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Nothing like six hours on a bus to take part in your passion, even though it only took 18 minutes.
That is how long Highland's football team was on the field at Independence/Gilmanton Friday until lightning and storms ended things early and abruptly.  When Highland left the field with 6:06 left to play in the second quarter they had 28 points on the board and had held their hosts to less than 40 yards, all through the air and nothing but one yard out of nine rushing plays.
That is pretty much dominance/
Max Oleson was right on target with the four passes he threw. All four were caught for 49 yards and Drew Nankey carried in two for touchdowns.
"Max was spot on Friday night." said Highland coach Mike Aide. "He did a good job finding his receivers. Drew Nankey had two really nice catches from Max for touchdowns."
Three minutes into the game Cal Dorota broke tackle at the 61 and sprinted in for the score. Brett McGuire added the two point conversion and the Cardinals quickly led 8-0.
Oleson then hit Nankey for a 17 yard score for a 14-0 lead.
McGuire was next and reeled off 27 yards to paydirt and ran in the conversion for good measure. That upped the Cardinal lead to 22-0 just after the second quarter started.
At 8:09 the scoring was complete. This time it was on a pass to Nankey for an 11 yard score and the 28-0 finale.
Aide said the blocking was solid all night which helped the Cardinals move the football and score.
"We did a really nice job staying on our blocks and Cal Dorota and Brett McGuire ran through arm tackles on every play," the coach said.
The defensive shut out was courtesy of the entire squad.
"It was a total team effort on defense," Aide said. "Everyone rallied to the ball on every play."
That closes the books on the early non-conference action that saw the Cardinals win both games. This week they head to Boscobel for the Ridge and Valley opener for both teams.
"Boscobel has some speed at running back," Aide said. "They run the Wing-T for their offense. They have some decent size on the line. They should give us a good test up front on Friday night."