Yes, after Hoge gets his year next year. Just nice seeing a soph out there doing what he did. He also is the prototypical size already. He has a cannon for an arm and showed off his legs running for that TD tonight. Him and Hoge could start somewhere else right now but we are thankful they don't.

 

Not sure if I agree with that statement. I think 21's passing will only get better but is not ready for the big time yet.

Highlands may have to ride Harris next week and he will not dissapoint imo.

 

Kid has size along with speed and I believe Dale is saving him for Elder. JMO

 

I think Elder will stuff Harris and the Birds only hope is through the air. The Bulldogs got good penetration tonight and pressured Houliston which scares me. The Elder D line is much much better than the Holmes D line. I predict a long night for Houliston.

Perhaps, but I have only seen Dale do this once in the last 7 yrs.

 

He played Will Bardo at corner his Junior yr while Will was waiting for his time.

 

Wasn't Donovan a receiver in his junior season?

Never mind. Someone beat me to it.

Highlands was Highlands tonight. Very efficient on offense. Very aggressive on defense.

 

First teams played first half only.

 

I was impressed was #74 B. Johnson from Holmes. The highlight tape I saw on BGP over the summer showed most of his plays last year in the Harrison and Pendleton games. I was a skeptic. No longer. He passed the "eye" test. Big, strong and aggressive. Disruptive. I liked what I saw.

Perhaps, but I have only seen Dale do this once in the last 7 yrs.

 

He played Will Bardo at corner his Junior yr while Will was waiting for his time.

 

Iam not real sure where you would play Hergott but he is an athlete and Iam sure Dale could find somewhere for him to play.

 

I applaud the kid for his patience and loyalty to Highlands and I will apologize now for every JV team that has to play against him next yr...

 

I thought one Bardo played DE.

57 - 0 at the half. Just silly.

Yes. I think the previous post meant playing a future QB on D.

 

Tony G?

Wasn't Donovan a receiver in his junior season?

Never mind. Someone beat me to it.

 

 

Yeah, yeah.

 

Two guys in last 10 yrs...

You know much better than me. I have never seen Hodge throw. I do know that the line will be a work in progress as kids take over and gain experience, so I think that some things will change.

 

Ohhh crap. You didnt see him against Harrison a few wks ago?

 

I will let Q and Whack tell you how good he looked...:thumb:

 

You being an educated football guy knows a good one when you see him and all I can say about Hoge is WOW!!!

Yeah, yeah.

 

Two guys in last 10 yrs...

 

Clay Cecil?

I personally don't think Hergott will be playing anywhere next year but qb.. He needs to work on his qb skills for his senior season. Austin can definately run for as big as he is. His arm is as strong as anyone's around. He just needs to work on his accuracy and going through progressions. If he does that and works hard he will be as good as anyone around his senior season.

Congrats to Highlands! Big test for the 'Birds next Friday.

 

JB, big shoutout to you on the article in FT Thomas Matters. Good stuff.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The exclamation point to another undisputed football district championship came with the usual mighty Highlands Bluebird roar Friday.

Class 4A’s top-ranked and undefeated 8-0 Bluebirds continued their domination of Class 4A, District 7 opponents with another convincing 71-14 victory over the Covington Holmes Bulldogs. Highlands outscored its three district opponents, 190-20 and hit the 70-point mark for the second straight game after posting 77 on Harrison County two weeks ago.

The Bluebirds own 17 district championships in the last 18 years. The only time they have not won it since 1996 came in 2006 when Covington Catholic beat Highlands on a last-second touchdown.

The Bluebirds also once again beat their average margin of victory with the 57-point win forcing the running clock with 10:32 left in the second quarter. They came into the game outscoring non-Covington Catholic district opponents by an average of about 49.4 points per game since the start of 2007 including the playoffs. That margin increased to about 49.7 after the Bluebirds improved to 21-0 against non-CovCath district opponents during that time. Highlands is also 10-0 against CovCath bringing their overall record to 31-0 against district opponents during that same time.

Holmes dropped to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in district play. But the Bulldogs had not faced a team as talented as the Bluebirds this year. Holmes takes on Covington Catholic on Oct. 26 for the district’s second seed. The winner earns a home playoff game in the first round and avoids a potential second-round trip to Fort Thomas.

Highlands obliterated the stat sheet racking up 450 yards of offense compared to 98 for Holmes. That included a 354-123 domination through the air.

