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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

It's been a tough three weeks for Highland Park's football team.

But it was smiles all around after the Scots, playing their first game since Sept. 19, rolled to a 42-18 Homecoming win over Meadowlark Conference rival Atchison Thursday night at Hummer Sports Park.

Highland Park senior quarterback Dontrail Fox got the Scots started with a 73-yard touchdown pass in Thursday's 42-18 win over Atchison. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Junior JoJo Kingcannon had another big night Thursday as Highland Park remained undefeated on the field in a 42-18 win over Atchison. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

"It felt great,'' said Highland Park coach Jermaine Monroe, who picked up his first win over Atchison in five tries. "We had two weeks off, so we kind of treated it like it was the end of the season. We analyzed everything, we made some adjustments and changes and we were really competitive in practice.

"I think (the layoff) made us stronger. We went through some situations that were tough, that we could not control, but we learned from it and we bounced back from it and got stronger. And it put us in a position to be mentally stronger this game.''

The Scots, who improved to 4-2 overall and 4-1 in the conference, had been forced to forfeit its previous two games in the wake of a Week 3 onfield altercation with Kansas City-Schlagle, but after forcing an Atchison punt on the Phoenix' opening possession, it took Highland Park just five plays to strike for a 73-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Dontrail Fox to junior JoJo Kingcannon (conversion run failed) and the hosts never looked back.

Junior G'Honi Montgomery helped lead Highland Park to a 42-18 win over Atchison Thursday night at Hummer Sports Park. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Highland Park made it a 14-0 late in the opening quarter on 2-yard run from junior G'Honi Montgomery and a two-point conversion pass from Kingcannon to senior Tremaine Savage and Atchison (3-3, 3-2) got no closer the rest of the night.

Highland Park's defense stops Atchison in Thursday's 42-18 win over the Phoenix. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

The Scots took a 20-6 advantage to the locker room at the half after a 57-yard TD from Fox to Montgomery and scored three plays into the second half on a 52-yard pass from Fox to Savage and capitalized on an Atchison fumble with a 55-yard highlight-film run from senior Genesis Cooper and a two-point conversion pass from Fox to Montgomery to put the game out of reach at 34-6 with 7:14 left in the third quarter.

"Coming back on the field and really getting that chemistry back, it feels good,'' Cooper said. "This (a win over Atchison) gets a monkey off our back and that feels good.''

The Phoenix scored a pair of fourth-quarter TDs to get within 34-18 before Fox scored on a 31-yard run and Kingcannon hit sophomore Lorenzo Sullivan-Sowell with a two-point conversion pass to account for the final score.

"We got the lead and kept the lead and then when it got down to within two minutes left, that's when the smiles started happening and it was like, 'This thing's really about to happen,' so it's amazing,'' Monroe said.

Rick Peterson, Top Sports News Writer — Rick Peterson

Details: Created: 08 October 2025

By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news

(All kickoffs at 7 p.m.)

THURSDAY NIGHT'S GAME

ATCHISON (3-2, 3-1 Meadowlark) vs. HIGHLAND PARK (3-2, 3-1 Meadowlark)

At Hummer Sports Park

JoJo Kingcannon, Highland Park

Highland Park will play for the first time in three weeks, returning to action after forfeiting back to back games to Kansas City-Harmon and Wichita East. The Scots will be facing an Atchison team that is coming off an 82-44 Meadowlark Conference loss to KC-Washington. Highland Park senior quarterback Dontrail Fox has completed 9 of 20 passes for 274 yards and 3 touchdowns while junior JoJo Kingcannon has caught 5 passes for 200 yards and 2 TDs. Kingcannon leads the Scots with 293 rushing yards and 4 TDs on 13 carries while junior G'Honi Montgomery has 256 yards and 3 TDs on 32 attempts.

FRIDAY NIGHT'S GAMES

SHAWNEE HEIGHTS (1-4, 1-3 UKC) at SEAMAN (3-2, 3-1 UKC)

Quentin Moravec, Seaman

Aiden Scott, Shawnee Heights

Seaman ran its winning streak to three games last Friday with a 48-8 United Kansas Conference romp past Lansing while Shawnee Heights is coming off a 50-48 UKC heartbreaker to De Soto. Seaman junior quarterback Cale Ketter has completed 82 of 125 passes for 1,118 yards and 15 touchdowns while junior Josh Brown has 22 catches for 303 yards and 6 TDs, junior Coy Barta has 18 catches for 223 yards and 4 TDs and senior Noah Kobuszewski has 19 catches for 300 yards and 2 TDs. Viking junior Quentin Moravec has carried the ball 92 times for 644 yards and 11 TDs. Heights senior quarterback Aiden Scott passed for more than 600 yards last Friday and has completed 127 of 200 attempts for 1,956 yards and 15 touchdowns while junior AJ Gallegos has 40 catches for 601 yards and 3 TDs, while Dallas Owens has 33 catches for 419 yards and 3 TDs and senior Tyren Parker 22 receptions for 500 yards and 3 scores.

HOLTON (3-2, 1-1 Class 3A District 4) at HAYDEN (5-0, 1-0 Class 3A District 4)

Kade Mitchell, Hayden

Rivals Hayden and Holton square off in a key Class 3A District 4 contest Friday night. Hayden rolled to a 51-0 district win over Hiawatha last week while Holton dropped a 27-17 district decision to Jefferson West. Hayden senior quarterback Connor Hanika has completed 40 of 73 passes for 612 yards and 7 touchdowns while senior Kade Mitchell has carried the ball 38 times for 399 yards and has scored nine total TDs and senior Jackson McGivern has 250 yards on 28 carries and scored five total touchdowns. Junior Mason Becker is 24 of 24 on extra point attempts while also scoring two TDs and two 2-point conversions.

JUNCTION CITY (3-2, 1-0 Centennial League) vs. TOPEKA HIGH (3-2, 1-1 Centennial)

At Hummer Sports Park

Zane Smith, Topeka High

Both the Blue Jays and Trojans are coming off losses, with Junction City dropping a 34-28 non-league decision to Hays and Topeka falling to Centennial League foe Washburn Rural, 35-6. Topeka High senior quarterback Zane Smith completed 12 of 26 passes for 284 yards against Washburn Rural while also carrying the ball 17 times for 85 yards. Junior Courtney Sanders caught 5 passes for 192 yards, including a 76-yard touchdown reception. Junction City is 1-0 in the Centennial League race after beating Manhattan 28-14 two weeks ago.

ROSSVILLE (4-1, 2-0 Class 1A District 2) vs. CAIR PARAVEL LATIN (1-4, 0-2 Class 1A District 2)

At Yager Stadium

Conner Bush, Rossville

Defending Class 1A District 2 champ Rossville is off and running in the district race again this fall, improving to 2-0 with a 55-6 win over Mission Valley last week. Cair Paravel is coming off a 53-25 district loss to Wabaunsee. Rossville, which advanced to the 1A semifinals a year ago, opened up a commanding 43-6 halftime lead over the Vikings and cruised the rest of the way. Senior quarterback Canann Mitchell passed for two touchdown and ran for a 52-yard TD in the Rossville win while Conner Bush ran for a pair of TDs.