I want to send out a special thank you and congratulations to Coach Mueller and the entire football coaching staff at Highlands. What a job these guys have done week in and week out. If at the start of the season someone had told me that Collinsworth would break his thumb (twice), Bardo would sustain an elbow injury preventing him from throwing the football, and that Highlands would be starting a sophomore QB (who was not even the starting freshman quarterback last year) for the second half of the year, I would have thought that Highlands was not going to win state. Not only did they win 5A, but no one got closer than 21 points of them in the entire postseason. Wow... that says a lot about the leadership provided by the coaching staff.

Was Collinsworth named the Class 5A, District 5 player of the year?

65? I thought you said 75, so I drove down 75 to Lex and brought the Bluegrass Parkway over. I was looking for a crazy woman standing by the side of the road with a Go Birds sign in one hand and a glass of wine in the other.

 

No wonder you missed her. :lol: She was the one with the BEER in her hand.

 

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

Was Collinsworth named the Class 5A, District 5 player of the year?

 

Yes.

Post game interview with AC. I see a lot of his Dad in him when he talks. A very mature kid who will go far. Best of luck to him. The City will miss seeing you and many other of the Seniors playing on Friday nights.

 

I want to send out a special thank you and congratulations to Coach Mueller and the entire football coaching staff at Highlands. What a job these guys have done week in and week out. If at the start of the season someone had told me that Collinsworth would break his thumb (twice), Bardo would sustain an elbow injury preventing him from throwing the football, and that Highlands would be starting a sophomore QB (who was not even the starting freshman quarterback last year) for the second half of the year, I would have thought that Highlands was not going to win state. Not only did they win 5A, but no one got closer than 21 points of them in the entire postseason. Wow... that says a lot about the leadership provided by the coaching staff.

 

JBWill, I think Dale and these fine young champions were so successful, in part, because of the weekly cautions you provided in not underestimating the other teams. What would we do without you.:thumb:

Wow. Just... wow. Highlands was impressive. The Collinsworth kid is the real deal and that defense was fast. Anywhere the ball went, the Bluebirds' defense was right on it.

 

Highlands and X were the two best teams I watched all weekend. Given the strength and speed of both defenses, I'm not sure there'd be many points between those two teams if they played.

 

Congrats to Ft. Thomas Highlands.

Yes.

 

Wait I take that back. I'm not sure. I was thinking of the MVP of the state game when I posted that.

 

 

 

 

Still alittle dazed from Friday nite.:banana:

Wait I take that back. I'm not sure. I was thinking of the MVP of the state game when I posted that.

 

 

 

 

Still alittle dazed from Friday nite.:banana:

 

I thought he was, and Dale was Coach of the Year.:confused:

I'm not dazed, but I might still be frozen.

I thought he was, and Dale was Coach of the Year.:confused:

I'm not dazed, but I might still be frozen.

 

Cold? It wasn't cold. :dancingpa

I do want to mention that the Highlands Web cast was great. The guys did a fantastic job. I thought it was really neat that Homer Rice sent them an Email during the game.:thumb: We could have done without the mention of the '75 team only loss to Campbell Co. though. :ohbrother:

 

Also a big thanks to the Fort Thomas sponsors that stepped up and got the game broadcasted on 1160. What a great community we have.:clap:

 

I would mention them but I didn't get to listen to the game so I'm not sure who all of them are and don't want to leave anyone out.

JBWill, I think Dale and these fine young champions were so successful, in part, because of the weekly cautions you provided in not underestimating the other teams. What would we do without you.:thumb:

You're a wise man, steve kahn!!! I just finished sending Coach Mueller my ring size and mailing address... I can't wait for that ring!!!!

 

Just kidding, of course!

 

Go 'Birds! :clap:

Congratulations to the Birds on bringing home #19. :banana: :ylsuper:

 

You guys are on one heck of a run, and its easy to see why. You deserved all the accolades you receive and then some. Like E. F. Hutton, you did it the old fashioned way, you eeeaaarrrnnned it.

