With win over rival Triad, Highland becomes team to beat in the Mississippi Valley

The Highland football Bulldogs have quietly and efficiently turned themselves into the team to beat in the Mississippi Valley Conference this fall.

Highland emphasized that point on Friday night thanks to an all-around dominant performance at archrival Triad. Highland scored touchdowns on its first three drives and parlayed a 27-0 first-half lead into a 36-7 win at Triad High School.

Beating the Knights at Triad for the first time in the last three trips there was satisfying for the Bulldogs, who moved to 6-1 (4-0 in MVC play) and put them in sole control of first place with only one conference game left to go.

“Two times ago we were here and we lost in that overtime game and then the second time we lost on that last play, so we definitely wanted to get a win and we were due on this field,” Highland coach Jimmy Warnecke said.

The Bulldogs dialed in on the opening drive, moved the ball 67 yards in seven plays as Hunter Frey capped the drive with a 4-yard off-tackle run for a touchdown.

After the Highland defense stopped the Triad’s first drive, at their own 45, the Bulldogs marched 55 yards to paydirt as quarterback Blake Gelly rolled right and hit Dylan Beadle for a 9-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-0 with 17 seconds left in the first quarter.

On the Bulldogs’ next possession, Gelly and Beadle connected again, this time on a 7-yard touchdown aerial. Then on the ensuing kickoff, the Bulldogs special teams chipped in as Blake Reinacher recovered a fumble at the Triad 18-yard line. Three plays later, Frey scored his second touchdown of the night on a 2-yard run pushing the lead to 27-0 after the missed extra point kick.

Warnecke was pleased with his team’s fast start.

“I thought we were rolling,” Warnecke said. “I thought all three units were feeding off each other tonight and it really kind of came together. We knew this would be a big game for us and the boys really stepped up and were very locked in and I’m very proud of them.”

Triad (4-3, 3-1) got on the board thanks to a 4-yard touchdown run by Colin Qualls, which cut the lead to 27-7.

Beyond that, Knights first-year coach Calvin Potthast’s club could not get much going against a relentless and focused Highland group.

“They took it to us physically and you could see how many guys we had out on the field hurt tonight,” Potthast said. “They had all the momentum in the first half to control the game the first two quarters and we never could answer. We just couldn’t execute the way we needed to compete with a team at that level.”

Late in the second quarter, Highland added its final touchdown of the night, a 27-yard fade pass from Gelly to Frey, making it 33-7.

It was another fun night for Gelly, who threw for three scores, all in the first half.

“It was just keep pounding and it seemed like every play (coach) called in that first half, except for penalties, was working fine,” Gelly said. “We were getting three yards plus and it is fun having that constant move.”

Frey had two rushing TDs and a receiving touchdown.

McCartney Crow’s 24-yard field goal in the fourth quarter wrapped up the scoring and Highland’s defense kept Triad in neutral through the second half. Warnecke gave praise to assistant coach Riley Litzenberg’s defense which for the fourth straight week has held an opponent to eight points or less.

“Coach Riley Litzenberg and what he does for our defense, no one works harder on our staff than he does and what our defense has been doing the last year and again this year, to me that’s our identity, our team,” Warnecke said. “So, for us, it’s nice I just can’t screw things up on our end.”

Highland’s defense held Triad to just 185 yards of total offense and intercepted Triad quarterback Isaac Ackerman twice.