'We looked really good.' Highlands stays hot on offense with 55-0 win over Conner
HEBRON, Ky. – The Conner football team was hoping for an explosive start on its senior night. The pregame festivities for its district opener against Highlands featured introductions for each senior and then some brief fireworks.
But it was the visiting Bluebirds coming out of the gate on fire from the opening kickoff, blitzing past the Cougars 55-0 in a Class 5A, District 5 seeding contest. Highlands won its fifth-straight game to improve to 5-2 in its district opener and Conner fell to 2-5 and 1-1 after beating Boone County last week.
Highlands scored two minutes into the game, the first time the Bluebirds have scored on their opening drive all year. And once the Conner marching band went into a rousing medley of Prince songs that ended with “Let’s Go Crazy,” the Bluebirds had driven the Cougars nuts with a 49-0 lead.
“We looked really good,” Highlands junior quarterback Brody Benke said. “We came out knowing it was districts, so we’re obviously 0-0. We just kept our foot on the gas pedal and scored on the first drive, which we haven’t done yet this year. So that helped out a lot.”
Highlands posted 374 yards of offense in the first half and finished the game with 505, as the entire second half ran on a running clock.
Benke completed 14-of-21 passes for 214 yards and four touchdown passes. Junior Carson Class caught four touchdown passes on five receptions, totaling 88 yards. Junior Cam Giesler rushed for 108 yards on seven carries, the bulk of those yards coming on two long TD runs.
Highlands has now averaged 57 points in its last three games averaging scoring 59 and 57 the previous two weeks in wins over Ryle and Dixie Heights.
“I’m just glad we could come out and play our game,” Class said. “We had a slow start (to the season). We knew we had the weapons, we just didn’t know how to use them early in the season. But now we’re figuring it out. We’re ready to go.”
Highlands racked up 231 yards of offense on its first four touchdown drives, going up 28-0 in the first seconds of the second quarter. By that moment, three different Bluebirds had gains of 30 yards or more.
Giesler put Highlands ahead to stay with a 30-yard touchdown run in the first two minutes as Highlands ran a quick 73-yard drive.
“We’ve not been very efficient to open the game all year, and that was a nice first possession,” Highlands head coach Bob Sphire said. “You kind of keep harping on stuff when breaking down film. We hadn’t started the game well all year. That’s something we’ve been hammering the last couple of weeks.”
On Highlands’ second drive, the Bluebirds drove 58 yards, with Benke finding senior Charlie Noon open in the endzone for a 22-yard score.
On Highlands’ third drive, Benke found Class for a 35-yard gain on the sideline, as Class leaped to make a tough catch over a defender. Benke then found Class for a 17-yard TD pass at the goal line.
On Highlands’ fourth drive, Highlands started at the Conner 22 after a series of Cougars' penalties on offense and then another flag after a Conner punt.
Dawson Hosea traversed those 22 yards on three rushing plays, scoring 11 seconds into the second quarter, and Highlands led 28-0.
Later in the quarter, Benke connected with Noon on a 22-yard pass to set up a short TD pass to Class on a fade route. Noon had over 100 total yards on the night with four gains of 20 or more yards, including a 33-yard rush.
Giesler, a speedy and elusive running back, slipped past several tacklers for a 54-yard TD run. Then late in the half, Benke found Class on another long pass for a 35-yard TD.
Benke and Bottom were battling for the quarterback job in the preseason and Benke didn’t secure it until early in the year.
“We took a lot more shots than we usually would,” Benke said. “We were completing a lot more passes and deep balls. I’ve been getting more comfortable in the pocket, making throws. I’ve been working out a lot with my receivers, getting our chemistry down.”
To start the third quarter, Bottom came in at quarterback and connected with Class for his fourth TD catch of the night, as Class took a short swing pass and ran for a TD. Highlands began putting in backups after that.
Class enjoyed his big night but he’s happy he’s not the only playmaker on the Bluebirds.
“That’s the best thing about our offense,” Class said. “Anybody can go off. Anybody can have multi-TD games. We just have to use our weapons the right way.”
Said Sphire: “Our offense is doing a really good job of doing things that keep the other team off balance. We’re a spread team. We want to be unpredictable with our tendencies. That’s starting to pay dividends in what is really our first full season with them because we got here so late last year. We want to be hard to prepare for in the opening series because you don’t know what we’re going to do.”
Highlands limited Conner’s offense to 53 total yards and three first downs.
Senior linebacker Sam Robinson was a disruptive force in the first half, and on one play in particular he anticipated where an out route was going and nearly stole the ball for a pick-six.
“Sam plays the game really fast,” Sphire said. “He has such a high football IQ and he’s very athletic. And he really understands the position in our scheme. He just plays with a ton of confidence.”
Highlands 55, Conner 0
Highlands 21 28 6 0-55
Conner 0 0 0 0-0
H – Giesler 30 run (Burleigh kick)
H – Noon 22 pass from Benke (Burleigh kick)
H – Class 17 pass from Benke (Burleigh kick)
H – Hosea 1 run (Burleigh kick)
H – Class 2 pass from Benke (Burleigh kick)
H – Giesler 54 run (Burleigh kick)
H – Class 35 pass from Benke (Burleigh kick)
H – Class 32 pass from Bottom (Burleigh kick)
Records: H 5-2, 1-0 5A, D5; C 2-5, 1-1
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Highlands stays hot on offense with 55-0 win over Conner
