Red-hot Highland football team dismantles Mascoutah to claim MVC championship
Few metro-east football teams have been as dominant as Highland this fall.
On Friday night, the visiting Mascoutah Indians were the latest opponent to experience that dominance firsthand.
After being stopped by a three and out on their first series, the Bulldogs’ offense erupted for three touchdowns on the next three drives.
Meanwhile, Highland’s defense suffocated the Indians and pitched their third shutout of the season, helping the Bulldogs roll to a 56-0 victory. With the win, HHS clinched the Mississippi Valley Conference championship outright.
The night could not have gone much more perfect for HHS (7-1 overall, 5-0 in the MVC) as the Bulldogs clinched the league crown at home and won their sixth-straight game in the process.
“There is no greater feeling in the world,” Highland senior fullback/linebacker Brendan Gelly said. “No greater feeling in the world. We’re all on cloud nine right now. It’s just awesome.”
Highland’s offense got the ball to start the game but the Mascoutah defense posted a three-and-out. Highland’s defense then got the ball back for the offense thanks to a fumble recovery by Paul Graham.
On the Bulldogs’ next drive, the passing game got things going as Cade Altadonna made a spectacular grab of a Brent Wuebbels pass in the right corner of the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown pass to make it 7-0. Altadonna leaped up, snared the ball with his left hand, went down, rolled over with it, and held on for the score.
“It was just one of those balls where I said ‘that’s mine; it’s no one else’s,’” Altadonna said. “I got it and said ‘I gotta come down with it’ and that’s what I did. It was a huge momentum (boost) for us after not scoring that first drive and it set the tone for the rest of the game right there.”
On the Bulldogs’ next drive, it was Gelly’s turn to find the end zone as he took a 30-yard crossing pass from Wuebbels to the house for a touchdown.
HHS finished the opening quarter with its third straight score as Wuebbels hit Cam Willis for a 15-yard touchdown strike making it 21-0. Wuebbels was an efficient 16-of-21 passing for 182 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions on the night.
Late in the second quarter, Travis Porter found paydirt on a 12-yard touchdown run as the Bulldogs carried a commanding 28-0 lead into the intermission. Porter ran for 152 yards on 17 carries.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs’ defense was once again in top form forcing four turnovers and making life miserable for Mascoutah quarterback Zane Timon, running back Devon Parks, and the Indians’ offense.
Mascoutah was held to just 144 yards of total offense with 40 yards coming on the ground.
“Our defensive goal this week was to keep up the standard we’ve set all season,” Gelly said. “We wanted to keep up that standard and exceed that and we did that tonight. It was just everybody flying around, everybody doing their jobs and just being where they need to be and being in the right spots every time.”
Indians coach praises Bulldogs
Mascoutah coach Aaron Hilgendorf admitted Highland’s defense gave the Indians problems all night.
“They have a solid defense and they play extremely fast and they’re well-coached and they tackle well and they make the plays they’re supposed to make. They’re a really sound defense and we just made too many mistakes near the end zone to keep us close early,” Hilgendorf said.
A 34-yard touchdown run from Hunter Frey and a 30-yard Wuebbels to Brodie Lewis touchdown toss pushed the lead to 42-0 and kicked off the running mercy rule clock with 3:57 left in the third quarter.
Even the special teams got in on the fun as Graham blocked a Mascoutah punt at the end of the third quarter.
Highland’s Tyson Rakers scored on runs of six and five yards to round out the scoring in the fourth quarter.
Bulldogs coach pleased with team’s performance
Clinching the MVC title and the Bulldogs’ strong all-around performance left Highland coach Jimmy Warnecke quite satisfied with his club’s showing.
“We’ve had a tough road the last couple of years and tough stumbling blocks and these kids learned and matured and they’re just a confident group and to win (the league title) outright is pretty special,” Warnecke said. “That’s something that we haven’t been able to do the last couple of times around and I don’t like sharing with a whole lot of people — especially when it comes to championships.”
Next up for Highland, Mascoutah
Highland will finish out the regular season at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21, with a home game against Effingham. Mascoutah (5-3 overall, 2-3 in the MVC) closes out the regular season at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21, at home against Carbondale.
This story was originally published October 15, 2022 at 7:00 AM.