In their first-round playoff game at Warsaw River View on Saturday, Highland put up nearly 500 yards in pulling away for a 50-33 win over their hosts.
The Scots scored first in the game when Dane Nauman put the ball into the end zone on a 32-yard carry and Gavin Hankins added a two-point conversion.
While, River View was able to tie the score at 8-8 by the end of the quarter, Highland would take the lead for good when Kadin Johnson ran it in from one yard out. Johnson would then connect with Landyn Albanese for two points.
Their opponents closed within a 16-14 margin late in the half, but the Scots scored on a 54-yard pass from Johnson to Landon Remmert to lead 22-14 at the break.
Johnson would hook up with Remmert for two more touchdowns — of 14 and 35 yards — in the third quarter. Cody Matthews added one two-point conversion; however, River View also scored a pair of touchdowns to remain within striking distance at 36-26 going into the final period of play.
However, the Scots would get a 15-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Jay Melchori to make the score 42-26. Johnson then ran it in from six yards out and Nauman added a two-point conversion to make it a 24-point game late in the game. While River View scored with seconds remaining on the clock, the Scots were able to hold on for the 17-point win.
Johnson had a huge night for Highland, completing 21-of-27 passes for 306 yards and four touchdowns, while also running for 48 yards and two more scores. Remmert caught five passes for 142 yards, while Melchiori had five for 60, Albanese tallied six for 54 and Wyatt Hornsby finished with three for 36. Nauman led the ground attack with 92 yards.
Highland will next play at St. Clairsville this Saturday at 7 p.m. in their second-round contest.
Mount Gilead Indians
The Mount Gilead football team did not compete in their scheduled football playoff game Saturday at Lore City Buckeye Trail due to COVID-19.
Interim Superintendent Larry Zimmerman posted on social media Thursday that due to a “concern for a small spread of COVID-19 that requires the quarantining of several of our HS students” he was dismissing school early that day in order to begin a deep cleaning process for all the school facilities.
He later posted that there would be no school Friday or Monday (due to teacher training) and that all extra-curricular activities and practices would be canceled until Tuesday.
Via Twitter, athletic director Scott Brickner confirmed that the team’s football playoff game would be cancelled.
