The duel was on from the opening whistle as Waxahachie (1-1) and Highland Park (1-1) exchanged blows in a back-and-forth game until the second half where defense, turnovers and third-down conversions helped Highland Park seal a 32-21 victory over Waxahachie from inside Highlander Stadium in Dallas on Friday.
The opening series saw Waxahachie set the tone early as the defense forced the ever improvising Highland Park offense to a 3-and-out and the Waxahachie offense immediately repay the defense for their excellent work.
Running back Jerreth Sterns wasted no time as Waxahachie on their very first play went to their bag of tricks and called a gadget play that saw Sterns catch a quick pass and throw it down field to find receiver Jhamarian Sargent for the 38-yard reception. Waxahachie would move the ball efficiently down the field as eight plays later they went back to Sterns for the easy 2-yard touchdown run to give Waxahachie the 7-0 lead.
Down 7-0 with 7:20 remaining, Highland Park quickly rebounded from the first series as quarterback John Stephen Jones conducted a 6-play scoring drive as he connected with 3 different receivers on the drive that culminated in a 19-yard touchdown pass to receiver Finn Corwin.
Highland Park then completed the 2-point attempt and had the scoreboard read 8-7 in their favor with 6:10 left in the first quarter.
Both quarterbacks showed excellent pocket presence and ability to extend plays down field as John Stephen Jones was 11-17 on passing attempts with 171 yards and two touchdowns while Waxahachie quarterback Bryse Salik rivaled his numbers with 86 yards on 10-15 and a touchdown at the halfway point.
At the start of the second quarter with Waxahachie a few plays into their drive following a 29-yard missed field goal attempt from Highland Park, Salik would throw for 39 yards and rush for 20 yards on a drive that saw Salik hit receiver Kevin Green as he got one foot in on the 21-yard touchdown reception.
Highland Park now facing a 14-8 deficit scored on the ensuing drive with Cade Saustad getting a big 32-yard reception on 3rd & 10 that led to a John Stephen Jones touchdown pass once again to Finn Corwin from 16 yards out, five plays later.
Highland Park now up 15-14 would tack on three more points prior to the half as kicker Matteo Cordray would make an impressive 41-yard field goal that gave Highland Park the 18-14 lead heading into the half.
From the second half on, the defending 5A DI State Champs would turn it up a notch as stiff defense, turnovers and third down conversions put Highland Park at an advantage with their defense not surrendering a score until the final whistle when Highland Park was well on their way to the win.
Perhaps the biggest turnover on the night came from defensive back Nick Morris as a Bryse Salik rolled out the pocket and attempted a touchdown pass in the end zone that was picked off by Morris to put a damper on the Waxahachie rally with 6:08 left in the game and Highland Park leading 32-14.
“We really didn’t adjust anything except our chin straps,” Highland Park head coach Randy Allen said on second half adjustments. “We just got tougher in the second half and once our guys get used to seeing an offense, they seem to get better and we did a great job of tackling and keeping them away from the big play.”
Highland Park managed to nab an interception and a fumble recovery that paid dividends for them in the second half as Highland Park stretched the lead as big as 32-14 with less than two minutes in the game.
Highland Park finished with 341 total yards and 20 first downs as quarterback John Stephen Jones finished 18-26 on the night with 290 yards and two touchdowns. Jones connected with nine different receivers with Cade Saustad leading the way with 85 yards and Finn Corwin collecting two touchdowns on four receptions and 77 yards.
“I thought John Stephen did a really good job of distributing the football and finding the open receiver and making things happen when he didn’t have anybody open originally,” Allen said, “He scrambled well and we had some receivers make great catches…they made some really important catches and hard catches and I was really proud of the balance of our passing game.”
Connor Allen helped balanced out the attack for Highland Park as he ran for 110 yards and a touchdown that had Highland Park reach the 35-point mark with Benner Page pitching in 58 yards and touchdown that put Highland Park up 25-14 with 3:43 left in the third quarter.
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