by Kirk Dooley
With Lake Highlands and Jesuit now in its rear-view mirror Highland Park sits atop district 7-6A with a 3-0 record, with five games left to play. After facing four teams ranked in the top 20 in the area, the Scots may not see that level of competition until the playoffs. Two teams that seem to have the best chance of upsetting the Scots are Irving MacArthur and Richardson Berkner.
MacArthur’s quarterback, Glendon Willis, completed 13 of 14 passes for 322 yards last week in a 55-21 win over Richardson. Cardinals wide receiver Jerbrandin Henderson led the area in receiving with eight catches for 192 yards.
Impressive, but let’s talk about them in two weeks.
This Thursday at 7:00 p.m.HP faces the Berkner Rams at Wildcat-Ram Stadium on the campus of Lake Highlands High School. The Rams are 3-1 in district play after beating Richardson, Pearce and Irving, so a win over the Sots would put Berkner and HP in a tie for the district lead. So one can expect the Rams to be motivated and ready to scratch and fight like the Jesuit Rangers in the fourth quarter.
Rams quarterback Demarcus Calhoun, has completed 25 of 35 passes for 441 yards and three TDs. Another QB, Cornell McGee, has completed 35 of 74 passes for 423 and four TDs. So that’s 864 yards and seven touchdowns between the two. The top two receivers are Dameon Crowe (384 yards) and Tre Randle (212 yards). The Rams also have a two-headed rushing attack featuring Jamary Williams and Kaden Alcorn who have combined for 856 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.
Berkner’s district wins have been impressive. They shut out Richardson, 49-0, and Irving, 31-0, and swamped Pearce, 45-14. Their one loss, however, was against playoff-bound Lake Highlands, 42-7.
The Scots continue to be undefeated and state-ranked. And every game they win is a new record for the winningest program in the history of Texas high school football.
Last week’s battle with the Jesuit Rangers was a fascinating high school game. With a sold-out stadium and a loud, playoff vibe, the Scots had their way with the Rangers in the first half, taking a 28-0 halftime lead. Then when a third quarter 26-yard Brennan Storer touchdown pass to Jay Cox extended the lead to 35-0, it looked like the Scots would glide to a lopsided win.
But the Rangers had a different perspective.
Jesuit completely dominated the fourth quarter, rolling up 28 unanswered points to give the Scots a pre-Halloween scare that was real. The Scots recovered a last minute onside kick to preserve a 35-28 win.
The difference in the game was Brennan Storer’s ability to run. While he completed nine of 21 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns, he ran 14 times for 142 yards and another TD. His 10.14 yards per carry was the most significant stat of the night.