Scots Crush Cleburne in Quest for Title
By Michael Finnegan / Contributor
CLEBURNE — Highland Park’s pursuit of a District 7-5A Div. I championship remained on course Friday with an easy 45-8 road victory over winless Cleburne.
The HP offense reached the end zone on all six first-half drives while the defense was near perfect, keeping the Scots unbeaten in league play heading into next week’s regular-season home finale against Burleson Centennial.
Although James Lancaster led the way with the two rushing touchdowns, five other players scored and three different quarterbacks threw touchdown passes in an evenly dispersed offensive performance against an overmatched opponent.
Cleburne was forced to punt on its first seven possessions, with 10 punts overall, and barely avoided a shutout by scoring on a fourth down-play with eight seconds remaining in the game.
The Scots (7-1, 4-0) drove the length of the field on 10 straight running plays and took an early 7-0 lead after Lancaster’s 1-yard dive into the endzone.
Sophomore quarterback Buck Randall fired a 38-yard touchdown strike to Paxton Smith on the Scots’ first passing attempt of the game to cap the next possession.
Randall threw for 130 yards and also ran for a score. The Scots tallied 28 more unanswered points in the first half while spreading the wealth in the process.
Harrison Cullum hauled in a 10-yard pass from Anderson Jackson to extend the Highland Park lead to 35-0 with just over three minutes left before halftime.
Sam Montgomery, the third quarterback used by the Scots in the first half, then connected with Charles Olmstead from 18 yards out with 16 seconds to go in the second quarter, giving HP a comfortable 42-0 halftime lead.
Highland Park’s Reece Tiffany had a busy night, converting all six extra points as well as kicking a 24-yard field goal late in the game.
The three HP quarterbacks threw for a combined 250 yards and three touchdowns against the Yellow Jackets (0-9, 0-5), who suffered their fourth consecutive lopsided defeat and ninth straight loss overall.
