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Ithaca started strong, finished strong and bottled up Highland's JR Linscheid in the process.
That combined to end Highland's season 42-12 in a Division 7 playoff game at Ithaca Friday.
The Bulldogs have hung around the D7 top spot all season and showed that reputation has been earned. They had a 382-118 total yards difference and held the Cardinals to 50 yards on the ground.
Luke Oelke caught a 51 yard pass from Joey Clary to open scoring and Hunter Dischler romped 31 yards for a second touchdown for Ithaca in the first quarter.
Linscheid put a dent in the scoring as he got in from the two to start the second quarter.
Dischler answered for Ithaca with a pair of short yarders or a 22-6 lead at the half.
Clary scored on a five yard run to open scoring in the third frame.
Highland got its second and final score when freshman Drew Hennessey got in from the two.
Dischler's fourh touchdown of the night highlighted the fourth quarter and prided the 42-12 final.
With Highland the smallest school in any division coach Mike Aide knew the success of the season depended on one thing.....HEART.
"We have a roster of 31 boys on our football team and they come to practice and play every day," Aide said. "Unfortunately we had some injuries this season that caused us to shorten our JV schedule but every day, healthy or hurt, the boys showed up and got better. We have a program that believes in each other and will get better together. We found out Friday we need to get stronger to go deeper in playoffs so we need to increase our activity in the weightroom."
When it came down to control of the game Friday it was Ithaca that dictated the tempo.
"We couldn't stop the run or the pass and our defense was on the field too long. We got pushed around physically and outplayed. Our offense never got going and we couldn't get defensive stops or create turnovers," said Aide.
The Cards dented the red zone four times and scored twice.
"Ithaca's defense was very strong up front and we had a difficult time moving off our blocks," Aide said 'We couldn't find our offensive rhythm and they had answers for JR an Adam. Our receivers worked hard to get open but our line had too many people to defend causing JR to hurry his throws."
Aide knew getting past Ithaca would be tough but he was glad the Cardinals got the chance to do it.
"I believe we set the tone for this football team for years to come," Aide said. "Hard work plus dedication equals success. I want us to be successful both on and off the field and it starts with education first. We give kids time to meet with teachers after school and if they want to play Friday all work must be turned in. We have great students and teachers at Highland that work hard every day and that should lead to success."
Aide said he is very appreciative of the seniors who started the season under a new coach and had no idea what would happen.
"When coach Reuter stepped down to watch his sons play at Cuba City I thought with the coaches and the players we could start something exciting. But we needed help from the seniors."
That was where Evan Rusch, Hunter Aide, Russell Greene, Nate Michek, Michael Biba and Lorcan Carey came in.
"One of my goals was to make playoffs and many felt that was lofty," Aide said. "The seniors helped make that happen by keeping things together through the ups and downs and I thank them for what they did on and off the field to help make this happen. I am thankful I had the chance to coach them."