Lake Highlands (2-1, 1-0 District 7-6A) pulled off the upset with a 51-41 victory over No.24 Highland Park (2-1, 0-1) in a district-opening high school football game that took multiple days to complete due to weather at Wildcat-Ram Stadium.
As the teams began play on Friday night, Lake Highlands’ offense took command of the game, amassing 549 yards through the first three and a half quarters, which included a 75-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tripp Holley to wide receiver Miron Magee on the first play from scrimmage.
Lake Highlands’ defense made things difficult for Highland Park quarterback Warren Peck all Friday night, and its offense rose to the occasion by scoring on six of its first seven possessions. The turning point of the first half came when the Wildcats recovered a Highland Park fumble and turned it into a touchdown to take a two-score lead.
After a lightning delay at the start of the second half, Highland Park responded to a 30-13 halftime deficit with a touchdown drive led by Peck’s running ability. The senior quarterback scored twice on the Scots’ first two drives of the third quarter as they continued to lean on their running game, but their defense could not stop 6A’s leading rusher, Deonte Dean, even with time to reassess their approach as the final 8:29 of the game was postponed to Saturday afternoon due to weather.
As the teams returned to the field Saturday afternoon, Peck led Highland Park down the field for a touchdown, but Dean responded with a 45-yard touchdown run and finished the game with 376 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Peck scored again, but the Scots could not recover the onside kick, and their final efforts resulted in a Lake Highlands fumble recovery to end the game.
Lake Highlands quarterback Tripp Holley added 237 passing yards and three touchdown passes, while Tripp Marshall had 129 receiving yards and two touchdown catches.
Peck led Highland Park with 189 rushing yards and five touchdown runs. Running back Keller Holmes also gained over 100 rushing yards.
Lake Highlands will face Dallas Jesuit on the road on Friday, and Highland Park will be looking to bounce back against Irving at home.