Struggling Highland rallies late, falls short at rival Triad in conference showdown
Highland’s football team struggled to find themselves for three quarters at Mississippi Valley Conference archrival Triad on Friday, Sept. 24.
Despite that, a fumbled onside kick, a pair of pre-snap penalties and a twisting Cade Altadonna pass reception for 24 yards helped the Bulldogs offense drive to the Knights 1-yard line with 1 second left down just five points.
On the ensuing play, Highland quarterback Brent Wuebbles tried to pound the ball in over the center; however, the middle of the Knights defense turned him away as Triad handed Bulldogs a gut-wrenching 31-26 loss.
Although the Bulldogs scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to challenge Triad late, it was night of dropped passes, blown defensive assignments and missed opportunities that left Highland coach Jimmy Warnecke feeling like the stage was possibly too big for his team.
“We were chasing the game and it seems like it (the stage) was almost too big for a lot of guys on our team,” Warnecke said. “I don’t understand that. I just expected us to be an older class, veteran group and we didn’t get that. Until this team figures out what they want to do, what’s inside of them and what it takes to win a conference championship or to win, that’s something they’ve got to figure out themselves. And us coaches have to figure out and find ways to win football games and get our kids to do what we want them to do.”
Midway through the first quarter, Triad (4-1, 2-0 in MVC play) took the lead 3-0 on a 31-yard Jake Ellis field goal.
A 7-yard touchdown run from Jason Randoll pushed the Knights lead to 10-0 in the second quarter as Triad junior quarterback Nic Funk’s running and passing out of the team’s misdirection offense began to give the Bulldogs defense trouble.
“He’s really matured for us and he runs our offense really well. He’s given us a dimension that we haven’t had for a while being able to throw the ball,” Triad coach Paul Bassler said. “We have some receivers that can make things happen, so teams won’t be able to just load up (the box) on us.”
Highland (1-4, 1-1 in MVC play) cut the lead to 10-6 when Wuebbles connected with Altadonna on a 44-yard bomb with 10:44 left in the first half. The PAT kick failed.
Late in the half, after a defensive stop, the Knights extended their lead to 17-6 on Jackson Buck’s 15-yard scoring run.
HHS responded just before the intermission as Wuebbles broke loose and scored on a 13-yard keeper. Triad stopped the 2-point conversion run and the Bulldogs trailed 17-12 at the break.
Highland received the kickoff to start the second half and drove deep into Triad territory. However, the drive stalled after the Knights defense stymied Highland.
Triad then took their first drive of the second half and scored on a 1-yard run by Funk to make it 24-12.
A 10-yard touchdown run by Collin Qualls gave the Knights what looked to be a commanding 31-12 lead with 11:15 left.
Highland battles back
Then over the final 10 minutes, the young Knights scuffled.
Wuebbles scored his second of three touchdowns on the night on a 4-yard run, cutting the lead to 31-18 with 6:42 remaining. Wuebbles then scored his third TD on a 17-yard run with 32 seconds left and, following Travis Porter’s 2-point conversion run, Highland trailed just 31-26.
HHS then recovered an onside kick at the Triad 38 setting up the wild final drive.
After a pair of Triad penalties and a Wuebbles to Altadonna 24-yard pass, the Bulldogs were perched at the Triad 1-yard line with just a second to go.
“I don’t know if the moment was too big or they got a little nervous,” Bassler said. “We’re young and I tried to explain to them right there that we have got to learn how to shut the door on people and we can’t be looking ahead to anybody because we are just not that team.”
Final sequence
Following a Bulldogs timeout, Wuebbels tried to go over the top for the score but Triad’s defensive line repelled him from the end zone and the Bulldogs ended up one play short of the win.
“We knew if we didn’t get off the field defensively we wouldn’t be able to win the game,” Warnecke said. “Offensively, we didn’t make the most of our opportunities and we didn’t do that as a collective group.”
Highland will look to regroup at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1, at Civic Memorial.