Red hot Highland football team rolls past Effingham, secures IHSA playoff spot
On Friday, Oct. 22, Highland quarterback Brent Wuebbles made sure the Bulldogs would be playing in the IHSA postseason.
Wuebbles, the Bulldogs junior dual-threat quarterback, ran for three touchdowns and passed for two more to propel Highland to a 42-21 road win against Effingham.
“Brent is a three-year guy now and just his decision making, the game is slowing down for him a little bit and he’s been in these big games against good teams. They were really a ball-control offense and it really forced us to be extremely efficient (on offense),” Highland coach Jimmy Warnecke said.
Thanks to the Bulldogs fourth straight win, Highland (5-4) is headed to the 2021 IHSA Class 5A playoffs next weekend. Highland will face Morton in the first round of the postseason at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 29. The Potters enter the playoffs at 5-2.
HHS struck first against Effingham with 8:09 left in the first quarter as Travis Porter scored on a 1-yard touchdown run. Effingham answered late in the first quarter on a 24-yard scoring pass to tie it at 7-7.
The Bulldogs got the run game going in the second quarter and Wuebbles polished off their opening drive of the period with a 5-yard keeper for a touchdown run 9:27 before halftime.
Just before the break, the action got frenzied as the Hearts tied the game 14-14 on a 5-yard touchdown pass with 1:14 remaining.
However, HHS came right back as Wuebbles went to the air and connected with James Beard on a 50-yard scoring bomb to give the Bulldogs a 21-14 lead at halftime.
Highland opened the third quarter with another score as Wuebbles found paydirt on a 1-yard sneak to push its lead to 28-14 midway through the period.
Wuebbles added his third rushing touchdown of the night on a-3-yard run with 10:56 left, extending the lead to 35-14.
Effingham made one final push with its offense as the Hearts scored on a 3-yard TD run to cut the gap to 35-21 with 5:51 left. However, the Bulldogs answered on their next drive with Wuebbles capping off his big night with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Brode Lewis to close out the scoring and wrap up another winning effort.
Highland’s defense was strong again in the turnover department forcing two interceptions. Cameron Willis and Bryce Iberg anchored the Bulldogs defense with strong performances.
The Bulldogs special teams also were sharp as kicker Andrew Capelle went five for five on extra-point attempts. Capelle, who came to the Bulldogs early in the season, has stabilized the HHS kicking game.
“I thought our special teams did an outstanding job all night long and I wanted to give a shout out to a young man — Andrew Capelle who came to us a couple of weeks into the season when we were looking for some kicking and he’s been a godsend for us,” Warnecke said. “I just think Andrew Capelle has been a big impact on our team.”
Bulldogs cap sensational regular season turnaround
All in all, the outcome capped a tremendous resurgence for a Highland team that started 0-3 and 1-4.
“You would have to be an out-of-touch guy to think we were going to get there (the postseason) at 0-3 or 1-4, but we got here,” Warnecke said. “I’m proud of the boys and really proud of how they responded. Now we got here and records don’t matter and we’ve just got to keep getting better and play our type of football.”