Brady Poppler is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism Student assigned to cover Highland High School for AZPreps365.com

 

The Highland Hawks had two explosive touchdown plays and had a stifling defense to lead the Hawks to a 21-11 win over American Leadership Academy on Friday night.

Highland is now 6-2 overall, and 3-0 in 6A East Valley. American Leadership Academy is 6-2.

Highland High running back Jay Martin started off the games scoring late in the first quarter with a 42-yard rushing touchdown.

“Basically, our center pulled around and blocked their best linebacker and just created a monster hole for me,” said Martin, who 142 rushing yards on one touchdown. “I was just running waiting to make a cut on the safety and luckily, he tripped. And it made the lane for me to score.”

The Hawks scored on a two-point conversion when - a ball intended for Kash Cullimore  - as deflected into the hands of tight end Ty Smith to make it 8-0.

The Patriots got close in the second quarter on a 46-yard field goal, making it 8-3 with 8:37 left in the half.

The Hawks extended their lead on their next passion when Hudson Schambach hit a 30-yard field goal with 4:24 left in the half. They added another field goal as time expired in the half to make it 14-3.

The Patriots closed the gap in the fourth quarter with a combination of passes and rushes, getting their first touchdown in the game when quarterback Enoch Wilson scored on a 2-yard run on fourth down. The Patriots added a two-point conversion to make it 14-11.

But later in the quarter, Kalen Fisher hit Katcher Taylor for an 80-yard touchdown to put the game away. Taylor finished with two catches for 85 yards.

“Came down to play makers making plays, guys like Jay Martin, Katcher Taylor, Kalen Fisher,” said head coach Brock Farrel. “(And) how about our Hawks defense? Our O-line coach said we ran 13 offensive plays in the second half, and our defense played lights out … awesome.”

Farrel added: “We got a good defense. We are physical. We make you earn it. You gotta drive the field. We don’t give up big plays.”

Defensively, the Patriots gave up just 207 total yards.

“We wanted to let #8 (Enoch Watson) take risks; the kid was very good on film, getting himself out of trouble,” said defensive coordinator Jason Lyons. “We wanted to disrupt (him) and make him play some backyard football -- and see if we can get pressure and get home. I thought we did a good job with our rush angles, keeping him in a spot where we can tackle him because he is a special player.”

Looking ahead the Hawks are 6-2 and their next opponent is another section opponent Queen Creek. They play on Oct. 26.

“We got to eliminate this from our mind and move onto Queen Creek, it’s a short week,” Farrel said. “If you ever heard of a trap game that’s it. Short week and at Queen Creek, big emotional win, we got to play our best football.”