Defensive Stops Push HP Past Lewisville

September 1, 2023September 2, 2023 Todd Jorgenson 0 Comments

All the pieces fell into place for Highland Park to have an ideal tuneup for the district grind — a close game, a quality opponent, and ultimately, a hard-fought victory.

Led by a resilient defensive effort and some timely big plays, the Scots held off powerhouse Lewisville 21-18 on Friday at Highlander Stadium.

In a late defensive struggle, HP was denied at the goal line by the Farmers with 2:10 remaining. But the Scots had the final say, squelching a late Lewisville drive to preserve the narrow win.

Warren Peck threw one touchdown pass and ran for another score, but HP was shut out after halftime. That left the defense to shoulder the load.

“They fought hard all night,” said HP head coach Randy Allen. “Our guys were gassed, but they found some extra juice on that drive to hold them. That’s a confidence-builder for our football team.”

Keller Holmes ran for 85 yards on just five carries, including a dazzling 33-yard touchdown on a fourth-down snap in the final minute of the first half to give the Scots a 21-10 advantage.

Earlier, Holmes scampered for 41 yards to set up HP’s opening touchdown, a 4-yard rush by Peck midway through the first quarter. The Scots never relinquished the advantage after that.

Two drives later, Peck connected with Steel Tobin on back-to-back plays, the second hookup covering 48 yards. That set up a 10-yard scoring strike from Peck to Charlie Schneider to make the score 14-3.

Lewisville shifted the momentum on the ensuing possession, using its size and speed advantage along the line of scrimmage to establish a ball-control attack.

Viron Ellison, a Tulsa commit who finished with a game-high 117 rushing yards, scored from 25 yards out to bring the Farmers to within 14-10. That placed added importance on the Holmes touchdown that followed.

“Third down and fourth down killed us in the first half,” said Lewisville head coach Michael Odle. “There were a couple of things we needed to clean up to beat a good team on the road, and we didn’t get it done.”

Lewisville attempted to wear down the HP defense by dominating time of possession after halftime. The Farmers capped a punishing 11-play drive with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Ethan Terrell to Jaydan Hardy, then added a two-point conversion to cut the margin to three points with an entire quarter still to play.

“We knew we needed to rest our defense. The last couple of drives in the second quarter, I could see them getting fatigued,” Odle said. “We came out great in the second half, but we just got behind the chains with penalties. We needed to make more plays. We ran out of time.”

On the next drive, Lewisville again turned to the ground game before a sack by HP’s Anders Corn forced a punt. With a chance to put the game out of reach, the Scots drove the length of the field and had first-and-goal at the Lewisville 1, only to be stuffed on four consecutive snaps.

That set up a white-knuckle finish that ended with the Scots surviving to post their second victory in as many years against the Farmers, who reached the fourth round of the Class 6A Division I playoffs lats season.

“We were scratching and clawing and trying to find something that would work,” Allen said of the HP offense. “We tried to some misdirection, we tried everything. We could never get in rhythm. They’re very fast and good in the secondary. We got enough points to win.”

Penalties and other miscues caused some self-inflicted wounds for Lewisville, such as a holding infraction that nullified a touchdown on the opening drive. The Farmers settled for a field goal.

The Scots forced the game’s only turnover on a fumble recovery by Jack Morse near midfield late in the first quarter, but HP could not capitalize.

Peck was 14-of-24 passing for 172 yards, while Tobin tallied five catches for a game-high 126 yards. Terrell completed 11 of 21 throws for 161 yards for Lewisville, and also managed 30 yards on the ground.

HP extended its regular-season winning streak to 21 games. The slate doesn’t get much easier next week, when the Scots will start District 7-6A play at Lake Highlands.

“That will be a great test, and it will count,” Allen said. “This game doesn’t really count, but next week will. We’ve got to forget about this one and get ready for the next one.”