Senior quarterback Drew Houliston led Highlands completing 18-of-23 passes for 320 yards and five touchdowns behind another strong performance by the offensive line. Evan Allen led Highlands with five catches for 106 yards and a score and Alex Veneman had two for 96 yards and two touchdowns.

“It was just another great game for (Houliston),” said Dale Mueller, Highlands Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator. “The receivers were running great routes and getting open. The linemen were keeping people off him. It was another step forward.”

Highlands rushed the ball 20 times for 96 yards. Allen also led Highlands on the ground rushing the ball once for 43 yards and Austin Hergott followed with two carries for 42 yards.

Zach Harris usually leads Highlands in the rushing department. He had just one carry for a 30-yard touchdown with 7:29 left in the first quarter. The Bluebirds led 15-0 at that point after Houliston completed the two-point conversion to Luke Brockett.

The Highlands offensive line knew it had to contain Holmes junior 6-foot-2-inch, 315-pound junior defensive lineman Breandon Johnson. Johnson did get in the backfield a couple times against the Highlands offensive line.

“Staying low is the most you can do, especially if he’s bigger than you,” said Matt Walkenhorst, Highlands senior tight end. “You have to keep him from the inside. That’s about all you can do.”

The Bluebird defense did its part holding the Bulldogs to minus-25 rushing. Holmes played without injured senior running back Jonathan Scruggs. Scruggs has 1,004 and 11 touchdowns on the year.

Turnovers played a big part in the win. The Bulldogs threw three interceptions and lost two fumbles compared to one lost fumble for the Bluebirds. Brady Murray, Joey Kruse and Grayson Heck intercepted passes for Highlands and Rocco Pangallo had a fumble recovery.

“We really do try to get better every week,” said Brian Weinrich, Highlands Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator. “They’re understanding each other and the big picture. We’re getting better as individuals so they’re creating a better unit. We want to do better next week than we did this week.”

Holmes sophomore quarterback Desean Brumfield completed 12-of-29 passes for 123 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions for Holmes. Andrew Arnold led the Bulldogs with six catches for 56 yards.

“We just got our keys and kept pressuring (Brumfield) to where he couldn’t throw it,” said D.J. Mills, Highlands junior defensive lineman. “The corners (leveraged) him inside.”

The Bluebirds led 29-0 after the first quarter scoring on 4-of-5 possessions. Houliston completed an 8-yard pass to Harris. Then after Harris’ second touchdown, Houliston found Beau Hoge for a 14-yard score before running it in from six yards out.

Houliston then found Veneman for an 84-yard score after the teams exchanged turnovers to start the second quarter. That made the score 36-0 Bluebirds after Jared Dougherty made the extra-point attempt.

Dougherty has been excellent in PATs this year. He made 9-of-9 against Holmes after making all 11 attempts against Harrison County. Dougherty has made 49-of-50 tries for 98 percent this year.

The Bluebirds scored three more touchdowns in the final 5:56 of the first half to go up 57-0. Houliston hit Veneman and Allen for 12 and 42-yard scores respectively and Kruse returned an interception 21 yards for the touchdown.

Both teams played an even second half as Highlands played many of its reserves. Hergott scored on a 44-yard touchdown run for the Bluebirds before throwing an 11-yard strike to junior Cashel Coughlan in the fourth quarter.

“We have a lot of fast players that get downfield and Drew (Houliston) throws the ball in the air to where the receivers can get (the ball),” Coughlan said. “In practice, we work a lot on the routes and just try to get faster, open and better at catching it. We have a lot of guys that can play a lot of different positions.”

Brumfield threw both touchdown passes in the third for Holmes. They were 16 and 45-yard strikes to Dakota Garvey and Fred Warlaw respectively.

Highlands can now turn its attention to 6-2 Cincinnati Elder in its final road regular season contest. Elder is coming in off a 23-19 win at Winton Woods.

“(Coach) Weinrich has us ready to go for Elder,” said Daniel Kremer, Highlands junior linebacker. “We’ve really picked it up (defensively) these past couple weeks because he knows that they’re going to be a really good team.”

The Panthers handed the Bluebirds their lone loss in the last three years, 38-24 in Fort Thomas last year. Game time is 7:30 p.m. at The Pit.

 

Fort Thomas Sports

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The Highlands Bluebirds football team has played the Covington Holmes Bulldogs more than anyone in school history.

The Bluebirds improved to 50-20-2 all-time against the Bulldogs. The only teams they’ve beaten more in school history are Dixie Heights (62-8) and Campbell County (51-9).

