Highland Park Sports Club

by  Kirk Dooley

   How does a first-place team get excited about playing a last-place team? In Highland Park’s case, the coaches have a list of areas where the team needs to improve and they are using that list as the focus this week as they prepare to face the Royse City Bulldogs.
   It’s nothing personal but they are not focusing on the Bulldogs. They are using this game to prepare for the playoffs, which will begin in two weeks.
   What can we say about Royse City? Well, first of all, they should have spelled it Royce. Second, Wylie East beat them 38-0 and Poteet beat them 48-0. And third, the Bulldogs are 0-5 in district play and are averaging 7.8 points per game.
   Meanwhile, HP is averaging 40.4 points per game as they’ve run up a 5-0 district record. Amateur prognosticators might assume that the Scots will win 40.4 to 7.8. That cannot happen but it might be close.
   This is the final home game for the Scots and it is Senior Night. The best thing that can happen is to jump out to a big lead and let all the seniors get some playing time. For the majority of those players and their parents, this is an emotional game, the climax to a lifetime of football that began in YMCA sports at Armstrong, Bradfield, Hyer or University Park and will end when the Scots season ends. A few HP players will take a stab at college football but most of them will hang up their shoulder pads and then find out how incredibly competitive (and fun) flag football can be in college intramurals.
   Friday will be a big night for the Highlander Band, whose seniors will be honored at halftime and then the band will perform after the game.
   Royse City has a running back named Brett Martinez who ran for 1,207  and 15 touchdowns last season. So far this season he has gained 680 yards and scored five times. He is also the team’s leading receiver, with 340 yards on 19 receptions. Sophomore quarterback Matthew Yelverton has completed 48 of 111 passes for 80 yards and three TDs. Clogging up the line will be defensive tackle Sam Rosenstengle.
   Truly, the worst thing the Scots can do is to go into this game thinking about the big Wylie East game next week. The best thing they can do is to play well early and then give their hard-working backups some action under the Friday night lights.

by Kirk Dooley

   The Scots took care of business last Friday, knocking off district rival Poteet, 40-29, to retain first place in district 15-5A with three games remaining.
   Highland Park did it the hard way, spotting the Pirates 15 points early in the second quarter. The Scots were down by six at the end of two quarters and made some good adjustments at halftime to command the third quarter with 24 straight points to ice the game.
   By rolling up more than 600 yards of total offense and holding the Pirates to under 240, the Scots made its most significant statement of the season against a very good team. Now the Scots, undefeated in district play, face Forney, Royse City and Wylie East to close out the regular season.
   This week Highland Park travels to Forney to hunt some Jackrabbits. Forney is 3-4, with wins over Berkner, Lindale and Royse City along with losses to Terrell, Poteet, Lovejoy and West Mesquite. They are 1-3 in district play but have fought most teams to close games.

Click Here for directions to game.  7:30pm kickoff tonight, October 21, 2016.

The Jackrabbits’ quarterback is junior Devon Rideaux who has completed 53 of 129 passes for 755 yards and six touchdowns. He is also the team’s second leading rusher, totaling 430 yards on 84 carries. If the Scots focus on Rideaux, they need to be careful because then Aaron Rideaux can hurt you. He is the team’s third leading rusher and third leading receiver. It’s confusing when they’re both in the backfield at the same time.
   Forney also has some excellent talent at center (all-district Ethan Hanley), linebacker (all-district Brendan Vaughn and defensive line (all-state Jaylon Hutchins). While taking a break from starring on defense Vaughn is also the team’s leading receiver (23 yards per catch) and Hutchins is the team’s leading rusher (526 yards on 79 carries). These guys are good but they will also be good and tired.
   The number for the Scots to be concerned with is six. That’s the number of yards per carry that Hutchins, Rideaux and Rideaux each average every time they run with the ball. That sounds like a lot of first downs…
   Last month an intoxicated man from Terrell stumbled into a Forney fast food restaurant and demanded some free enchiladas. When he wasn’t given any, he got into an argument and so his buddy took him outside. There the two of them got into a fight and enchilada man bit the ear off his buddy. I mention this as a reminder to all Scots fans who go to Forney this Friday. If you stop for dinner and order enchiladas, make sure you let your waiter or waitress know that you fully intend to pay for them.

by Kirk Dooley

What is the key word in this week’s Scots-Pirates battle?
Speed.
The Poteet Pirates have plenty of it and the Scots will need to overcome it. Coach Randy Allen calls it “sprint relay speed” and he’s right. The Pirates have it on offense. They have it on defense. They have speed on special teams and they even have it when the team runs onto the field before the game. These guys are FAST.
The Pirates and the Scots come into the game undefeated in district play and this game is what everyone predicted when the schedules were announced – a battle for the district championship. Each team still has three more district games after this one, and the Scots must travel to Wylie East to close out district play, but the Poteet battle is the home game of the year for Highland Park.
Please note that Poteet has already defeated Wylie East, 26-14. The Raiders held the Pirates to 91 yards passing, 48 yards rushing and only six first downs for the night. Yet Poteet scored 26 points. The Pirate defense allowed Raider quarterback Eno Benjamin 190 yards on the ground but won the game because they kept him out of the end zone. That’s the point, right?
But let’s look at those 26 points. Cha Cha Corbin, a (fast) Poteet wide receiver, caught two touchdown passes from quarterback Kaleb Fletcher, who is also fast. Da’Michael Smith ran back a punt 86 yards for touchdown. We assume he didn’t stroll all the way to the end zone. The Pirates added two field goals by two different kickers. The first one out there gets to kick?
In Poteet’s 42-3 win over North Forney last Friday, Cha Cha Corbin had a 48-yard touchdown run, Daiquan Jackson had a 47-yeard TD run and Josh Johnson topped them both with a 57-yard run for a score. It seems that we can deduct that if any of these guys turn the corner or get into open space, it’s six points.
The Scots go into this game prepared and focused. They know this is a big game and they know they have the horses to win it. Outside of Denton Ryan, Poteet has not seen a defense like Highland Park’s. My gut feeling is that HP will keep the Pirate passing game off balance and will limit the big plays enough for the Scots offense to control the clock and the scoreboard.
HP quarterback John Stephen Jones has completed 60 percent of his passes this season for 1,335 yards and 10 touchdowns. The weather forecast calls for rain all night Thursday and much of Friday. Will a wet Highlander Stadium field force the Scots to abandon its superlative passing game? Well, maybe not. The best way to quickly dry off a soaked football field is to hover a helicopter over it.
I’m just sayin’…