 

(none of the players would get that, but your parents will)

 

Thanks Toots. Sorry we didn't meet at WKU.

 

I thought the Birds played pretty well. AC was, well, AC. The kid is a talent. While there were lots of holes for him, Fennell, Bardo and Towles to run through, AC has the ability to turn a 5 yd gain into a 10 yards or more gain. Fennell, as he has all year, did a great job running the ball when given the opportunity. O line did a spectacular job. Racking up 300 rushing yards against a team that had averaged giving up about 60 is a pretty good indicator of just how good our O line was this year. I wonder if Ryan Ernst (who nominated Grubbs and Schlosser for all state as O linemen) has called his counterparts that nominated the three JH defensive linemen for all state and rassed them a bit. :banana: To be fair to those 3 JH kids, I'd seen them on tape in several games and they are very, very good. They just ran into an exceptional O line. Then again, I may be sort of biased. I had several football coaches of other programs come up to me Saturday and compliment the play of my son and his O line teammates. They were very impressed with how well all our O linemen made their first step, threw their hands and feet, didn't miss assignments and continued their blocks after initial contact.

 

 

Towles again played very well. Ran the ball well and threw a beauty of a pass on the Birds 1st series that converted the 3rd down. That really was an important play. Just huge. Loved Dale's game plan of run, run and run some more. Feel bad our excellent receivers didn't get to display their talents but they would be the first to admit, it's all about winning the title and not about individual stats. Fortunately, they got plenty of opportunities through out the year to demonstate how great they are. But while they didn't get to catch the ball in the state game, they blocked exceptionally well. At the beginning of the season, they didn't block well at all. But they improved their blocking very much throughout the year and deserve to have that recognized.

 

What about Bardo's kickoff return. That was sweet. What a dilemna for Coach Brown. Kick it deep to either Bardo or Collinsworth? Not a good option there. Squib it and give Highlands O great field position. That's not a good option either. Sometimes life isn't fair. Bardo displayed the speed that Highlands fans knew about and some others questioned. Give that kid a seam and you can forget about it.

 

Defense did great. I had figured we'd give up a touchdown or two on broken plays or broken tackles out in the open due to the great speed of JH's skilled players. But we didn't let that happen. That was very impressive. I hate to single out players because the entire defense played exceptional, but I have to mention Roller, Dierig, Johnson, Snyder, Rosenhagen, Abner, Huddleson and Quillen. St. X's AD is a friend of mine. He came up to me at half and asked how big Dierig was (should have asked how big he isn't). When I gave him my guess, he just laughed and said something to the effect that it proved quickness and desire are very underated qualities in high school defensive linemen. And what about the lick that Rosenhagen delivered on the punt return. That was a good'en. The defense played another great game.

 

Kick off and punt coverage was again exceptional. JH has some scary fast and dangerous return guys. We just did an exceptional job in covering. Weinel had some great kickoffs. Just barely missed the field goal. It actually hit the wind indicator at the top of the upright that was just outside the upright due to the wind. 12 inches to the right and the kick would have been good. Hogue got off some great punts and did a great job fielding one snap that was low and to the left.

 

JH has a fine ball club. Lots of athletes and talent on that team. Well coached too. Looking at their roster, they lose some great players. But they have some great ones coming back and with the talented coaching staff at JH, I'm sure they'll be able to fill in the graduation holes and put another very talented squad on the field next year. I know the season didn't end the way they wanted, but there's no shame in losing to this year's Highlands team. None whatsoever. It was a great year for the Dawgs and they accomplished something no other JH team had accomplished. Kudos to the JH players and coaches. You had a great year and a great team.

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

 

Wait, I think I did pass you. Were you the woman under the overpass with the Falls City in one hand and waiving the Bird at me with her other hand?:clap: Sorry. We'll pick you up next year. Maybe.

They just put Austin Collinsworth and HHS/JH highlights on the Cardinals/Vikings Sunday night game... how about that?