by Kirk Dooley Blog
Last year your local back-to-back state champions were picked to finish second in district 6-5A DI.
Rival Mansfield Legacy was predicted to win the district championship and some sportswriters prognosticated that the Broncos would go all the way and win the state title. Highland Park was good but the Scots were basically a statistical afterthought. Runners-up at best. 
Legacy was led by a wizard quarterback/safety named Jalen Catalon who was a mixture of Michael Vick, RG3, Kyler Murray and Jett Duffey (who led Mansfield Lake Ridge to the state finals in 2015). Catalon had led his team to the 5A DII state semifinals in 2017 while the Scots were winning their second ring. But in the first game last year tragedy struck early. Catalon suffered a catastrophic knee injury and lost for the season. The proud Broncos fought all season but didn’t have the leader to take them to the promised land. When the Scots played them at Vernon Newsome Stadium, HP drowned the Broncos, 28-7, in a bizarre downpour. Drew Scott scored the first touchdown in that game.
It’s different this year. The 4-1 Scots host the 0-5 Broncos in front of a Highlander Stadium homecoming crowd. On paper the Scots should dominate. The offense is averaging 64 points per game in district and the defense has not allowed a point. Coach Randy Allen has his team approaching this game like any other. He knows that Legacy has a proud history. They have the athletes. They have the coaching. They have playoff experience and they have pride. Like the Scots, the Broncos have had some key injuries and like the Scots, they are getting some of their top players back. Plus they’ve had two weeks to prepare for the Scots.
Lurking down the road for HP are state-ranked Lancaster (Nov. 1) and area ranked Timberview (Nov. 8) to give the Scots some true playoff-like challenges. But every game in district counts so there’s no need to look ahead. Especially this Friday.
While the Scots looked good with Drew Scott and Hunter Heath back from injuries, I was despondent over David Sherer being knocked out of the Bryan Adams game. He had just caught a Brayden Schager third-quarter pass and scampered 16 yards for a touchdown and it was the most dazzling run I’ve seen this year. Who was this guy?! I loved watching him dart through the secondary. A few minutes later he was laying on the sideline with a broken collar bone, out for the season. That’s truly a tough break.
This Friday at halftime of the homecoming game the school will be presented with the 2018 Lone Star Cup. And Coach Randy Allen will be honored for becoming the third winningest coach in Texas high school football history.
If you enjoy watching Scots football and you like history, it all comes together this Friday.
I’ll leave you with a trivia question. During halftime one of the 1969 HP captains, Paul Flowers, will be introduced. What special gifts does he have in common with Coach Randy Allen?