Mount Vernon News

SPARTA — After a disappointing opening loss to Fredericktown a week ago, the Highland High School football team rebounded Friday night with a convincing 48-0 thrashing of guest River Valley.

Justin Staton returned the opening kickoff to the River Valley 39-yard line, Justin Hampton punched in a 1-yard touchdown run three minutes later and the Fighting Scots were on their way to a dominating performance.

Highland head coach Chad Carpenter said the big win was just what his team needed after the one-point loss to the Freddies in the season opener.

“It’s good to get that first ‘W’ of the season,” he said. “It’s a long week of preparation when you lose a game like that. Tonight couldn’t get here fast enough. We had worked really hard all week at practice. I’m just happy with how we bounced back.”

One of Carpenter’s biggest complaints about Highland’s performance in Week 1 was a lack of execution in all aspects of the game. Although Friday’s game wasn’t perfect — the Scots finished with nine penalties for 80 yards, and fumbled three times, losing one — Carpenter felt much more comfortable with the team he saw on the field this week.

“We executed much better,” he said. “We wanted to come out, and we wanted to finish the little things in the game — drives, extra points, turnovers, everything like that. We did a much better job controlling things we can control.”

Playing the game on River Valley’s side of the field contributed to Highland’s control of the game. In addition to the first drive, the Scots started eight drives in Viking territory; six of those possessions resulted in touchdowns.

In addition to the offensive numbers, the Scot defense locked down the spread attack of River Valley, allowing the Vikings to gain just 80 yards total and minus three through the air. River Valley’s one big play — a potential 68-yard touchdown pass when Highland led by 14 in the second quarter — was called back because of a holding penalty, and the Vikings never seriously threatened again. In fact, River Valley entered Scot territory only one time, on the last drive of the game.

Three River Valley fumbles in their own territory in the second half translated to 21 points for Highland, a statistic of which Carpenter seemed particularly proud.

“When turnovers happen inside of their red zone, we need to capitalize on those opportunities, and we did,” he said.

The Highland offense was led by a mult-faceted attack, utilizing several different backs and running plays to keep the Viking defense off balance. Staton led the backfield with eight carries for 82 yards and three touchdowns. Ryan Barnett added six carries for 53 yards, and Hampton followed with eight carries for 40 yards and two touchdowns.

Carpenter said Highland’s tendency not to rely on a “work horse” running back was very much intentional.

“We were really trying to spread the ball around,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of backs this year that can spread the wealth. We’re trying to give those guys opportunities to run the ball.”

Another highlight for the Scots was the performance of the reserve players. With most of the starters on the sidelines, Highland engineered a 61-yard drive that took 2:51 off the clock toward the end of the game, capped by a 21-yard touchdown run by sophomore Garrett Ulery. Ulery finished the drive with 43 yards on five carries.

“It’s a great opportunity any time you can get those younger kids in,” Carpenter said. “A lot of times, those younger guys are overlooked. They’re giving us great looks in practice all week. It’s good to see them come out on Friday night and put together a little drive like that and score.”