As the sun sets on a hot day, the breeze is blowing and the fans are anxiously anticipating the next play of the game, it’s the fourth quarter with just minutes to spare, and as the ball is caught in the endzone the crowd goes wild, cowbells are ringing throughout the stadium. Everyone in the stands collectively cheers as the players themselves celebrate. 

This past Saturday, the Highlands High School football team went up against South Warren High School’s team for their first game of the season. They hosted the game at Western Kentucky University. The team went in with high expectations. Unfortunately, South Warren ended up winning 49-14; however, Highlands put up a reasonable effort. 

Sophomore Hayden Hass stated, “I don’t think we played that bad, we just didn’t capitalize on our opportunities and they did.’ 

In the very first play of the game, Highlands dropped the ball. South Warren received the ball at the 25-yard line, setting them up for an easy score. The players were mentally distraught. 

Despite their efforts, Highlands was not able to score a touchdown throughout the first three-quarters.

Junior Cameron Bottom said, “ We didn’t play as good as I was hoping, we did better over the summer, and the game simply wasn’t a representation of how we practiced. That wasn’t us”.

However, in the third quarter, the team was able to score their first 7 points, making the score a whopping 49-7. The team was able to hold South Warren from scoring again the rest of the game. 

Junior Brody Benke, who has played as a tight end for about a year, was thrown into the position of quarterback in a desperate effort to score. 

In the fourth quarter, Benke was able to make a deep pass to Senior Charlie Noon in the endzone. The score was brought up to 49-14 with seconds left in the game. 

Charlie Noon stated, “It obviously feels good to catch the ball and score, but it’s always tough when we are down by that much, against a team like that.” 

Benke expressed, “I enjoyed playing quarterback because we were able to put some points on the board and it brought back memories from last year”.