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Highland football coach Shaun Reuter saw some things to work on in the 27-0 win the Cardinals posted over River Ridge Friday.
"Even though we won 27-0 I didn't feel like we played our best game," Reuter said. "We committed nine penalties and fumbled five times, luckily only losing one. We gave up some return yards in both the punt and kickoff coverage units and we had an extra point blocked."
He also saw some problems with blocking.
"I also wasn't happy with our pass protection giving up a number of sacks. If we are going to get to the level that we want then we need to clean up those areas," Reuter said.
The Cardinals scored touchdowns in both the first two quarters and iced the win with a 13 point fourth frame.
The Cardinals used Blake Bodenstein's throwing ability for three touchdowns and 113 yards on four of nine completions.
Newly converted wide receiver Branden McCollough snared the first two Bodenstein offerings for touchdowns. He later found Austin Bomkamp in the end zone for his third touchdown aerial.
The other Highland score came on the ground with Caleb Yager doing the honors. He picked up 160 yards in the game on 15 carries.
"On the first two touchdowns we were able to get Branden McCollough behind the secondary and Blake made two really good throws to hit him in stride," Reuter said. "That was the first game that McCollough had played wide receiver because he was our tight end for the past two years. It was good to see him have some success after the switch."
It took awhile for Highland to get their rush game untracked.
"We finally got something going on the ground in the second half and Caleb Yager was able to score our third touchdown on an 18 yard run up the middle," Reuter said.
The defense was responsible for getting the Cards in position for the final score.
"On the last touchdown we got good field position when defensive tackle Brad Wolfe was able to strip the ball from their quarterback and recover it deep in their territory," Reuter said. "Blake was able to scramble around and found Austin Bomkamp in the corner of the end zone."
The defensive effort was what made the difference in the game for the Cardinals.
"I thought our defense played really sound," Reuter said. "Coming into the game we knew that we had to keep Joel Mezera in check and for the most part we were able to do that. He ended up with 77 yards on 13 carries and 66 came on one carry right before half. Levi Linschied ran him down at the three yard line and were able to keep them out of the end zone."
"Nic Pierick, Caleb Yager, and Brad Wolfe all had a double digit tackle game for us," Reuter said. "Blake Bomkamp came up and supported the run real well for us from his corner position making a couple of nice tackles for losses."
The defense kept the Timberwolves at a safe distance except for a brief time in the second quarter.
"They threatened right before half but we were able to stop them on four plays inside the five," Reuter said.
The Cardinals had some players stand out for them in the game.
"Caleb Yager had his best game running the ball 15 times for 160 yards and a score," Reuter said. "Branden McCollough had two catches that both went for scores from 38 and 48 yards. Blake Bodenstein completed only four passes but three of those were for touchdowns."
Next opponent for the Cardinals will be Benton/Scales Mound at Benton.
"This will be our first true road game with our first being at UW-P," Reuter said. "So far since I have been here we haven't performed our best on the road so we will need a good week of practice and stay focused to come away with a W."