By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
A wild night from start to finish ended with a 38-28 Highland Park win over Kansas City-Washington that gave the Scots second place in the Meadowlark Conference.
Senior Jamon Wilson had a huge night for Highland Park in Thursday's 38-28 Meadowlark Conference win over KC-Washington. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sophomore G'Honi Montgomery (35) celebrates a touchdown with Highland Park teammate Tremaine Savage Thursday night in the Scots' 38-28 win over KC-Washington. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Late in the first period, with the Scots leading 6-0 on a touchdown run by G’Honi Montgomery, both teams were sent to the locker rooms and fans were sent to their cars by a severe thunderstorm. They returned at 8:55 p.m. after an hour and a half delay.
Highland Park coach Jermaine Monroe praised the Scots for how they handled the disruption.
“At first, because we thought it was only going to be 30 minutes, we told the boys to be quiet, leave your cell phones away, just stay focused on the game,” Monroe said. “But when we knew it was going to be longer than an hour, we let them take their shoulder pads off, call their parents to make sure everything was OK.
"Then we put some music on, had everyone jump around and have some fun, just keeping the energy high. And that’s what they did. They came out with a lot of energy after that.”
Jamon Wilson sent a jolt of energy throughout the stadium whenever he touched the ball.
When Highland Park needed a big play, Wilson came through. After recording his first score from 14 yards out, he bailed the team out of a jam midway through the second period. Following a botched kickoff return, the Scots found themselves pinned at their 1-yard line. But after giving the Scots some breathing room on his first carry of the drive, Wilson outraced the Wildcats 94 yards to the end zone on the second play of the drive.
Wilson took a short pass from Dontrail Fox 25 yards for the Scots’ fourth touchdown of the first half, increasing the lead to 26-6 as the clock struck 10 p.m.
Early in the second half, the Scots increased their lead to 32-6 on a 10-yard touchdown run by Wilson. Even when the Wildcats responded with a touchdown late in the third quarter, it appeared the Scots would cruise to an easy victory. Both teams began inserting substitutes in the fourth quarter.
But with Highland Park leading 38-12 midway through the final period, things went a little crazy. KC-Washington quarterback Savion Stone began throwing and running for big chunks of yardage, racking up two Wildcat scores in just a few minutes time.
With the outcome no longer in doubt, the point spread became the issue. Both teams were battling for playoff seeding. The battle raged until 11:30 p.m., with the Wildcats attempting on-side kicks and the Scots throwing long passes rather than taking a knee to run out the clock.
“I wanted us to just focus on the down that we’re in, not focus on championships or seeding or anything like that. Just think about the next play,” Monroe said. “But then when it got down to where they cut it to 10 and we needed to win by 13, that’s when we started thinking playoffs.”
The Scots failed to gain the desired 13-point margin and will await their playoff seeding. But with second place in the Meadowlark Conference locked up, Wilson took a moment to reflect on how far the Highland Park program has come.
The Scots went 0-9 in Wilson’s freshman season and owned a losing streak that stretched back eight years. The fact they are concerned at all about playoff seeding is monumental.
“It’s been a great experience changing history,” Wilson said. "When I first got here, it was definitely tough. The buy-in was tough. And then we finally got guys to buy in and we changed the culture. This was a big win for the seniors being our last game with playoff seeding playing a huge factor.”
HIGHLAND PARK 38, KC-WASHINGTON 28
KC-Washington (6-2, 4-2) 0 6 6 16 -- 28
Highland Park (6-2, 5-1) 12 14 6 6 -- 38
Highland Park – Montgomery 13 run (kick failed)
Highland Park – Wilson 14 run (kick failed)
KC-Washington – Fields 13 pass from Stone (pass failed)
Highland Park – Wilson 94 run (Brown run)
Highland Park – Wilson 25 pass from Fox (pass failed)
Highland Park – Wilson 10 run (pass failed)
KC-Washington – Stone 45 run (run failed)
Highland Park – Fox 17 run (kick failed)
KC-Washington – Fields 45 pass from Stone (Stone run)
KC-Washington – Stone 32 run (Fields run)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – KC-Washington: Stone 21-258, Fields 2-8, Couch 6-27, Burris Bey 2-1, Gillon 1-41. Highland Park: Montgomery 16-46, Wilson 11-194, Fox 5-17, Brown 4-51, Sipple 1-2, Cooper 2-27.
Passing – KC-Washington: Stone 12-24-1 160 yards. Highland Park: Fox 7-13-1 172 yards, Wilson 0-1-1 0 yards, Sipple 0-1-1 0 yards.
Receiving – KC-Washington: Baskin 2-12, Fields 8-147, Carter 2-1. Highland Park: Wilson 4-118, Montgomery 1-9, Kingcannon 2-45.
Punting – KC-Washington: Williams 3-22.7. Highland Park: Brown 1-19.0.
