Highland Park Sports Club

by  Kirk Dooley

The Scots get their fifth home game of the season this Thursday at 7:00 p.m. as they host the New Caney Eagles in a bi-district match. Being a playoff game, there will be no reserved seats. Everything is general admission. If you’ve always been a season ticket holder, feel free to get to the game early and grab your own seats before someone else does. The early bird gets the seat.
When you say your prayers this evening, be sure to put in a word of thanks for Coach Randy Allen and his choosing to play this game on Thursday night. The weather forecast predicts a nice, clear football-weather evening on Thursday. On Friday evening the weather is predicted to be in the 40s and raining.
In north Texas, not much is known about New Caney, located northeast of Houston. The 5-5 Eagles slid into the playoffs at the last minute and are excited to taste some post-season action. It would be a nice feather in their cap to oust the state’s second-ranked team in the first round.
There’s one particular game I’d like for you to ponder. Two weeks ago New Caney beat Magnolia West, 55-48. The Eagles’ standout running back Cale Sanders, Jr. ran for 253 yards and five touchdowns. That alone commands your attention but what’s mind-boggling is that the Eagles have a sophomore running back, Kedrick Reescano, who gained more! Like 269 yards and one TD. Sanders averaged 11 yards per carry and Reescano averaged 10. That sounds like a clock-eating, first-down machine.
Of course, these two talented running backs have never met Mr. Marshall Landwehr or Mr. Patrick Turner and their merry band of running-back eaters. A solid and experienced Highland Park defense has gotten even better as the Scots enter the playoff season. This could be fascinating to watch.
Another new wrinkle that makes this game unique is that New Caney has six excellent players who go both ways and will see action on offense and defense. The Scots, with a roster big enough to have its own zip code, has the depth and flexibility to rotate its players without missing a beat. For those of you taking notes Thursday night, compare the first quarter stats with the fourth.
The winner of this game will advance to play the winner of Frisco Independence vs. Woodrow Wilson. They’re playing on Thursday night at Forester Field, a stadium named for the grandfather of 1972 Scots linebacker Mike Forester. His father (Bill Forester) and uncle (Herschel Forester) were both all-state players at Woodrow, all-SWC players at SMU and both played in the NFL. So there could be some good Woodrow karma at Forester Field Thursday night.
Meanwhile, back at Highlander Stadium, the Scots will try to hold New Caney to under 500 yards rushing.

by  Kirk Dooley

The 7-0 Scots travel to Wylie this Friday to close out district play against the 1-6 Wylie East Raiders. It will be the quintessential first place team against the last place team in district 7-5A. But before you relax, let me take you back in time, say 48 months.
The Scots traveled to Wylie to close out district play in 2016. HP was undefeated in district and were riding high. The Raiders had a bruising running back named Eno Benjamin who is now playing for the Arizona Cardinals. The Scots held Benjamin to 186 yards on the ground (which, believe it or not, was below his average) and the HP offense, under QB John Stephen Jones, was manhandled by the Raiders defense. Wylie East used Benjamin to ride out the clock and won the game, 20-9. The spirited HP offense scored zero touchdowns, three field goals and looked like a hapless unit that wouldn’t last long in the playoffs.
It was the lowest moment I can remember in HP football in the past two decades.
“It was a big disappointment,” said HP head coach Randy Allen. “But the next morning we gathered the team and started preparing for our new season: the playoffs. We put our 8-2 record behind us and used the Wylie East loss to refocus. The parents bought the team new playoff uniforms and we dedicated ourselves to never play below our abilities again, to have a chip on our shoulders and to create a goal of winning six playoff games including the state finals.”
Well, do you believe in miracles?
In the first playoff game the recalibrated Scots took out their frustrations out on Mount Pleasant, 70-2, and then never took their foot off the accelerator en route to the 2016 state championship.
If the Raiders knock off the Scots this year it will need to be with 929-yard running back Christian Johnson and duel-threat, 927-yard sophomore QB Terrell Washington, Jr. This duo has scored 96 of the team’s 120 points this season. Most of their damage is done on the ground. The Raiders would like to knock off the Scots again but they would much rather climb out of an 18-game district losing streak that goes back to 2017.
Assuming he Scots go into the playoffs as the top seed from 7-5A, they will play the fourth-place team from 8-5A, probably Lufkin, at Highlander Stadium next weekend.
But as the Scots face Wylie East on Friday, I will have nightmares about how the Scots couldn’t stop Eno Benjamin four years ago. You probably have the same nightmares about Marvin Mims.
Just keep reminding yourself that he’s gone.

by Kirk Dooley

It’s Senior Night at Highland Park. Before the West Mesquite game this Friday night, all the HP seniors on the team will be introduced, so come early to honor these guys.
Highland Park football has been a Texas tradition since 1923 and this year’s version of the Scots has the most seniors ever. Hats off to these players for being a part of something bigger than themselves and a tip of the fedora to their coaches for keeping this large number of young men on board, focused and contributors to the team’s success.
Special teams players and scout team players make up a healthy percentage of the team. The offensive scout team and defensive scout team do an admirable job of making the starters better and more prepared for each week’s opponent. While they will not set foot on the field during a game, the scout team players deserve a lot of credit for each win.
Highland Park football is like a well-oiled machine. When Players of the Week are announced after each game, the honorees include offensive players, defensive players, special team players, scout team players, managers/trainers and two awards for injured players – 12th man and video. When each division of the corporation has a couple Players of the Week, there are about a dozen honorees. In the locker room, the star offensive player is on the same level as the trainer of the week and the scout team players of the week. It is a very healthy and successful system. It is one of the reasons why Highland Park has won more football games than any school in Texas history.
This Friday West Mesquite visits Highlander Stadium and the Wranglers are coming off a 41-27 win over Wylie East. The fact that they lost their previous seven games doesn’t matter to the Scots. The Wranglers have tasted victory, are on a winning streak and are playing their best football of the season right now.
The Scots have gotten off to sizzling starts the past two games over McKinney North and Tyler. They will need to continue this tradition on Friday and next week against Wylie East. This is not the time to fall asleep against teams with poor records.
If the Wranglers get the momentum and the Scots are not in the proper mental state to fight back, I say put in the entire scout team, with players foaming at the mouth to get in a game. Fans in the stands will see spirit and fury that the HP starters see every day in practice. Which, of course, is why the starters will be totally prepared and in the proper mental state so that they won’t let a momentum shift throw them off.
The Scots have earned enough respect this season to be ranked second in the state. Every player, coach and trainer shares in this ranking. And each one will tell you, “When you play one of us, you play all of us.”