Photo Courtesy of Highland Football Social Media

The Highland football team had their Homecoming party crashed on Friday by the visiting Wapello Indians 34-21. It was a defensive battle early, with the Indians leading 6-0 after the first 12 minutes. Wapello broke things open in the second quarter, finding the end zone three times to take a 27-7 lead into the half. Both squads traded touchdowns in the third period, leaving the score at 34-14 going to the fourth. The Huskies got a late touchdown, but were unable to complete the comeback in the final frame. Wapello outgained Highland 473-308 in the win. The Indians had a 305-21 advantage through the air and Highland held a 287-168 margin on the ground.

Tade Parsons was 15 of 25 through the air for 305 yards, three touchdowns and an interception in the win. He connected with Maddox Griffin nine times for 217 yards and a pair of scores. Connor Grinstead was three of 10 in the passing game for 21 yards a touchdown and two interceptions. His scoring throw of five yards went to Trevor McFarland. In the ground game, Grinstead had 18 carries for 222 yards and a pair of scores. Logan Bonebrake had seven and a half tackles for the Huskies on defense while Justin Sosa recovered a fumble and Peyton Yeggy picked off a pass. This weekend, Highland head coach Scott Morel spoke on the KCII Radio Coaches Corner about what he saw as the difference in the game. “Offensively we tried to make some adjustments based on where they were lining up. Start of the second half we were able to move the ball down the field and score. Defensively, we flipped cornerbacks to try to slow down their passing game. Our kids bought into what we were doing and the effort was there. They really fought hard all the way through.”

With the loss, Highland falls to 2-4 as they get ready for a road trip to Lisbon Friday. Wapello is 4-2 and will entertain Alburnett this week.