Highland football looks to make their Homecoming celebration extra special as they host Columbus tonight. In the KCII Area Game of the Week, the Huskies are seeking their first win of the season, while the Wildcats try to make it two-straight.
Highland is coming off of losses to Lisbon and Van Buren County, their closest game of the season. In the 28-22 loss, Sage Hartley-Norman completed 12 passes on 17 attempts for 124 yards and a touchdown, while adding 138 yards on the ground. Ayden Havel caught six of those passes for 115 yards and a score. Logan McFarland led the charge on defense with 10 tackles, 2.5 for a loss, one sack and a fumble recovery. Highland is averaging just under a dozen points per game and allowing 39. Of their 795 total yards, 480 have come on the ground, while Hartley-Norman has thrown for 305. He and McFarland are the team’s leading rushers, with McFarland averaging 6.2 yards per carry. McFarland’s 36.5 total tackles is a team best by a significant margin while the defense has produced eight takeaways.
Husky Head Coach Cory Quail tells KCII what he hopes to see from his squad against Columbus tonight. “We gotta make sure we execute number one, and that our guys come out and be ready to compete. So we just gotta make sure we limit those mistakes, we play our best fundamental football, and if we do that we think that gives us an opportunity to compete in every game.”
Columbus enters tonight with a 2-2 record following a 56-24 victory over previously unbeaten Pekin. In one of his best passing games of the year, Trevor Phillips threw for 109 yards, tossing two touchdowns. Riley Kaalberg was on the receiving end of one of those, adding three more scores on the ground. Kaden Amigon continued his dominant season on the ground with 164 yards and two scores, including a 73-yard touchdown. Tyson Kaalberg picked off the quarterback twice to double his interception total and Elliot Wesley’s seven tackles led a Wildcat defense that recorded 8.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. Columbus has a plus-43 point differential, and their 1,756 all-purpose yards are 10th best in Class A. Eighteen rushing touchdown for the Wildcats is third most in their class. Tyson Kaalberg leads the defense with four interceptions and 21.5 tackles.
Head Coach for Columbus, Dave Lekwa, looks for his team to reach similar form to last season’s historic run. “We’ve got to be way more consistent if we wanna pursue a season further into Week 9 and Week 10 and beyond. We’ve spent the majority of this week really looking at ourselves and focusing on what we can do better.”
Tonight’s action can be heard on the KCII3 stream by visiting KCIIradio.com and clicking “listen live”. Pregame coverage of the KCII Area Game of the Week begins at 6:15 p.m. with kickoff between the Huskies and Wildcats at 7.