The Scots welcome the Lake Highlands Wildcats to this side of Northwest Highway tonight for the first time since 1999, head coach Randy Allen’s first year at Highland Park.
“Lake Highlands was a playoff team last year,” said Allen. “They are well disciplined, well coached and they play hard. They are 2-1 in district, coming off a 45-38 win over Richardson.”
The Wildcats have lost to Rowlett, 37-35; Colleyville Heritage, 40-16; and Mesquite, 56-21. They’ve beaten Plano East, 18-13; Berkner, 37-22; and Richardson, 45-38.
Brock Jones (#13) is the Wildcats quarterback. He has completed 38 of 76 passes for 608 yards and seven touchdowns. Junior quarterback Brendyn Gettens (#16) has seen plenty of action, completing 22 of 29 passes for 286 yards and four touchdowns.
The leading wide receiver for LH is Jamarice Preston, who has caught 35 passes for 630 yards and eight TDs. He is averaging 18 yards per catch and is the Wildcats’ leading scorer for the season.
Lake Highlands has a healthy ground game, led by a big front line and a punishing runner named Tyler Hughes, who has rumbled 140 times for 684 yards and seven touchdowns over the first six games. Last season as a junior he gained more than 1,000 yards while averaging 6.3 yards per carry. Not only is Hughes a tough runner but is armed with 4.5 speed.
Experience will be a key for the Wildcats at the skill positions. Last year Jones was the team’s leading passer, Preston was the top receiver and Hughes led the team in rushing.
In Last Friday’s 45-38 win over Richardson, Jones scored with 30 seconds left in the game to put Lake Highlands up by three. But that was enough time for the Eagles to drive to the Wildcats sixyard line and kick a field goal to send the game into overtime.
Lake Highlands fed the ball to its power runner and he went 25 yards in three runs to score in overtime. Richardson then drove to the six-yard line before a fourth-down interception in the end zone ended the nail-biter.
The Wildcats gained 535 yards of total offense, including 144 yards on the ground by running back Hughes and 175 yards receiving by wide receiver Preston.
The Scots are coming off a tough 42-27 loss to Mesquite Horn at Hanby Stadium. The loss snapped the Scots’ impressive 37-game district winning streak and marks the third HP district loss in the past 16 years. The major difference-maker was Horn’s talented wide receiver Jarrison Stewart, who caught six passes for 120 yards, including touchdowns of 20, 34 and 28 yards.
But Stewart’s biggest play helped set the tone for the Jaguars in the first quarter. After Brooks Burgin (#5, 6-2, 189) led the Scots on a textbook 98-yard touchdown drive to start the game, Stewart returned a punt for 67 yards to tie it up and give the crowd a preview of how the game was going to be played. Stewart’s big plays earned him The Dallas Morning News Offensive Player of the Week. He is verbally committed to TCU.
“Our mistakes – the punt return, a fumble and an interception – were key to Horn going up 28-14 at the half,” said Allen. “We came back and with four minutes left we had the ball and were down by eight.”
The Jaguars defense held the Scots offense and then ran out the clock by lining up 290-pound nose guard Dalen Morgan in the backfield and handing him the ball. He rolled for 51 yards on three carries, including a 27-yard touchdown with 56 seconds left in the game. The Scots battled back and the game ended with HP on the two-yard line.
So Horn has the inside track to the district championship but the Scots feel that they can learn from this defeat and it can help them in the playoffs.
“It takes playing a good team for us to learn the areas in which we need to improve,” said Allen. “We’re excited and anxious to get back on the field and find out what we’ve learned. ”
The biggest lesson the Scots learned at Hanby on Friday is that a team cannot give up two fumbles and two interceptions and expect to beat a good opponent.
With a solid dose of reality, the Scots are practicing a little harder and are working on areas that need improvement. Defensive back Pearson Feagans (#22, 6-0, 165) is out with a broken collar bone.
Linebacker Michael Linehan (#35, 6-1, 230) had a good game for the Scots. His six tackles included three for a loss and one sack. Linebacker Mitchell Kaufman (#10, 6-3, 225) overcame a nagging back injury and was credited with six solo tackles. Feagans had four solo tackles before his injury. Nose guard Danny Gouskos (#94, 5-9, 210) had seven total tackles including one for a loss.
Tonight the Scots will be battling turnovers as well as Wildcats.