By QUINTIN HARLAN
September 07, 2008 12:15 am
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ANDERSON — Three weeks into the 2008 high school football season, Highland is riding high with a 3-0 record and anticipating a step up in competition in the next four weeks. Anderson is 0-3 after showing a flash of the explosiveness that it wants from its offense.
At Highland, the trend on offense is that the Scots like to score a lot of points. Friday night, the Scots kept their record spotless at 3-0 with a 56-22 win on the road at Owen Valley.
Highland trailed the host Patriots 6-0 in the first quarter.
The Scots then went with their power set and that meant a steady dose of senior tailback Nathan Walters.
“We went 65 yards on that first series of the game, and Nathan ran the ball every play,” said Scots coach Randy Albano. “We’ll have to check, but I think he had between 200 and 300 yards rushing and another 100 receiving. He just stole the show.”
Albano, though, is still looking for his defense to come out firing from the start of the game.
“Except for the Anderson game, we’ve started out slow on defense,” said the Scots’ coach of 12 years. “I don’t know what it is. We’re getting to the meat of our schedule, and I’m looking forward to a step up in competition for us.”
Highland will welcome Olympic Athletic Conference foe Jay County (1-2) to Highland Stadium this Friday at 7 p.m. The Patriots are the first of a four-game stretch where the Scots will play teams where only Jay County has a losing record. The Patriots suffered a 46-41 loss at Blackford and were beaten 47-28 by Delta who is currently ranked No. 5 in Class 4A.
Following the Jay County game, the defending Class 3A State Champion Bishop Chatard Trojans (3-0) will be the visitors at Highland on Sept. 19.
The following week, Highland will travel to Muncie South for an OAC game. The Rebels are currently 2-1 on the season. The four-game stretch finishes on Oct. 3 as the Scots will welcome in the Yorktown Tigers who are also still unbeaten on the season at 3-0.
“We were more physical in the game (against Owen Valley). We were bigger, faster and stronger,” Albano said. “We’ve got a chance to be something special, and we’re looking forward to it.”
On the other side of the coin, the Anderson Indians quest for a victory is still on going.
Anderson left Kokomo with its third loss of the season after falling to the Wildkats in their first North Central Conference game of the season, 54-28.
This came after the Indians and Wildkats were tied 28-28 at the half.
Anderson’s offense showed that it can be explosive as the team scored three touchdowns in the second quarter. AHS quarterback Nolan Earley threw three scoring passes in the game, two to Tre Jackson and the third to Daryl Watkins. Trey White scored a rushing touchdown for the Indians on a 30-yard scamper.
And this was all in the game’s first two quarters. The second half saw the host Kats do all the scoring while Anderson could only watch and suffer another
Earley, who returned to the lineup after missing last week’s game with an injury, finished the night completing 12 of 28 passes for 289 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Jackson caught five passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns on plays of 68 and 74 yards.
White was the Indians’ leading rusher with 80 yards on four tries and a touchdown.
Anderson is on the road again this week as it travels to Richmond for a 7 p.m. North Central Conference game with the Red Devils. The Indians will return home on Sept. 19 and entertain the Logansport Berries at Collier Field. Anderson will travel to Huntington North on Sept. 26 before returning home to take on New Castle on Oct. 3
Then the following Tuesday (Oct. 7) will be the draw for the 2008 IHSAA State Football Tournament.
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