Cardinal senior Tanner Degenhardt tries to run over a Belmont tackler while another comes in from the back. Photo by Jonelle Degenhardt.
Undefeated Belmont, the state’s top-ranked 8-player football team, rushed for more than 350 yards while holding Highland to 80 yards on the ground in a 64-7 victory that ended the Cardinals’ season at 3-6.
Ayden Olson led Belmont’s rushing attack with 111 yards on six carries and three touchdowns. Quarterback Wyatt Temperly threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score.
“Belmont came as advertised to Tyler Field on Thursday night and ended up as the top-seeded 8- player football team in the state playoffs for a reason. We got off to a pretty good start, picking up a first down on the first offensive series and then just missing an open receiver behind the defense on a play-action pass a few plays later,” said Highland Head Coach Jasen Scanlan. Unfortunately, we were forced to punt a few plays later. After giving up a touchdown on their first offensive possession, we got a strong kickoff return from Griffin Wineski into their territory. A few plays later, a Belmont player forced a fumble, which was returned 67 yards for a touchdown. From that point on, they kept the momentum for the rest of the first half. Once they get things rolling offensively, they are very balanced and difficult to stop.”
Highland’s lone senior, Tanner Degenhardt, led the Cardinals on the ground gaining 50 yards on 21 attempts. Quarterback Brady Nankey rushed for 30 yards and scored Highland’s only touchdown. Nankey also led defensively with twelve tackles. “Offensively, we did not have much success consistently moving the ball against their defense. Tanner Degenhardt ran hard, as he has for us all season, but he just could not get free or find that seam in the defense to move the ball down the field. He left it all on the field in his final game as a Highland Cardinal,” said Scanlan. “We greatly appreciate the contributions and sacrifices of Tanner to our program. He selflessly made the move from an all-conference offensive and defensive lineman to running back and linebacker to help make this year’s team more competitive. He was an outstanding captain for this year’s team and a strong example of hard work and dedication to our football program that we want our younger players to look up to.”
Highland’s season ends at 3-6, but Coach Scanlan saw a lot of growth with his young squad and looks forward to next season’s team. “We are very proud of the growth of our team from the beginning of the season until the end. As a coaching staff, we knew that we entered the season with a roster consisting of 1 senior, 5 juniors, 4 sophomores, 3 freshmen, and 2 other players who had never played football before. That lack of experience would be a big challenge, but not an excuse, as we set a goal to play every football game in a very competitive 8-player football conference. We accomplished that goal, playing every week, including games against 3 teams that qualified for the playoffs, and winning 2 games, all while learning the game, and improving tremendously from our first practice until our last game against the number one-ranked team in the state, Belmont. As a coaching staff, we are very proud of the efforts and growth of our team this year and look forward to them taking the next step in their development next year in our final year as a standalone program as Highland Football.”
Beginning in 2028, Highland will co-op with Iowa-Grant. “We are excited to bring back the majority of our roster from this season and also bring up strong numbers from our 8th grade class who are wrapping up a very successful junior high season. As a coaching staff, we are dedicated to making our final year of Highland football a memorable one, as are our returning players, and we look forward to the challenge before us.”
