[RunItUpTheGut]

Final

[whackem'n'stackem']

The past two games have made me sorely miss the defensive Austin Collinsworth. Ryan sat comfortably in the pocket most of the night and picked apart the defensive secondary of Highlands. Despite several huge sacks, Ryan had his way most the evening. Urlage took over the game, IMO. If Owensboro can throw like LC, which I highly doubt, it may be an interesting game. Birds should cruise if they play turnover free ball. Several nice catches for the Birds and had several missed opportunities to put this game way out of reach, but LC kept knocking on the door. The clock became their enemy.

[sstack]

I have never seen a team try as many on side kicks and trick plays as Lex Cath did in this game. They looked pretty desperate, knew they were outmatched and needed some magic to pull off a win. I lost track of the number of trick plays like, double reverses, triple reverses, ball behind the back, and RB pass.

[Hoot Gibson]

Lexington Catholic had no running game and no chance.

[sstack]

Lexington Catholic had no running game and no chance.

Wait, I thought run defense was what you said was Highlands weakness? (-)46 yards rushing and 300+ yards passing for Lex Cath. Told you Highlands Achilles heel is pass defense. A lot of passes by Lex Cath tonight were just Hail Mary type passes that Highlands DB's never turn to make plays on. There were quit a few plays tonight where Lex Cath had wide open WR's that would have went for BIG yards if QB was more accurate, He missed a lot of wide open shots tonight.

[maximus73]

Congratulations to HHS, on another great performance .

[E's Army]

Highlands just keeps winning. Game after game. Year after year.

[Hoot Gibson]

Wait, I thought run defense was what you said was Highlands weakness? (-)46 yards rushing and 300+ yards passing for Lex Cath. Told you Highlands Achilles heel is pass defense. A lot of passes by Lex Cath tonight were just Hail Mary type passes that Highlands DB's never turn to make plays on. There were quit a few plays tonight where Lex Cath had wide open WR's that would have went for BIG yards if QB was more accurate, He missed a lot of wide open shots tonight.

I said Highlands was weak against the run. I never said that Lexington Catholic had a running game. Obviously, a defense that allowed Baker to run for 251 yards is not stout against the run.

Lexington Catholic never made much of an effort to establish a running game. Most of their running plays were to the outside and most of their big losses came on sacks and trick plays.

This game illustrates why a team that abandons its running game (or does not have a running game) against Highlands has no shot at beating them. The fact that Lexington Catholic had so many open receivers despite the absence of any interior running game shows that Highlands' defense is not on par with most of its previous state championship teams.

Highlands is clearly the best 4A team in the state.