It was all Huskies all night in the latest edition of the KCII Area Game of the Week, as Highland notched their first win since beating Van Buren County on September 13th by a final score of 41-6 over the Louisa-Muscatine Falcons on their homecoming night.

The Huskies began the contest on defense, and stood tall right away, forcing a three-and-out. On the second snap of the night for the Highland offense, Jose Ramirez decided it was time for a house call, dashing in from 60 yards away to put Highland up 7-0 with a successful Jared Diaz extra point. The homecoming fun wouldn’t stop there for Highland, as they ended the first quarter with two more scores, one from QB Sage Hartley-Norman to wide receiver Ayden Havel, his first touchdown reception of the season, and the other from Colten Sypherd on the ground. Highland’s defense wouldn’t budge the rest of the first half, and the Highland offense wouldn’t be stopped, as a two-yard plunge by Hartley-Norman and 35-yard field goal by Diaz made it a 32-0 Huskie lead at half. Out of the locker rooms, Highland was forced to punt on their first drive, but a fantastic punt it was by Diaz to pin the Falcons deep inside their own 10-yard line. Two plays later, Logan McFarland came streaking through the line for the first safety of the season for the Huskies. The red and white would find the end zone once more before the night was over when Ramirez ran away from the Falcon defense again, this time from 33 yards out. L&M would indeed score once to erase a shutout, as Gaije Carter found pay dirt from 15 yards away with just minutes left in the game.

Unofficially, Highland won the yardage contest 244-94. They were led by QB Sage Hartley-Norman’s 2/4 night for 18 yards and a score, while rushing for 59 yards and another score on seven carries. Jose Ramirez led the rushing attack, finishing with six carries for 108 yards and two scores on the ground. Ayden Havel had two catches for all of Highland’s 18 passing yards and a touchdown. The Huskie defense forced 11 negative plays from the Falcons. Louisa-Muscatine was led by Gaije Carter’s 1/3 night under center for just seven yards, and Cody McKim’s five carries for 46 yards. Carter had the only touchdown for the Falcons.

Nobody was more proud of his team than Highland Head Coach Cory Quail. He talked with KCII Sports postgame about the senior class, specifically. “It took a long time, but man did they put in the time and effort. They’ve built the mentality. The biggest thing is I know we’re going to send them [the seniors] off as successful young men from this program on and off the field. As a coach, you couldn’t be more proud of guys being able to buy into stuff like that, and seeing them have that success,” Quail said.

With the victory, Highland improves to 3-4 overall, and 2-4 in district play ahead of a road matchup with Wapello next week to close the regular season. With the loss, Louisa-Muscatine drops to 0-7 overall, and 0-6 in district play ahead of a home matchup with Pekin next Friday.

The KCII Area Game of the Week will close out the regular season next week with its first dip into 1A action, as the Sigourney-Keota Cobras will face off with Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont on the KCII3 Stream from the Snake Pit.