Highland moves to 2-0 on the season, big test at Belmont

By John Dalton

On a picture-perfect evening for football on Thursday at Tyler Field in Highland, in 8-player football, the Cardinals blew past Williams Bay 54-22 in a non-conference game to move to 2-0 on the season.

Kaden Washa had a big night for the Cardinals as he threw four touchdown passes, ran for a TD, and had a 40-yard pick-six as the Cardinals were never threatened in the game.  Washa tossed his first TD pass to Cooper Oleson, a 25-yard pass in the first quarter.  Brady Nankey’s two-point conversion run made it 8-0.  Later in the quarter, Washa hit Oleson again on a 47-yard touchdown pass, putting the Cardinals up 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.

After the Cardinals defense stopped the Bulldogs on their next possession, in the second quarter, Washa called his own number on an 18-yard TD run, and again, Nankey ran it in for a two-point conversion and a 22-0 lead.  

After the ensuing kickoff, the Bulldogs cut the lead to 22-6 when quarterback Antonio Perez hooked up with Aaron Diaz on an 81-yard TD pass, but until late in the game, that was about the only offense the Bulldogs could find.  

Highland Coach Jasen Scanlan said, “Defensively, we were tested more than we have been to this point in the season.  Williams Bay has some good athletes who are a challenge to contain with the ball in their hands.  I think our tackling and physicality improved a lot from the first to the second game.  Linebacker Brady Nankey and the defensive line controlled their running game, which put them in a position where they had to pass often.  Although they did complete some throughout the game, many of those completions occurred in the second half and against our JV players.”

The Cardinals scored with under a minute left in the second quarter when Washa found Jack Tarrell on a 21-yard touchdown pass giving them a 28-6 halftime lead.  

It was much the same in the second half as Nankey scored on a 51-yard TD run. Williams Bay scored two touchdowns late in the game to make the final score 54-22.  

Washa was 11 for 23 passing the ball for 202 yards and 4 touchdowns. He also ran the ball four times, gaining 33 yards and a touchdown. Nankey led the Cardinals on the ground carrying the ball 22 times for 156 yards, a touchdown and three, two-point conversions.  As a team, Highland had a balanced score sheet with 276 rushing yards and 202 passing yards.  

“As a coaching staff we were happy with the balance that our offense displayed, with over 200 yards in both the rushing and passing games. Both aspects of the offense also produced big plays, which will be important if we are going to have success in our upcoming conference games,” said coach Scanlan.  

Highland’s defense only allowed Williams Bay 78 yards on the ground.  Tarrell led Highland with five tackles.  Washa and Ben Ford each had four.  Despite losing several players from last year’s squad that went 10-1, the Cardinals are playing good football as they get set to open conference play this Friday.

“We are also excited to see the improvement our players have demonstrated from the start of the season, through the scrimmage and the first two games. Entering the season we did not have a lot of players with varsity playing experience.  We knew going in that it would take some time to build up that experience and get those players to play at varsity speed and physicality.  Although we are happy with our growth in those areas, as a coaching staff we are also aware that we will need to continue to make big improvements weekly if we hope to compete with the best teams in our conference this season,” said Scanlan.

Highland will hit the road this week and will travel to Belmont for a 7:00 p.m. kickoff in the Ridge & Valley-8 Conference. The Braves are also 2-0 and have dominated their two opponents, allowing only six points in those two games.  

“As a team, we will have to continue to make big improvements if we want to have success in our first big conference test of the season, on the road at Belmont. They have a strong tradition of playing very good eight-player football. They are a big, physical team, with skilled athletes as well.  Coach Wiese and his staff always have their team well-prepared.  We will be challenged to match their physical play on the line of scrimmage. If we can do that and avoid costly penalties and turnovers, we hope to be competitive,” Scanlan said.