[DollarBill]

Why should Highlands and Cov Cath have to meet in the final? Neither team wants a scheduled designed to delay their game. What does it really matter when the play. The winner will advance and the looser goes home. Since 2006, it has been Highlands moving on. The 20 or so years prior to that I think it was about even who moved on.

Actually for the immediate years prior to 2006 (i.e., 1995-2005) Highlands went 15-2 against CovCath (one of those losses was the 1997 mudbowl and Highlands split 2 games with CovCath both the years they lost to CovCath (i.e., so Highlands beat CovCath at least once every year during that period). During that period Highlands had 5 state championships and 2 runner ups as compared to 1 state championship (1997) and no runner up finishes for Cov.Cath. In the six years since 2006 Highlands is 8-0 v. CovCath with 5 state championships and this year's championship of course yet to be determined. Essentially, that has been the Dale Mueller era at Highlands. He lost his first 2 games against CovCath in 1994 and gone 23-4 against them since (including the 2 losses in 2006). So Highlands has beaten CovCath at least one time every year since 1994 except for 2006. As you pointed out CovCath and Highlands had about an even run the 15 years before that but for the past 18 years (i.e., the lifetime of a current high school senior) it has been very one-sided for Highlands.