Kirk Dooley’s Blog
The objective this week for the Highland Park Scots is to keep Mr. Chance Fisher out of the end zone.
So far this season the Skeeters running back has scored 15 touchdowns. Only three 6A players in the Dallas area have scored more points. Scots defensive coordinator Don Woods has arranged for Highlander Stadium to be flooded Friday night so that his defense can build a moat across the end zone to keep Fisher out.
Fisher and our man, Stephen Dieb, have similar stats. Fisher has carried the ball 107 times for 814 yards, averaging 7.61 yards per carry. Dieb has run 100 times for 733 yards, a 7.33 average per carry. Fisher leads in touchdowns but not by much. Dieb is an important cog in a scoring machine.
The Skeeters buzz into Highlander Stadium for a game that promises to be wet and wild. An aerial circus will probably not break out. The Scots may need to holster its top gun, Henry Allen, while the Skeeters may keep quarterback Anthony Tennison out of the air. If the game turns out to be a slugfest in the rain, Fisher’s nose for the end zone could be an important component. But for the record, take Dieb’s 11 touchdowns and Jack Kozmetsky’s five, and that’s more end zone visits than Fisher.
Tennison has competed 85 of 135 passes for 896 yards and has run 88 times for 331 yards. In the Skeeters’ 59-28 win over Berkner last week, Tennison completed 78 percent of his passes for 175 yards and three TDs. Roderick Brown proved that you need only one receiver when he caught four of those passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns. The number we need to remember is 37.5. That’s how many yards Brown averaged per catch.
If the Skeeters lose Friday night, their playoff hopes are washed away. So they will be pumped. They are averaging 55 points per game over the past two weeks, so the Scots defense, moat and all, will be tested. However, this HP defense has come into its own over the past two games, and was solid and impressive against Horn. In that game the linebackers found a new gear. LBs Hayden Schnieders, Josh Block and John House were all named Highland Park Players of the Week in that key game.
Remember how good Horn was? It took the Scots’ best effort to win that game.
Horn beat Mesquite 28-27 a few weeks ago, in a game that could have gone either way.
But if we’re playing hypotheticals, keep in mind that the Skeeters fell asleep at the wheel against Lake Highlands three weeks ago and got beat, 63-28, by the same Wildcats that the Scots skinned last Friday, 34-6.
Apples to apples, the Scots defeated the Skeeters last season, 45-14, rolling up 440 yards of total offense (212 on the ground and 228 in the air). The Scots hope to have similar success this Friday. I’d like to say they will have a strong passing game against the Skeeters; but, it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.