Photo by Lucas Moore
By Nolan Ruth
X – @RealNolanRuth
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FRISCO— Highland Park is known as one of the premier football programs in the state of Texas, known for playing its best ball in November and into December. The Scots have made the playoffs every season since 1988, and have not failed to get past the second round since 2012.
That streak will live to see another season as Highland Park, under coach Randy Allen, marched into the Ford Center at The Star and walked away with a 45-10 victory over the Frisco Reedy Lions to advance to the regional semifinals.
The Scots now advance to face the winner of Friday night’s matchup between Cedar Park and Frisco Wakeland.
The game got off to a slow start, as both offenses took a while to get going, ultimately leading to a scoreless first quarter. However, just before the end of the quarter, the Lions had reached the Highland Park 20 yard line. The drive ultimately stalled at the 11, but Brayden Prim put Reedy on the board with a 28-yard field goal.
Then, the Scots kicked it into high gear. Quarterback Buck Randall took the reins and drove the offense downfield, but it was Matthew White who gave Highland Park the lead with a five yard touchdown run, bringing the score to 7-3.
After the Scots’ defense forced a three-and-out, Randall got his first, connecting with Harrison Cullum from 55 yards out on the post route, making the lead 14-3.
Randall finished the night 20-26 for 311 yards and three touchdowns with Cullum accounting for 117 of those yards on 6 receptions and two touchdowns.
After another defensive stop, it appeared the Scots were going to put the game to bed before the half, but Grayson Jennings gave the Lions new life with an interception that put Reedy at the Highland Park 28 yard line. Two plays later, DJ Carlisle connected with Ben Francis from 18 yards out to cut the deficit to 14-10 sending Reedy into the locker room with hope knowing it would get the ball to start the second half.
Had the Lions gotten points in the opening drive of the third quarter, the game could have been completely different. Instead, the Scots forced a three-and-out and hit the gas pedal.
On Highland Park’s second play of the second half, White broke free over the middle, evading several tackles and scoring from 46 yards out to extend the lead and open the door to a dominant second half for the Scots.
White finished his night with 67 yards on 8 carries and a pair of touchdowns.
Highland Park scored twice more in the third quarter, both on pass plays from Randall. The first was the second connection to Cullum from 40 yards out, and the second was on a seam route to Cash Tanner, who masterfully split the safeties from 48 yards, making the score 35-10 after three quarters of play.
Early in the fourth quarter, kicker Sutton Stock came on to drill a 36-yard field goal to make the score 38-10, effectively putting the game out of reach. The Scots rolled in backups from that point, and Isaiah Lee put the exclamation point on the game with a three yard option pitch to bring the final score to 45-10.
Reedy ends its season with a record of 8-4, while Highland Park improves to 11-1 and will be practicing over Thanksgiving, advancing to the regional semifinals next week.
