Frey’s running, stout defense leads Highland in battle of Bulldogs

For the second straight week, the Highland football offense started slowly and the Bulldogs had an uneven performance early but thanks to the strong inside running of Hunter Frey and its rugged defense, Highland again came out on the right side of the scoreboard on Friday night.

Frey ran for a pair of touchdowns, and the Bulldogs defense forced two turnovers as Highland overcame a slow start and rolled to a 38-6 homecoming victory over Mississippi Valley Conference foe Waterloo at Highland High School.

It was a satisfying end to the homecoming week for the Bulldogs as Highland improved to 4-1 (2-0 in MVC play).

Late in the first quarter, Highland struck first as Frey finished the Bulldogs drive with a 4-yard run off right tackle for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

Midway through the second quarter, the Bulldogs went to the air to score as sophomore quarterback Blake Gelly connected with Blake Reinacher on a 33-yard out and pass for a touchdown making it 14-0 with 6:14 left in the first half.

“Blake Reinacher had another big play for us and another vertical catch over the top in tight coverage,” Warnecke said. Hell of a catch. He’s starting to prove he can be a legitimate deep threat for us.”

Jack Nimmo’s 1-yard touchdown run pushed the lead to 21-0 with 6:07 left in the third quarter.

Waterloo, which struggled to move the ball all night against the Bulldogs defense, got their only touchdown of the night on a 30-yard Conrad Lindhorst to Colby Osterhage pass. WHS managed a paltry 179 yards of offense against Highland’s smothering defense.

Waterloo would not get another point as the Highland defense, led by senior linebacker Ethan Greenwald harassed Lindhorst into two interceptions including a fourth quarter 48-yard pick six by Dalton Balint. Greenwald paced the HHS defense with a team-high 10 tackles and three assists.

The Bulldogs defense has given up just 13 points in the last two weeks and been dominant. “We’re just relentless and that’s like our goal and just relentlessness and consistency,” Greenwald said. “That’s what we play by and that’s why we’ve been winning games by these scores.”

A 34-yard Zane Korte field goal moved the lead to 24-6 and then Frey scored his second touchdown of the night on a 3-yard run, making it 31-6 with 4:51 left. Frey powered the Highland ground game running for over 114 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns. He credited his offensive line and receivers for his big night.

“It feels pretty good but without my O-line and my receivers and all that blocking for me there’s no way I could have done it,” Frey said.

The night full of fun for Highland but for Waterloo coach Dan Rose’s club, dropping their third straight game and falling to 1-4 (0-2 in conference play) was anything but fun.

“We didn’t go away very easy, and we got behind a little bit and we had lost call on their touchdown but they’re good,” Rose said. “We’ve just got to get back to work.”

As for Highland, Frey believes the Bulldogs need to simply clean up their fundamental execution in the coming weeks.

“I think most of it we kind of need to keep our poise and we’ve just got to rely on what we’ve been taught and stick with that,” Frey said.