Highlands will be loading their buses up for the 3rd Friday night in a row, when they pack up and head out to Union to take on the Ryle Raiders to try to sink the ship.

Highlands has won all 3 games so far this season, with the most recent shutout out at Campbell County.  Highlands went with more of a balanced attack this past Friday against the Camels when they rushed for 170 yards and passed for 238 yards.  I foresee Highlands going back to the playbook they used 2 weeks ago against Cov Cath and go back to RUN HEAVY!!!  

Ryle comes in the game having a nice combo of Nathan Verax slinging the ball and Jacob Savage as the lead rusher.  They shocked NKY by pulling of the opening game of the season victory against Cov Cath shutting their passing game down winning that game 30-14.  They then trounced Conner 46-8.  Then this past Friday went toe to toe with NKY favorite Cooper and almost pushed the game into OT but Cooper pulled off the last minute miracle to go up 21-14 to pull off the win.

Last season Highlands routed Ryle by a score of 52-20.

This should be a great game in my mind. 

Who you got?

Highlands 28

Ryle 24

Remember the Raiders and Bluebirds scrimmaged each other a few weeks ago.

 

Thanks for the great game recap, Frank. You do nice work promoting Bluebird football. I look for a toss-up game that could go either way. Turnovers will be a key. Ryle needs to do a better job of eliminating turnovers. I believe that BG, Highlands or Cooper will win 5A this year. Should be another large crowd at CR Borland Sr. Stadium as we welcome an excellent opponent.

This is going to be a great game. Will be a battle and hard fought.

Highlands by 20.

Bird’s need to be really focused but play to win!

Tough one to pick, I believe both can win. I think which ever has the least mistakes and turnovers wins. Good luck to both teams, should be a good game.

If Ryle cleans up special teams and offense clicks well then the Raiders come out with a victory.

Highlands is still a year out from being dominate, but on a good track where they want to be.

Verax only threw for 88 yards against Cooper. If Highlands shuts the passing game down on them I think Highlands cruises to victory.

This game will be won upfront.

Bump.

Since I believe the Birds are going to go run heavy I really want to see Rio have a good clean game with the limited passes he might have.  Looking at the interceptions he has thrown I think the receivers need to be a little stronger on those throws to pull them down.  

I did some digging and compared Litmer's 3 games so far vs Benke's first 3 his jr year and it was interesting to note:  Litmer has a better completion rate 65% vs 60% and the 11'ish yds per completion are almost identical between the 2.  The 3 interceptions thrown is my concern but I don't think they are all on him.

Ryle is not a team the Birds can overcome a turnover deficit from....

59 minutes ago, FrankNicodemus said:

Since I believe the Birds are going to go run heavy I really want to see Rio have a good clean game with the limited passes he might have.  Looking at the interceptions he has thrown I think the receivers need to be a little stronger on those throws to pull them down.  

I did some digging and compared Litmer's 3 games so far vs Benke's first 3 his jr year and it was interesting to note:  Litmer has a better completion rate 65% vs 60% and the 11'ish yds per completion are almost identical between the 2.  The 3 interceptions thrown is my concern but I don't think they are all on him.

Ryle is not a team the Birds can overcome a turnover deficit from....

I think what is missing is efficiency. Need to turn more drives into points. Rio and Brody are two completely different players. Rio is supposed to be the more efficient passer so having a higher completion rate makes sense. Benke only played 2.5 games at QB the first 3 games of his Junior season coming in after Half in game 1. 

The difference at the moment is points/production. Benke produced 7 TDs (4 Pass and 3 Rush) in those first 3 games. Rio has the ability to limit turnovers, be a willing runner and hit a few deep balls on top of having a high percentage on short throws. If those things happen the Birds will win this game and many more this season.

Ryle will be a great test for the Birds. They seem very similar to me. Good size in the trenches, agressive in the run game, solid on defense, multiple dangerous skill players and both working in new leaders at QB. As I mentioned after the scrimmage, you can throw that result out the window. I am thinking that this is a low scoring game with a turnover or 2 that will swing the game in the direction of HHS. I am going with 21-18 Birds!

Free video of this game:

https://www.meridix.com/event/252893