Highlands has outscored Holmes, 205-42 in the recent three meetings. Despite that, Highlands Head Coach Dale Mueller said the Bulldog program is headed in the right direction under first-year Head Coach and Simon Kenton graduate Ben Nevels.

“I’ve always liked the whole Nevels family,” Mueller said. “I know his three brothers and parents. They’re just a great family and I really have respect for what he’s doing and like that he’s coaching at Holmes doing the best he can. I’m not rooting for them when they play us of course, but I want the best for Holmes. I think he really cares about the guys on the team. They want to do well.”

Highlands improved to 102-37 all-time against the current district teams. The Bluebirds are 44-17 against Covington Catholic and a perfect 8-0 against Harrison County.

Highlands improved to 95-3 since the start of 2007. The Bluebirds also earned the program’s 850th all-time win since starting the program in 1915. They are 850-225-26 all-time.

The 850 wins ranks second in the country behind Valdosta’s 881-211-34 record. The Wildcats of south Georgia beat 1-AAAAAA rival Tift county, 31-21 on Friday to move to 5-2 overall.

Elementary Names Mentioned:

The Highlands football players name their elementary schools on the new scoreboard before the game. It is a similar concept to the National Football League players announcing their colleges and universities. The elementary schools in the Fort Thomas Independent School District are Woodfill, Johnson and Moyer Elementary.

“(The players) came up with the idea of introducing our starting lineup,” Mueller said. “They don’t have a university so they say their elementary school. I think it’s just a lot of fun.”

Mueller moves into Top 20 in Kentucky:

Muller moved to 245-34 in his 20th season as the head coach at Highlands good for 20th in Kentucky history.

Mueller’s win total surpassed former Pikeville and Letcher County Central Head Coach Hillard Howard’s record of 244-69-1 in 25 years.

Big win for Highlands alum:

Chris Wolfe, a 1990 Highlands alum, guided the tradition-rich Male Bulldogs to a huge win Friday. The Bulldogs knocked off Class 6A, District 4 rival Louisville Trinity Shamrocks, 24-14 to stay undefeated at 8-0.

Male also edged Louisville St. Xavier, 44-40 the previous week to move to 2-0 in district play. Male became the first team from the Jefferson County Public Schools to beat Trinity since Louisville Seneca did it 34-33 on Sept. 19, 2003. The Bulldogs were also the last team to beat Trinity and St. Xavier in consecutive weeks since Cincinnati St. Xavier did it in 2009.

Male seems poised to end St. Xavier and Trinity’s run of winning every large-school championship since 2000. That marked the last year that Male won its last of six titles and Bob Beatty’s first year as head coach of the Shamrocks.

Male ranks second in Kentucky and third in the nation behind Valdosta and Highlands for the most wins in program history. The Bulldogs own 829 all-time wins. Massillon Washington (Ohio) ranks fourth in the country with 828 victories.

District opponents St. X and DuPont Manual also rank in the top 10 for the most wins all-time in Kentucky. Trinity is not on that list mostly because the program started in 1955.

Highlands JV/Freshman Results:

The Highlands Junior Varsity is 5-0 and recently had a game against Covington Catholic cancelled. They take on Cincinnati Elder at 10 a.m. on Oct. 26.

The Highlands Freshman team is 4-4 after beating Dixie Heights, 42-27 on Thursday. The Bluebirds finish the season Thursday against Cooper at 6 p.m.

Boyle County, Johnson Central stay undefeated:

The Boyle County Rebels and Johnson Central Golden Eagles also won again Friday to improve to 8-0. Those two plus top-ranked Highlands are the only three undefeated teams left in Class 4A.

Boyle County beat Marion County, 50-7 in District 5 action and Johnson Central destroyed Rowan County, 59-10. Johnson Central faces Ashland Blazer next week for the District 8 crown.

After those three, there is one one-loss team in Class 4A. That is the 7-1 Russell County Lakers. Their lone loss came 49-21 on Sept. 13 at Class 5A’s second-ranked and undefeated 9-0 Pulaski County Maroons.

The Bluebirds will face the winner of the Boyd County (0-8) at Greenup County (2-6) matchup Friday in the first round of the playoffs. The Musketeers have made an improvement after going 0-10 last year. Highlands dominated the Lions in the first round of the playoffs the last two years.

 

Fort Thomas Sports

JB, big shoutout to you on the article in FT Thomas Matters. Good stuff.

Thanks, and thanks to the staff at FTM for the great article!