EST at Western Kentucky University's Houchens/L.T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green.
 

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

It was not until recently that the Highlands Bluebirds football team heard about the Collins Titans.

That’s because the Titans (11-3) broke off from Shelby County in 2010. Collins is the last team standing in the way of history for Highlands. Class 4A’s top-ranked Bluebirds (13-1) will take the field in search of a Kentucky record sixth consecutive state championship Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time at Western Kentucky University’s Houchens/L.T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green.

A win would give Highlands its 22nd state championship overall. The Bluebirds enter the game with an overall record of 841-225-26 since starting their program in 1915. That win total is good for second in the country behind just Valdosta (Ga.) with 876 victories since 1913.

Collins is 33-8 in its brief three-year history with three district championships. The Titans have advanced one round deeper into the playoffs each year having faced Louisville Western in three consecutive Region 2 championships. The Titans lost to the Warriors in 2010 by a 31-26 count before edging Western, 13-12 last year and 36-20 this year. Head Coach Jerry Lucas has led the building process for the Titans.

“(Lucas) is doing a great job,” said Dale Mueller, Highlands co-head coach. “Those are guys that were playing football at their previous schools. Those are some experienced football players who are serious about it. You can see that.”

Collins lost to 2011 runner-up Franklin-Simpson, 20-15 in the state semifinals last year. But the Titans came back to beat undefeated and third-ranked Warren East, 58-7 in the semifinals Friday.

“It was a neat experience for myself, our coaching staff and our kids to start a program and build it from the ground up,” Lucas said. “We have a beautiful school, great facilities and terrific kids. Shelbyville is a great town to live and raise a family. Our kids believe in our school and our program and it’s been fun being part of building the tradition at Collin High School.”

Aside from history, depth could factor into this contest. The Bluebirds dress more than 90 players and have no one playing on both offense and defense while the Titans dress about 50 and have several players going both directions. Highlands tends to wear down teams that have players going both ways.

“We are certainly honored to not only be making our first state appearance but excited to be playing a team with the history of excellence such as Highlands,” Lucas said. “We understand what we are up against playing a team like that has great players on both sides of the ball and knowing that they only play their kids on one side. At this point in the season, we just have to go out and play and let it all hang out.”

Highlands also played the tougher schedule having to go through ranked Ashland Blazer, Covington Catholic and Lexington Catholic to get to this point. The only ranked team Collins faced on its way to the state championship was Warren East. The first five Highlands opponents made it to the third round of the playoffs. One made it to the 6A state semifinals in Scott County, where it fell 21-14 to Louisville Trinity in the last minute.

Collins finished 2-2 6A competition in the regular season beating 7-5 Meade County (21-14) and 5-7 Oldham County (28-14) and losing to 11-3 6A semifinalist Louisville Eastern (41-29) and 6-5 Lexington Bryan Station (55-52). Aside from Louisville Western, the other common opponent is Boyle County. The Rebels beat the Titans, 49-26 in Danville eight days after Highlands rallied past Boyle County, 52-31 on Aug. 17 to open the season.

“It’s just great experience for guys playing in big games,” Mueller said. “That’s why we schedule the teams we do. It helps us get focused for this game.”

Junior quarterback Lawson Page completed 14-of-18 passes for 260 yards and two touchdowns against Warren East. Like Highlands senior quarterback Donovan McCoy, Page wears number one and is a dual-threat out of Collins’ spread offense that mixes in some Power-I formations. Page has completed 185-of-346 passes for 2,825 yards, 36 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Page has also run the ball 155 times for 730 yards and five touchdowns for an average of 4.7 a carry.

“We’re going to try to keep (Page) inside the pocket and in front of us like we try to do with Donovan in practice,” said Nathan Merkle, Highlands junior defensive lineman. “If he gets outside the pocket, he can just run all over the field then he can throw it downfield to a wide receiver or take it to the house.”

Junior running back Deandre Farris is a threat to catch and run the ball. He leads the Titans with 128 rushes for 937 yards and 17 touchdowns for an average of 7.32 per carry. Farris also has 60 catches for 974 yards and 13 touchdowns. Junior wide receiver Nathan Sames leads Collins with 62 catches for 994 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Collins has outscored the opposition, 562-349 for an average of about 40.1-25 a contest. Highlands has outscored its 14 opponents, 734-272 for an average of about 52.4-19.4. Collins has rushed for 2,681 yards and passed for 2,825.

The Bluebirds play a 3-4 scheme defensively. They’ve allowed 2,584 yards rushing and 1,272 passing. Senior Quentin Murray leads Highlands with five interceptions and brother Brady Murray, a sophomore linebacker, leads the way with two fumble recoveries. Reid Schroeder leads Highlands with eight tackles for a loss. Thomas Wrobleski leads the Bluebirds with 7.5 sacks and 6.5 tackles for a loss. Seth Hope follows with 6.5 sacks.

The Highlands offense has rushed for 3,696 yards and passed for 3,252 more. The Bluebirds have also scored 104 touchdowns this year. McCoy leads the way with 1,039 yards rushing on 148 carries and 20 touchdowns for an average of about seven a carry. McCoy has also completed 159-of-252 passes for 2,616 yards, 30 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

Five Bluebirds have rushed for at least 430 yards. Junior Zach Harris follows McCoy with 130 carries for 905 yards and 18 touchdowns for an average of about seven a carry.

Highlands has 12 wide receivers with at least nine catches. Senior Luke Turner leads the way with 38 receptions for 795 yards and seven touchdowns. Junior Luke Brockett has 21 catches for 358 yards and four touchdowns. The Bluebirds catch the ball all over the field making life tough for defenses.

“We can beat (opponents) either way,” said Ryan Greene, Highlands junior wide receiver. “If they’re playing up, we can hit them deep. If they’re playing deep, we’ll hit them short. We have a bunch of guys who think about the team more than themselves. I think that’s why we win a lot of games.”

The Bluebirds have won the state championship in 10-of-12 appearances in the title game since Mueller came on staff in 1994. The only years they finished runner-up were 1995 losing 28-12 to Bowling Green and 2003 falling 44-10 to Boyle County.

Highlands prepares for playoffs against Elder

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The Highlands Bluebirds football team has not been seriously challenged since the game against Covington Catholic.

That could change this week as the 5-3 Cincinnati Elder Panthers come from across the Ohio River to face the Class 4A top-ranked and unbeaten Bluebirds (8-0). Highlands may be 4-12 all-time against teams from the current Greater Catholic League South. But that has changed in recent years.

The Bluebirds are 2-0 during the 81-2 run since 2007 against GCL South teams and 5-1 against teams from Ohio. That includes a 34-29 win at Elder last year. Quarterback Donovan McCoy came on for the injured Patrick Towles and threw the game-winning touchdown pass to tight end David Christian in Cincinnati last year. That marked the first time in five tries Highlands beat Elder.

Christian is hoping to play for the first time this year. He’s been out with a hamstring injury.

“Everyone is excited,” Christian said. “We just have to go out there (in practice) and keep getting better. We just come in prepared every week. When we’re prepared, we play our best.”

Elder finished 2-8 last year playing without a number of suspended seniors. But the Panthers have a lot on the line coming into this game.