Highland hosts Oaks to open post season

Highland’s 8 player undefeated football team will be a host for the opening round of the post season but don’t expect them to be a gracious bunch.

The Cardinals, in their first 8 player season is the top seed and is hosting Oakfield.  The Oaks are 8-1 and finished second in the Southeast-8 at 6-1. They lost to SE-8 champion Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah in the final regular season game 58-34.

Quarterback Mitchell Moser has thrown bor 1339 yards with Brayden Glugia catching 916 of them and Bo Bijl 253. Lennon Rauls has totaled 636 yards on the ground.

Cardinals coach Jasen Scanlan expects a big test from the Oaks.

“Oakfield is an outstanding team that has a long history of success in 8 player football,” Scanlan said. “They are a big, strong team, with a lot of excellent athletes.  Their offense is balanced, and dangerous, and their defense makes you work hard to score. They will provide a great challenge to our team as we open the playoffs. We are very fortunate to have earned a home playoff game, and look forward to a great game, in a fun atmosphere at Tyler Field on Friday night.” 

The Cardinals closed out regular season play with a convincing 50-0 win over Monticello, another team new to 8 player football.

The Cardinals put up 20 points the first quarter, 22 in the second and tacked on eight more in the fourth.

Kaden Washa crossed the goal line three times, scoring on runs of 31 and five and also hauled in a 45 yard strike from Bennett Smith.

John Dreischmeier added a pair of scores, one on a 69 yard punt return and another on a 22 yard pass from Smith.

Jackson McGuire had the first score of the night, capping off a drive with a one yard plunge.

The final score came when Kian Muck picked up a fumble and ran it 68 yards to make it 50-0.

Muck kicked four extra points with Landis Newberry and Brady Nankey tallying two point conversions,

The Cards were perfect in their passing game. Smith hit all five of his throws for 120 yards on three touchdowns. Washa was 2 for 2 for 10 yards.

Washa was the leading receiver with two catches for 76 yards.  McGuire was the leading usher with four carries for 32 yards with Newberry right behind with four for 31.

Scanlan felt it was a very satisfying win.

“We played well against Monticello in all three phases of the game. Our punt return team, coached by Clint Havlik, did a great job in setting the tone for the game with a blocked punt to set up our first touchdown, and then a punt return touchdown by John Dreischmeier on the next Monticello punt. 

“Our offense produced a number of big pass plays. Quarterback Bennett Smith was efficient in the passing game, with three touchdown passes in just five pass attempts. Kaden Washa had a big game, scoring three touchdowns.  Our offense is designed to spread the field and get the ball to our athletes in space, and allow them to use their skills to create big plays. We will have to continue to execute our offense at a high level in order to have success in the playoffs.

“Our defense also played a solid, team game, holding Monticello to under 200 yards of total offense. Jackson McGuire and Tanner Degenhardt led the way with 10 tackles each, and Kian Muck returned a fumble 68 yards for a defensive touchdown. We were efficient against all phases of their offense, and will need to continue to play that way in order to have success against playoff level teams.” 

It has been a satisfying season for the Cardinals which they hope to extend.

“We are very proud of what we have accomplished so far this season,” Scanlan said. “We have a very talented group of players who have played a lot of football these past few years. We were fortunate to make a smooth transition to 8 player football, due to those experienced players. As a coaching staff, we tried to transfer many of the concepts and terminology we used in 11 player football to the 8 player game, hoping to make that transition as easy as possible for our players. We were confident that if we could keep our offensive and defensive schemes simple, that our players would be able to play fast and aggressively, and let their talent take over to help us win football games.”