Highland football team suffers heartbreaking double overtime loss to MVC rival Triad
Highland’s football team dominated the first three quarters of Friday night’s game against rival Triad.
The Bulldogs led 21-0 into the fourth quarter, but the host Knights showed why they are still the top seed in the Mississippi Valley Conference this spring.
Triad exploded for three fourth quarter touchdowns and then quarterback Devin Wilkins scored on a 2-yard run in double overtime, leading the Knights to a 35-29 in the MVC semifinals.
Undefeated Triad (5-0) now will face host Mascoutah at 7 p.m. Friday, April 23, in the MVC championship game.
“It means so much (to win this one),” Wilkins said. “After halftime, we kept our heads high and never let the score get to us, and the defense got a stop real quick. Then, we scored once, and we were just going and going and going.”
Highland jumped on top at 7:24 of the first quarter, as a Knights turnover inside their 10-yard-line led to a 1-yard Logan Chandler touchdown run that made it 7-0.
Chandler added a 23-yard run late in the second quarter and, at the end of the first half, Liam Gallagher returned a blocked Triad field goal attempt 72 yards for a touchdown, staking the Bulldogs to a surprising 21-0 lead.
The defenses dug in for both teams in the third quarter as neither offense scored.
In the fourth quarter, the Knights offense got going. Wilkins got Triad untracked when he hit Gino Riggar for a 43-yard touchdown pass that cut the lead to 21-7 with 10:41 left.
Then, Triad’s ground game erupted as Josh Edison broke off a 37-yard touchdown run. Then, with just 2:32 left, Sam Yager busted loose on a 51-yard touchdown dash that tied the score at 21-21.
“We moved the ball early, but we kept killing ourselves, lining up wrong, getting a penalty or a turnover. But once we settled down ... we also saved some different formations for them in the second half that we broke some things open on and we ran some counters that they didn’t have a chance to prepare for at halftime,” Triad coach Paul Bassler said.
That led to overtime, and Triad opened with a 14-yard Wilkins to Wolf connection for a touchdown and Sam Yager followed with a 2-point conversion run. Highland answered on its possession with a 5-yard scoring strike from Wuebbles to Eli Jones. Cade Altadonna hauled in the 2-point conversion pass from Wuebbles to even the score at 29-29.
Highland (2-3) came up empty on its second overtime drive as Chandler — who finished with 63 yards on 11 carries — was stopped on third and fourth down runs at the Triad 5.
Knights secure win in 2nd OT
On the Knights next series, Wilkins, who was filling in for injured starter Drew Straub, put Triad in the winner’s circle as he dove in under a couple Highland defenders from the 2-yard-line on 3rd and goal to send the Triad bench and fans into delirium.
“I was supposed to turn the other way actually and just turned around and dove for the end zone and I made it in there,” Wilkins said. “It felt amazing and I’m sorry for our quarterback Drew Straub, he deserves it and I’m just glad we got the win for him.”
Highland coach reflects on outcome
The finish was tough for Highland coach Jimmy Warnecke after watching his team build a 21-0 lead.
“It’s a game of momentum and we had it first. I think as a young team, we’ve got to learn how to handle our success of being up and we didn’t do that very well tonight,” Warnecke said. “It’s a shame we missed an opportunity to play in the title game after digging ourselves a hole, but at the end of the day, you have to make plays and make (play) calls and we didn’t make enough of them today.”
Next up for Highland
The Bulldogs will host the MVC third place game at 7 p.m. Friday, April 23. Their opponent is not yet known.
This story was originally published April 17, 2021 at 1:15 AM.